Panavia Tornado Combat Aircraft

The Tornado is capable of delivering air-launched nuclear weapons. In 1979, Britain considered replacing its Polaris submarines with either the Trident submarines or alternatively the Tornado as the main bearer of its nuclear deterrent. Although the UK proceeded with Trident, several Tornado squadrons based in Germany were assigned to SACEUR to deter a major Soviet offensive with both conventional and nuclear weapons, namely the WE.177 nuclear bomb, which was retired in 1998. German and Italian Tornados are capable of delivering US B61 nuclear bombs, which are made available through NATO.
• Engine
Britain considered the selection of Rolls-Royce to develop the advanced engine for the MRCA to be essential, and was strongly opposed to adopting an engine from an American manufacturer, to the point where the UK might have withdrawn over the issue. In September 1969, Rolls-Royce's RB 199 engine was selected to power the MRCA. One advantage over the US competition was that a technology transfer between the partner nations had been agreed; the engine was to be developed and manufactured by a joint company, Turbo-Union. The programme was delayed by Rolls-Royce's entry into receivership in 1971, the nature of the multinational collaboration process helped avoid major disruption of the Tornado programme. Research from the supersonic airliner Concorde contributed to the development and final design of the RB.199 and of the engine control units.
To provide the desired performance several features were used in the RB.199. To operate efficiently across a wide range of conditions and speeds up to Mach 2, the RB.199 and several other engines make use of variable intake ramps to control the air flow. The hydraulic system is pressurised by syphoning power from both or either operational engine; the hydraulics are completely contained within the airframe rather than integrating with the engine to improve safety and maintainability. In case of double-engine, or double-generator, failure, the Tornado has a single-use battery capable of operating the fuel pump and hydraulics for up to 13 minutes.