Italian Airforce Panavia Tornado IDS MM.55000 code 'I-42' seen taxiing out for a training flight at RAF Cottesmore

The Military Collection - Fighters
From a collection of some 430 Military slides that I've had scanned from my archives. Hope they will provide some enjoyment and nostalgia from a bygone age.

In 1982, I made a visit to RAF Cottesmore to check out the (then new) Panavia Tornados that were based there for pilot training.

Here is one of the scarcer Italian aircraft, MM-55000 coded 'I-42' heading for takeoff on a pilot training flight. There was a much smaller allocation of Italian aircraft at the TTTE compared with the West German and British aircraft.

MM-55000 - in the early 1980s the Italian Airforce ordered 100 Panavia Tornados - 88 strike aircraft and 12 dual-control trainers. These followed development aircraft serialled MM-7001.

The Tri-National Tornado Training Establishment (TTTE) was a multinational air unit based at RAF Cottesmore in Rutland, England, from 1981 to 1999. It performed training on the Panavia Tornado for the Royal Air Force, Luftwaffe and Italian Air Force. Initially, pilots received four weeks of training on the ground, followed by nine weeks in the air. See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri-National_Tornado_Training_Estab...

Italian Air Force Panavia Tornado - The first Italian prototype made its maiden flight on 5 December 1975 from Turin. The Aeronautica Militare received 100 Tornado IDSs (known as the A-200 in Italian service). 16 A-200s were subsequently converted to the ECR configuration; the first Italian Tornado ECR (known as the EA-200) was delivered on 27 February 1998. As a stop-gap measure for 10 years the Aeronautica Militare additionally operated 24 Tornado ADVs in the air defence role, which were leased from the RAF to cover the service gap between the retirement of the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter and the introduction of the Eurofighter Typhoon. In 2000, with delays to the Eurofighter, the Aeronautica Militare began a search for another interim fighter. While the Tornado was considered, any long term extension to the lease would have involved upgrade to RAF CSP standard and thus was not considered cost effective. In February 2001, Italy announced its arrangement to lease 35 F-16s from the United States under the PEACE CAESAR programme. The Aeronautica Militare returned its Tornado ADVs to the RAF, with the final aircraft arriving at RAF St Athan on 7 December 2004. One aircraft was retained for static display purposes at the Italian Air Force Museum. in 2010 a major upgrade and life extension programme was initiated, to provide new digital displays, Link 16 communications capability, night-vision goggles compatibility, and several other upgrades. In the long term, it is planned to replace the Tornado IDS/ECR fleet in Italian service with the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II. More on the Panavia Tornado here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panavia_Tornado

Taken with a Soviet made Zenith TTL camera and 300mm lens.

You can see a random selection of my aviation memories here: www.flickriver.com/photos/heathrowjunkie/random/

Taken in: UK / England / Thistleton (show map)

Taken on: September 3, 1982

Tags:

Tornado

RAF Cottesmore

TTTE

Panavia

Panavia Tornado

MM.55000

Italian Airforce

AMI

Aeronautica Militare Italiana « less

Sets appears in: • Aviation Scene 1982 • Military Fighters & Bombers

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