a faint echo

This Panavia Tornado designated IDS registration 43+74 serial number 4074 wears the markings of the German Navy, 1. Marinefliegergeschwader or German 1st Naval Wing. This Panavia Tornado designated IDS registration 43+74 serial number 4074 wears the markings of the German Navy, 1. Marinefliegergeschwader or German 1st Naval Wing. In 1956, the British in response to the Cold War largely helped re-create German Naval Aviation. Birtish Naval Defense meant closing off the treacherous Baltic Sea against the Soviet Navy. A re-armed Germany again served as a buffer state for the West.

At one time, Marineflieger operated 112 Tornados for its anti-shipping and marine reconnaissance roles. The Tornados replaced Starfighter. The heavier Tornado had half the range of the Starfighter but none of the baggage. The German Navy distributed the Tornado between its two air wings.

For the reconnaissance mission, the Tornado fitted pods with panoramic optical cameras and an infrared line scan. The Tornado used AS.34 Kormoran anti-ship missile as well as unguided bombs and BL755 cluster munitions, and later by AGM-88 HARM anti-radar missiles.

The Berlin Wall fell. Germany, eager for reunification signed the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe of 1990. Terms of the treaty included the reduction of its armed forces. In 1994 and later in 2005, the first and second German Naval Aviation wings disbanded.

Currently the Marinefliegerkommando or German Naval Aviation Branch has 2,100 personnel stationed in Nordholz Naval Airbase on the North Sea in Lower Saxony. The Marinefliegerkommando operates 55 aircraft. The Marinefliegerkommando has helicopters, unmanned aircraft, prop planes and no jets.

This aircraft represents a faint echo of German Naval Aviation.