I checked again and the one I was thinking of has an anti-ballistic missile range of 40km, with the possibility of earlier models of the MIM-104F having only a 40km anti-air range due to a weaker motor (although that’s up for debate).
ye F-15E just cooler overall, i agree
and it has better individual systems than a tornado to boot, for the most part
The Tornado did however exist before the F-15E, if you were to compare the F-15A/C with a Tornado Gr.1 in ground attack you’d find both can drop dumb bombs but one is a better interdictor though probably in my opinion due to the systems on Tornado rather than the airframe being particularly exceptional, and the Tornado retired earlier which you could argue is an example of a lack of future proofing, but it was replaced in that role by eurofighter.
There are 100% merits to tornado, and definitely things it did well, I just don’t like it as a package.
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That’s not correct,
The US didn’t attempt to hit the Airfields they were prioritised and assigned to the RAF.
2 squadrons of Tornados.
One squadron was based in Bahrain and the other Saudi.
They would fly meet a tanker take fuel accelerate to mach and cross the border, the Tornados TFR system allowed it to fly on the deck in any conditions.
the attack groups were comprised of 8 airframes only 4 would carry the JP-233 the rest carried 8 1000lb and 2 AIM-9L missiles, the bombs were set to airburst and were loft bombed set to detonate before the Tornados with JP-233 made their runs.
Tornado squadrons were tasked with these runways and had some success, US aircraft then in the daytime would when Iraqi SAM and aviation threat was reduced bomb them with B-52s
It was risky to fly over the desert at night and in those conditions there is an account where a squadron leader cancelled an attack with AAA fire over the target as it was too hot. The other issue with the JP-233 is the aircraft had to fly straight and level over the runway making it incredibly vulnerable and the JP-233 when activated would light up the aircraft.
While the JP-233 was great weapon it was found that precision bombing taxi ways and had the same impact to an airbase as the JP-233 runs. Tornado crews switched to LGBU and with the SAM threat reduced they operated at higher altitudes with Buccaneers budy lasing the targets.
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Huh, I literally always heard the claim that F-18s/‘the Americans’ had tried first, so really it doesn’t lend itself to a direct comparison between respective strike aircraft at all.
I appreciate the much more informed take than my own.
i mean a2a tornado vs F-15A, F-15 superior in like every way.
for ground pounding itd be going up against like F-18 as its rough contemporary, and tornado was still in the first half of its service when the production 229 strike eagles were made.
BVR Tornado F.3 Radar was as good and it carried the AMRAAM. Yes in BFM the Tornado would lose and lose hard.
However in wargames with the USN the Tornado groups bested the F-14B (I think) over the med.
F/A-18s as well I believe, this was 90s so probably not Super Hornets though
I’m biased towards Kyushu, sorry.
f14b mustve been held back in some way as it shouldve been able to obliterate the tornado from very far away
The F-14s avionics were pretty old by this point, the Tornado would have had it beat at range so long as they knew how to avoid the Phoenix (if they even bothered using it)
The Tornado made up for the abysmal flight envelope by having incredibly good avionics, things like the radar and ECM were virtually unrivalled, particularly by older aircraft like the F-14 (if the radar worked).
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AN/AWG-9 was an incredibly powerful radar, but its development traces back to the 60s. By the time the Tornado was in service the AN/AWG-9 could be jammed/negated, and not to mention the Foxhunter radar was extremely impressive as well.
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Superior tactics, combined with the Tornados Radar
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wouldnt something like the EF-111A, or TEWS on F-15E outclass it?
How Sly RAF Tornado Crews Repeatedly Killed U.S. Navy F-14s And F/A-18s In Training
If anyone is interested
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That is also incorrect. F-15Es hit Airfield H-2.
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and then the really funny thing is that the FA2s kicked the F3s arses all the time :D
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Not before Tornados did, I have the book on my desk about the Tornado operations in the Gulf
You said the USAF didn’t attempt to hit airfields. The USAF did hit airfields.