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A new era of air capability as the UK bids farewell to Tornado

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BAE Systems Corporate Blog

Published

01 April 2019

The end of March 2019 saw the iconic Tornado GR4 retire from service with the Royal Air Force, bringing to an end decades of operations for the UK.

At BAE Systems, we are proud to have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the RAF, with hundreds of our people playing a pivotal role in decades of support, training and upgrades for the RAF’s Tornado fleet. As Tornado officially goes out of service in the UK, the latest standard of Typhoon will take over, becoming the cornerstone of UK combat air capability.

RS91160_AOC 1 GROUP_1920 1080

RS91160_AOC 1 GROUP_1920 1080

Here, Air Vice Marshal Harv Smyth, AOC of 1 Group for the Royal Air Force, discusses his personal memories of Tornado, the importance of industry and the air force working together and, as UK air combat capability ushers in a new era, the impact of Project Centurion – the upgrade programme which has readied Typhoon to be the backbone of the RAF for decades to come.

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