Hobby Boss 1/48 Tornado IDS Kit

In 1968, operators of the F-104 including West Germany, Italy, Holland, Belgium and Canada put a group together to think about a replacement for the Starfighter. This would have to be a multi-role aircraft, something the Starfighter never was. That group was also joined by Britain but in the end, the deal to build the new Multi-Role Combat Aircraft was signed between Britain (British Aerospace), West Germany (MBB) and Italy (Alenia Aeronautica). The partners formed Panavia Aircraft in 1969 and each partner would be responsible for completing different parts of the airframe.

The Tornado was originally designed to perform the role of a supersonic low-level attack aircraft that would be able to take off and land in short distances. The swing wing solution was selected for the need to fly supersonic but also have good slow speed performance. The IDS variant first flew in 1974 and the first deliveries started in 1979 with a total of 322 IDS Tornado deliveries to Germany (including the Marineflieger variants), 99 to Italy, 228 to Britain and 96 deliveries to Saudi Arabia. The German Tornado saw action in Kosovo. The British GR.1 and Italian IDS Tornadoes saw action in the Gulf wars. Another Tornado customer is Saudi Arabia.