RAF Tornadoes: Proud legacy of front-line service

RAF Lossiemouth, the largest fast-jet base in the RAF, is home to three operational squadrons of Tornado GR4 fighter bombers.

They are:

• 12 (Bomber) Squadron, formed in February 1915. The squadron has been flying Tornado GR4s since April 2001 when the jets replaced the Tornado GR1s.

• XV Squadron, the Tornado GR4 operational conversion unit, whose main role is the training of pilots and weapon systems operators.

• 617 Squadron, nicknamed “The Dambusters”. Pilots from the famous squadron took part in the vital bombing raid on Mohne, Eder and Sorpe dams in Germany in 1943.

Flying the new GR4s the 617 Squadron carried out the first attacks with the RAF’s “Storm Shadow” precision cruise missile as part of Operation Telic in 2003 during the invasion of Iraq.

In March 2011, several Tornados flew 3,000-mile strike missions against targets inside war torn Libya in what Defence Secretary Liam Fox said had been “the longest range bombing mission conducted by the RAF since the Falklands conflict.”

The aircraft are gradually being replaced by the new Eurofighter Typhoons. However, there are plans to maintain the Tornado GR4 in service until 2018.