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| Panavia Tornado ECR |
Militarymedia.net - Based on the Tornado IDS design, the Tornado ECR (Electronic Combat and Reconnaissance) is a specialized SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses) and reconnaissance aircraft. It was instantly converted from the IDS Tornado design, its flight performance data is basically the same. He can also use his troublemaker and surveillance equipment for a variety of other missions, including general enemy communication interruptions.
The ECR Tornado can carry most of the same weapons as the IDS version, but is usually armed with an anti-radiation missile, usually the AGM-88 HARM. The ECR Luftwaffe was the only Tornado production model that did not have weaponry, but the Italian ECR was armed with the same 27 mm Mauser BK.27 mm gun as used on the Tornado ADV and IDS models.
Reconnaissance equipment built into the ECR Luftwaffe is not integrated into the Italian ECR, with Aeronautica Militare preferring externally carried equipment. Another structural difference is that the ECR Luftwaffe has an RB.199 Mk.105 engine rather than the Mk.103s, which previously had a slightly higher thrust output.
A total of 52 Tornado ECR were produced, with the first shipment made on May 21, 1990. 35 is a new manufacture for the German Luftwaffe, while the 16 acquired by Aeronautica Militare Italia were modified from the existing IDS fuselage. The two countries were also the only ECR operators available, in mid-2014. The RAF did not select a dedicated ECR, and instead operated IDS and ADV models for SEAD and Reconnaissance missions. The Royal Saudi Air Force has also not obtained an ECR, and has primarily used the F-15S Strike Eagle for SEAD and Reconnaissance missions.
The ECR Tornado was flown by the Luftwaffe and Aeronautica Militare during the Kosovo War and the Afghanistan War. It reportedly succeeded in both conflicts, although many of the bait targets were attacked by the ECR in Kosovo, while the rest of afghanistan's air defenses in 2001 offered little resistance. The future of ecr in Luftwaffe services is also unclear; The German government has begun to dramatically reduce the inventory of the Tornado Luftwaffe, and a relatively rare ECR would seem like a freak.
The ECR Tornado unit costs about $50 Million, but the Tornado family of aircraft is no longer manufactured.
