With almost 40 years of Royal Air Force service coming to an end, the iconic Tornado jet is undertaking a series of finale flypasts around the UK.

For three days starting today, members of the public will be able to see a formation of the long-serving fast jets undertake a tour of the UK that will overfly most RAF bases and other key sites associated with the aircraft. Taking part in the flypast is the boss of IX(B) Squadron, Wing Commander James Heeps.

First entering service in 1979, the fast jets has been used in operations across the world, most recently bombarding Daesh to push the terrorist group back through Syria and Iraq. After over four years on Operation Shader, on 5 February this year the aircraft finally returned home from operations for good.

In the immediate term, the Tornadoes will be replaced by new weapons capabilities for the Typhoon jet. Under ‘Project Centurion’, worth £425m over the past three years, the Typhoon now has deep strike cruise missile Storm Shadow, air-to-air missile Meteor and the precision attack missile Brimstone at their disposal.

The RAF’s new fleet of F-35 Lightning jets will form the backbone of the UK’s combat air fleet alongside the Typhoon jets in the coming years.

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