Navigation Question

[FireFox]

I was wondering if the Tornado can be operated by the pilot or will they need the navigation officer?

[Doug Robertson]

It depends on the flight profile flown. The Navigator is also the Weapons System operator. The Tornado Multi-Role Combat Aircraft IDS was designed as a nap of the earth strike/ground attack aircraft with all of Europe's elevations programmed in for any mission course to be flown, in order to avoid an adversary's RADAR detection. On auto-flight mission, the crew is "along for the ride' with a pilot override capability just in case.

The Tornado ADV is an Air Defense Variant-fighter/interceptor. A variant for Germany is the Tornado ECR Electronic Combat Reconnaisance with electronic contermeasures.

Unrelated to your question but important to know about the Panavia Tornado IDS-it uses miniature detonating cord in zig-zag patterns on the canopy surface to fracture the canopy simultaneous with ejection seat ejection because of the low altitude missions, much like in the VTOL Harrier. When the Tornado canopy fractures in crew-ejection selection condition, the measured sound pressure level within the cockpits re 0.0002 microbar is 162 dB, so wear a good noise-attenuating helmet fitted to your skull. Expect to survive, but with reduced auditory acuity!