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 final production version of the Tornado ADV is the F3 variant. The Tornado F3 is fitted with an extended afterburner, which increases the fuselage length by 14in (36cm). Other changes are the provision for four, not two, AIM-9 Sidewinders, addition of a second INS and incorporation of a spin prevention and incidence limitation system (SPILS) for ‘carefree handling’.