Post by Dave Homewood on Jun 8, 2023 19:04:32 GMT 12
This article appeared in The Press, dated 4th of February 1982:
So did the Tornado actually seriously come under assessment for the RNZAF when they were looking to replace the Skyhawk in the mid-1980s (and ended buying ten more and up upgrading the fleet)?
Top jet for R.N.Z.A.F.
PA Wellington
The Panavia Tornado, an ultra-modern fighter-bomber, made jointly by Britain, West Germany and Italy, will be among strike aircraft considered when New Zealand thinks about the future of its ageing Skyhawks, says the Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice-Marshal Ewan Jamieson.
The time would obviously come when New Zealand would have to consider what it would do with the Skyhawks, which have made up the country’s strike capacity for 10 years.
“There is no doubt at all that we will have to consider the Tornado and aircraft of that type — but that time is not today,” he said after talks in Wellington yesterday with his British counterpart, Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Beetham. The Royal Air Force has ordered 385 of the supersonic, swing-wing Tornadoes. West Germany and Italy have also ordered the Tornado. Panavia is the consortium of British, West German and Italian aircraft makers building the type.
PA Wellington
The Panavia Tornado, an ultra-modern fighter-bomber, made jointly by Britain, West Germany and Italy, will be among strike aircraft considered when New Zealand thinks about the future of its ageing Skyhawks, says the Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice-Marshal Ewan Jamieson.
The time would obviously come when New Zealand would have to consider what it would do with the Skyhawks, which have made up the country’s strike capacity for 10 years.
“There is no doubt at all that we will have to consider the Tornado and aircraft of that type — but that time is not today,” he said after talks in Wellington yesterday with his British counterpart, Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Beetham. The Royal Air Force has ordered 385 of the supersonic, swing-wing Tornadoes. West Germany and Italy have also ordered the Tornado. Panavia is the consortium of British, West German and Italian aircraft makers building the type.
So did the Tornado actually seriously come under assessment for the RNZAF when they were looking to replace the Skyhawk in the mid-1980s (and ended buying ten more and up upgrading the fleet)?
