Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1308154
back in 2013. The jets received a new INS/GPS navigation system, a new communications suite featuring MIDS terminals for the Link-16 datalink, new cockpit architecture with new color MFDs, and the key upgrade - new radio receivers. New HARM anti-radiation missiles and JDAM bomb units have been integrat- ed on the Italian Tornado ECRs as well. The modernized aircraft have been reintroduced into service in 2018. Aeronautica Militare op- erates 12 Tornado ECRs at the moment. The upgrades listed above have made it possible to enhance the Tornado's capabilities so that they match the requirements of the contem- porary battlespace. The Italians have also assumed that the jets would be decommis- sioned in 2025. F-35A/Bs would replace the Tornado in the strike role. Alongside the F-35 induction program, the Italians are also upgrading their Eurofighters. As in case of other nations, the upgrade is pro- gressing along two separate paths. 26 Tranche 1 jets undergo the less advanced update - on average they have accumulated 2,000 hours of flight time over 12-16 years in service. All of the aircraft meet the Drop 3 standard as of now. Any potential Drop 4 up- grade effort is currently an option that is be- ing scrutinized. The modernization of Tranche 2 and Tranche 3 F-2000s is to include radar replacement. These aircraft are expected to receive an AESA sensor. Whereas Italy is re- sponsible for the development process relat- ed to the E-SCAN ECRS Mk 2 radar. The very same radar is expected to be integrated on the British Typhoons. The weapons inventory is also going to be broadened with further air-to- surface weapons, including the Storm Shadow missiles, so that the Eurofighters could, jointly with the F-35, take over the missions of the Tornads. www.fragoutmag.com