Through a collection of dramatic and informative photographs, supplemented by cutaway illustrations, this book highlights the agility and flexibility of this dedicated RAF aircraft. Throughout the course of its career, it has formed the backbone of the RAF across its many different theaters of operation. Utilized in a strike, anti-aircraft, air superiority, air defense, reconnaissance, electronic warfare and fighter-bomber capacity, this aircraft type has enjoyed an immensely varied career. Each aspect is illustrated in this photographic celebration. The book includes photographs by the author and a select number of other amateur photographers, with the vast majority of photographs _ never previously published _ taken low level around the hills and mountains of England, Scotland and Wales. This impressive new photographic publication will be presented in full colour and is sure to be prized as a collector's piece amongst fans of the genre.

The Tornado F2 had a troubled introduction to service. Unwanted by its crews and procured as a political imperative, it was blighted by failures in the acquisition system. It was adapted from a multi-national design, planned by committee, and developed to counter a threat which disappeared. Modified rapidly before it could be sent to war, the Tornado F3 eventually matured into a capable weapons system, but despite datalinks and new air-to-air weapons, its poor reputation sealed its fate. David Gledhill, a former Tornado F3 navigator, tells the story from an insider’s perspective of the early days as one of the first instructors on the Operational Conversion Unit, through the aircraft’s development and operational testing, to its demise. He reflects on the aircraft’s capabilities and deficiencies, and analyses why it was mostly under-estimated by opponents. Although many books have already described the Tornado F3 in detail, Gledhill’s involvement in its development provides a unique insight into this complex and misunderstood aircraft programme, dispelling some of the myths that have dogged its reputation for decades. This is Gledhill’s third book, and like the others, it captures the story in pictures taken in the cockpit and around the squadron. Illustrations: 123 b/w and 62 colour photographs

So formidable an opponent did the Iraqi airforce consider the F-14 that during the Iran-Iraq war, they ordered their pilots not to engage F-14s and the presence of one in an area was usually enough to empty it of Iraqi aircraft. Officially losses where tiny; only one F-14 was lost in aerial combat (to a MiG-21), one to a control problem and one downed by a ground-to-air missile. This book looks at the F-14's Iranian combat history and includes first hand accounts from the pilots themselves. It will consider key engagements and the central figures involved, illustrating the realities, successes and failures of the Iranian air campaign.

The epic story of the Tornado during Operation Desert Storm, by the bestselling author of Spitfire and Lancaster, who was himself shot down during that conflict

After the Gulf War of 1990, No Fly Zones (NFZ) were established over northern and southern Iraq and the Tornado GR 1 force stepped up to operations over the southern NFZ. The Tornado GR 4 took responsibility for RAF combat air operations in Afghanistan from the Harrier force in 2009, and in 2011 was involved in missions against the Gaddafi regime in Libya. The unique multirole capabilities of the aircraft enabled it to support ground operations with the Raptor reconnaissance pod, Brimstone missiles and Paveway IV laser-guided bombs until withdrawal in 2014. The Tornado GR 4 was also used for operations over Iraq and Syria against the ISIL terrorist organisation. Intensive air operations were flown between 2014 and 2019, when the Tornado GR 4 was finally withdrawn from RAF Service. This volume, written by former RAF pilot Michael Napier, provides detailed first-hand accounts of the missions undertaken by the Tornado crews during the most recent conflicts over the Middle East and the Balkans.