Panavia Tornado Combat Aircraft

The first Tornado prototype made its first flight on 14 August 1974 from Manching airbase, in what was then West Germany. Deliveries of production Tornados began on 27 July 1979. The total number of Tornados delivered to the German Air Force numbered 247, including 35 ECR variants. Originally the Tornados equipped five fighter-bomber wings (Geschwader), with one tactical conversion unit and four front line wings, replacing the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. When one of the two Tornado wings of the German Navy was disbanded in 1994, its aircraft were used to re-equip a Luftwaffe's reconnaissance wing formerly equipped with RF-4E Phantoms.
As many as 15 German Tornados undertook combat operations as a part of NATO's campaign during the Bosnian War; this was the first combat operation for the Luftwaffe since World War II. The Tornados, operating from in Piacenza, Italy, flew reconnaissance missions to survey damage inflicted by previous strikes and to scout targets for other aircraft to strike. These reconnaissance missions were reportedly responsible for a significant improvement in target selection throughout the campaign.
In 1999, German and Italian Tornados participated in Operation Allied Force, NATO's military operation against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The ECR aircraft would escort various allies' aircraft while carrying several AGM-88 HARM missiles to counter attempted use of radar against the allied aircraft. During the Kosovo hostilities, Germany's IDS Tornados would routinely conduct reconnaissance flights to identify both enemy ground forces and civilian refugees within Yugoslavia.
In June 2007, a pair of Luftwaffe Tornado were controversially used to fly reconnaissance flights over an anti-globalisation demonstration during the 33rd G8 summit in Heiligendamm. Following the mission, the German Defence Ministry admitted one aircraft had broken the minimum flying altitude and that mistakes were made in the handling of security of the Summit.