Senior Royal Air Force officers at Asian Aerospace have hit back at reports that the recently upgraded Panavia Tornado GR4 strike aircraft's bombing system doesn't work.
The BBC reports that the $1.6-billion upgrade being run by BAE Systems is behind schedule and its TIALD laser designating pod is unable to direct smart bombs to their targets. An unnamed RAF officer was quoted as saying: "We're spending £1 billion and we have ended up with an aircraft that is less capable than when we started."
"The GR4 upgrade programme was very ambitious and being run in phases" says Air Vice Marshal Jock Stirrup, assistant chief of the air staff. extremely pleased with it. It is always very challenging to upgrade an aircraft that is in-service and under a lot of operational pressure."
Source: Flight Daily News
