Developed from the Tornado IDS interdictor for wholly British requirements, the Tornado ADV (Air Defence Variant) was optimized for long-range interception. The primary missions were the protection of NATO’s northern and western approaches, and long-range air defence of UK maritime forces.

Design of the ADV was based around the carriage of four under fuselage BAe Sky Flash radar homing AAM’s, resulting in a 4ft. 5.5 in. (1.36m) longer airframe, which provides extra fuel space. Only the port 27mm cannon is retained and the refuelling probe is housed internally (unlike the IDS’s detachable bolt-on unit) and only inboard wing pylons are fitted.

The updated production version of the Tornado ADV is the F2 variant. This version had provision for only two AIM-9 Sidewinder AAM's and a single FIN1010 INS. This early ADV version initially flew with ballast in place of delayed radars (the so-called 'Blue Circle' radar). The short-lived F2's have not seen squadron service other than the OCU.