Tornado F3 In Focus - A Navigator's Eye On Britain's Last Interceptor

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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.  Adapted from a multi-national design and planned by committee, it was 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. The author, a former Tornado F3 navigator, tells the story from an insider’s perspective from the early days as one of the first instructors on the Operational Conversion Unit, through its development and operational testing, to its demise.  He reflects on its capabilities and deficiencies and analyses why the aircraft was mostly under-estimated by opponents.  Although many books have already described the Tornado F3, the author’s involvement in its development will provide a unique insight into this complex and misunderstood aircraft programme and dispel some of the myths. This is the author’s 3^rd book and, like the others, captures the story in pictures taken in the cockpit and around the squadron.