Discussion
Dr Jekyll said:
I always thought the ADV Tornados were Grey and the GR versions had old fashioned green stripy camouflage. But the Tornados off to Libya were grey.
Are they all grey now? If so, does this represent different priorities (over the desert not down the valleys) or some other reason?
I think some GR1Bs were painted overall grey before teh tornado fleet was updated to GR4 standard where the rest were painted grey.Are they all grey now? If so, does this represent different priorities (over the desert not down the valleys) or some other reason?
So id say the GRs were painted grey starting from about 1996/7.
I have no real idea though.
Dr Jekyll said:
I always thought the ADV Tornados were Grey and the GR versions had old fashioned green stripy camouflage. But the Tornados off to Libya were grey.
Are they all grey now? If so, does this represent different priorities (over the desert not down the valleys) or some other reason?
The green cammo was intended to reduce the visibility of the aircraft when seen from above, they now operate at medium altitude hence they are about the same colour as the ADV was.Are they all grey now? If so, does this represent different priorities (over the desert not down the valleys) or some other reason?
Boring Mojo factoid.
I once spent a weekend working with the painters at the then Aircraft Servicing Flight at RAF Laarbruch [**ok feeding them tea/coffee and strammer max] as they completed the wrap round scheme under the slats and flaps on the "brand new" GR1 aircraft delivered from Warton with these areas painted gloss white--bit of a giveaway at low level when "manouver" was selected.......oh yeah, I was a singly too. so didn't have too much to loose working the weekend either....mind you good piss up afterwords mind, off base and round some establishments just over the border....
I once spent a weekend working with the painters at the then Aircraft Servicing Flight at RAF Laarbruch [**ok feeding them tea/coffee and strammer max] as they completed the wrap round scheme under the slats and flaps on the "brand new" GR1 aircraft delivered from Warton with these areas painted gloss white--bit of a giveaway at low level when "manouver" was selected.......oh yeah, I was a singly too. so didn't have too much to loose working the weekend either....mind you good piss up afterwords mind, off base and round some establishments just over the border....
- OK, I was a lecky who had the auths both to run the APU, connect the rigs and drop the slats/flaps.
Originally, the undersides of the grey/green camouflage aircraft would have been light aircraft grey. That was the standard camoflage used on all strike aircraft in the 70s. (Vulcan, Jaguar, Phantom. Buccaneer, Hunter, Harrier GR1/3 etc). It had originally been a gloss scheme but was toned down to matt from around 1972. Wrap around started to be applied in the late 1970s and the light aircraft grey undersides disappeared.
Simpo Two said:
As they only seemed to be used in desert environments these days (desert = oil = Johnny Arab) why are they not all sand colour, as I'm sure they were in Desert Storm?
Less of an issue if you are not expecting much air to air opposition.The Desert Pink applied in 1991 was temporary and actually wore off quite rapidly in the few weeks it was on the aircraft.
GW1 was most noticeable for the nose art applied to the RAF aircraft. Viz was a popular source for this.
The Grey-Green Camoflage scheme was abandonned as it is designed to camoflage the aircraft against the ground when seen from above but the flip side is it stands out like a sore thumb against the sky from below!
The major threat to aircraft is from the ground not the sky, this was a lesson learned in the Gulf war I believe.
Since then the camoflage priority has changed to concealing the aircraft from troops on the ground with handheld launchers, SAM's and AA implacements rather than from fighter aircraft in the air that can see them long before they come in to visual range with there electronics anyway.
The F.3 Tornados wear a much lighter overall grey scheme similar to the Typhoon although there are few if any F.3 Tornados left in service, I believe they are being retired this year.
The Tornado GR.4 has a darker overall grey scheme than the F.3 and has a stockier appearance being shorter in the nose and tail than the F.3
Tornado GR4
Tornado F3
The major threat to aircraft is from the ground not the sky, this was a lesson learned in the Gulf war I believe.
Since then the camoflage priority has changed to concealing the aircraft from troops on the ground with handheld launchers, SAM's and AA implacements rather than from fighter aircraft in the air that can see them long before they come in to visual range with there electronics anyway.
The F.3 Tornados wear a much lighter overall grey scheme similar to the Typhoon although there are few if any F.3 Tornados left in service, I believe they are being retired this year.
The Tornado GR.4 has a darker overall grey scheme than the F.3 and has a stockier appearance being shorter in the nose and tail than the F.3
Tornado GR4
Tornado F3
Edited by Roberty on Wednesday 23 March 13:46
Roberty said:
The F.3 Tornados wear a much lighter overall grey scheme similar to the Typhoon although there are few if any F.3 Tornados left in service, I believe they are being retired this year.
According to the Inter-Web it appears the Tornado F.3 was retired from active service Yesterday!I guess the news had more pressing things to report.
Two F.3's are being retained for testing purposes by QinetiQ at Boscome down the rest are being scrapped for parts.
Eric Mc said:
Simpo Two said:
As they only seemed to be used in desert environments these days (desert = oil = Johnny Arab) why are they not all sand colour, as I'm sure they were in Desert Storm?
The Desert Pink applied in 1991 was temporary and actually wore off quite rapidly in the few weeks it was on the aircraft.Eric Mc said:
Originally, the undersides of the grey/green camouflage aircraft would have been light aircraft grey. That was the standard camoflage used on all strike aircraft in the 70s. (Vulcan, Jaguar, Phantom. Buccaneer, Hunter, Harrier GR1/3 etc). It had originally been a gloss scheme but was toned down to matt from around 1972. Wrap around started to be applied in the late 1970s and the light aircraft grey undersides disappeared.
The Lightning F6 camo scheme had a bare metal underside.SlipStream77 said:
Eric Mc said:
Originally, the undersides of the grey/green camouflage aircraft would have been light aircraft grey. That was the standard camoflage used on all strike aircraft in the 70s. (Vulcan, Jaguar, Phantom. Buccaneer, Hunter, Harrier GR1/3 etc). It had originally been a gloss scheme but was toned down to matt from around 1972. Wrap around started to be applied in the late 1970s and the light aircraft grey undersides disappeared.
The Lightning F6 camo scheme had a bare metal underside.
Eric Mc said:
SlipStream77 said:
Eric Mc said:
Originally, the undersides of the grey/green camouflage aircraft would have been light aircraft grey. That was the standard camoflage used on all strike aircraft in the 70s. (Vulcan, Jaguar, Phantom. Buccaneer, Hunter, Harrier GR1/3 etc). It had originally been a gloss scheme but was toned down to matt from around 1972. Wrap around started to be applied in the late 1970s and the light aircraft grey undersides disappeared.
The Lightning F6 camo scheme had a bare metal underside.When some the Lightning fleet started to be painted in the various air defence grey schemes in the early 80's, they were painted all over - again except for the belly tanks though.
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