German Tornado upgrade on track as laser JDAM tests near

The German air force is exhibiting one of its newly upgraded Panavia Tornado strike aircraft at the show, with the type to remain in frontline use until at least 2025.

One of three aircraft to have been returned to Luftwaffe use in late June following the completion of ASSTA 3.0 modernisation work led by Cassidian, the Tornado is assigned to the Büchel-based Fighter Bomber Wing 33.

A total of 85 aircraft are due to be modified under the ASSTA programme, with the last of these to be completed in 2018. Five have been handed over so far, with deliveries running at a rate of one per month.

 Work conducted under the upgrade includes adding a Saab radar warning receiver below the forward fuselage, a digital moving map sourced from the Eurofighter Typhoon programme, a digital video and data recorder, and a Saturn radio.

A new display also enables the pilot to see imagery from the aircraft's targeting pod for the first time. Crucially, it also introduces the hardware and basic software for the Multifunctional Information Distribution System (MIDS)/Link 16 datalink.

"What the air force will see is a huge leap forward in technology," says Thomas Beck, programme manager for the ASSTA effort.

Another key enhancement is the integration of Boeing's GBU-54 laser-guided JDAM. Five of the 226kg (500lb) weapons will be released over Sweden's Vidsel test range next month as part of an operational test and evaluation activity involving four aircraft.

Full integration of the MIDS equipment will come with a subsequent ASSTA 3.1 phase in 2015. This will also replace obsolete displays in the rear cockpit and introduce new chaff and flare dispensers to further boost self-protection.

UK Tornado fleet to retire in 2019, says BAE

Royal Air Force operations with the Panavia Tornado GR4 are to conclude before the end of this decade, with the Eurofighter Typhoon and Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II to assume its duties.

"The out-of-service date for the UK Tornado fleet has been confirmed by the MoD [Ministry of Defence] as March 2019," BAE Systems said in its half-year results statement on 2 August.

Flightglobal's MiliCAS database shows that the RAF's active inventory of Tornado GR4s totals 124 aircraft. These are flown from its Lossiemouth air base in Scotland and from Marham in Norfolk, with a detachment also forward-deployed at Kandahar airfield in Afghanistan.

In July, defence secretary Philip Hammond said the UK's future fleet of short take-off and vertical landing F-35Bs are expected to be based at RAF Marham, but a final decision had yet to be taken. Land-based operations with the stealthy type are scheduled to commence in the UK in 2018.

Meanwhile, BAE says it has delivered 73 upgraded aircraft under its Tornado Sustainment Programme deal with the Royal Saudi Air Force, including 12 which were returned to service in the first six months of 2012.

"The weapons element of the programme will see increasing deliveries in the second half of the year," it adds.

Germany receives first ASSTA 3.0 Tornados from Cassidian

The German Air Force has taken delivery of the first two Avionics Software System Tornado Ada (ASSTA) 3.0 upgraded Tornado combat aircraft from Cassidian.

The delivery follows several months of retrofitting, certification and acceptance trials conducted by Cassidian at its facility in Manching, Germany, in cooperation with Bundeswehr Technical Centre 61.

Cassidian Air Services business line head, Erik Jensen, said: "With ASSTA 3.0, the German Tornado fleet is being adapted to meet the Armed Forces's current requirement for all-weather, high-precision and network-centric capabilities."

The ASSTA 3.0 upgrade involves the integration of a network-centric multifunctional information distribution system (MIDS), a radio device, a digital video and voice recorder (DVDR), and integrated laser joint direct attack munition (LJDAM).

MIDS uses the Link 16 communication standard (STANAG 5516) to enable the crew to exchange tactical data such as exchange flight, mission and navigation data, in addition to voice commands with other aircraft and ground stations.

Cassidian is currently developing the ASSTA 3.1 version of the aircraft's electronic systems, which includes replacement of monochrome TV/tabs with colour displays and integration of the MIDS basic package with a full mission control/situation display.

Around 85 operational Tornado aircraft are scheduled to be upgraded to ASSTA 3.0 standard by 2018 and the new aircraft will be used by the German Air Force's Fighter Bomber Wing 33.

With support from Alenia Aeronautica and BAE Systems, Cassidian will carry out the Tornado upgrade project which includes providing avionics, communication system, flight control computer and the aircraft's entire computer system on behalf of Tornado manufacturer Panavia Aircraft.