You mean the system that is less effective at disabling a runway than the Durandal/BLU-107/B carried by F-111s that did the same thing?
It’s not. They are both dispensers. The difference is one leaves the aircraft low,slow, and stupid going straight down the runway, which if you are going to be forced to do, you might as well use the more effective for the job, Durandal, or if absolute destruction of the runway is not your goal then the WCMD and other dispensers make for better AD weapons, by not putting your acft in harms way.
F-111 also a great aircraft, as for effectiveness we cannot possibly measure that.
Tornado didn’t need to slow down it was low and the discharge of the weapon at night would illuminate the aircraft. Tornado was tasked with the largest Iraqi airfrields on the first night of the air campaign.
Everyone acknowledged it was a dangerous mission and no other Airframe or Airforce could acheive it.
Tornado flew low it flew fast and it flew in the dead of night.
I feel your experience of Tornado comes from it being a bit crap in War Thunder.
20th Wing flight commander Captain George Kelman said “there is nothing better at destroying a runway than a Durandal.”
Which is about the same as this:
Which is just a flowery way of saying the risk assessment made dictated the US wasn’t going to do it because person in charge didn’t sign a waiver, and the RAF said, “fuck it we don’t care if we put our pilots in harms way”.
Which is not a unique capability of the Tornado?
F-111s did El Dorado Canyon before DS, and frankly was likely a major factor in the risk assessment and decision making.
No. My experience of real aircraft and their capabilities comes from real world blood, sweat and tears poured into them, and my understanding of how decisions are made in these scenarios comes from being more than an online larper.
I like the Tornado. But pretending it’s some 1 of a kind EU wonder weapon is pathetic.
RAF didn’t care about the pilots…They did and the aircraft and crew were trained for that kind of mission.
Despite that Tornado losses were light considering the risk and threats they faced.
The fact remains without the RAF those airfields would have remained active after the first night.
US high altitude strikes only work when you have control of the airspace which was not acheived during the strikes and the Iraqi SAM network is disabled.
F-111 is a great airframe it excelled in multiple roles. It is well known US altitude restrictions even at Red Flag Bucs and Tornadoes were flying lower than they could. The F-111 crews as you stated had more experience flying low than the F-15Es
Pilot reports state flying at 30ft over the desert in the dead of night. Which no other aircraft at the time could do.
