Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

RAF Lossiemouth marks Gulf War

Tornado GR4 painted in Op Granby clours to mark the 25th Anniversary of Tornado support on Operations
Tornado GR4 painted in Op Granby clours to mark the 25th Anniversary of Tornado support on Operations

RAF Lossiemouth has redesigned one of its ground attack fleet in honour one of the air force’s most successful operations in recent history.

Personnel at the Moray airbase have marked the 25th anniversary of the liberation of Kuwait by painting a Tornado GR4 in distinctive Gulf War “desert pink” colours.

The new design scheme has also been mounted to celebrate the aircraft’s continuous service since that time.

On Sunday, February 28, the exact date upon which Saddam Hussein’s forces withdrew from Kuwait, the fast jet will play a key role in a ceremony honouring UK troops’ efforts during the conflict.

The desert pink craft, numbered ZG750, will perform a fly-past during an event at the National Arboretum in Staffordshire.

The tenured craft, which now serves with the XV(R) squadron at Lossiemouth, saw action in the Gulf War.

It carries 11 “battle honours” on its tail, recalling the Tornado’s service on operations worldwide since 1991.

Air Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier, a former RAF Lossiemouth station commander, said redesigning the jet represented a “wonderful” tribute.

The Chief of the Air Staff (Designate) said: “Having flown the Tornado on operations, it is wonderful to see this aircraft in a paint scheme marking 25 years of almost constant deployed operations for the Tornado force.

“It has consistently been at the forefront of the RAF’s attack capability and continues to make an enormous contribution today on operations in the Middle East against Daesh, operating alongside Typhoon, and will continue to do so until its planned exit from service.”

The Tornado was introduced in 1979, and has been modified over the following decades to meet battlefield conditions.

Today’s Tornado GR4 jets descend from the Tornado F3 and GR1 bombers which were among the first allied aircraft to launch operations in Kuwait during January 1991.

Every year since then, Tornado aircraft have served worldwide in humanitarian, reconnaissance and strike roles.

The jets carry improved precision guided weapons like Paveway IV bombs and Brimstone missiles, as well as cutting-edge RAPTOR and Litening III surveillance and targeting pods.

Recent deployments include Libya, Nigeria and Afghanistan, and Tornado GR4s are currently flying in Iraq and Syria as part of a global coalition to help defeat the Daesh terrorist group.