Tornado

The LF5 Tornado is the Grand Army Luftwaffe's multirole fighter.

Some have criticized the Tornado as a "flying turkey", larded up with features at the expense of maneuverability. The Tornado's expensive electronics, large missile bays, and big fuel tanks all take up a lot of weight; this is a big plane for a fighter. With its powerful engine and delta wings it can attain fast straightline velocity, but it is a poor turner in a closerange dogfight. In air-to-air combat, the Tornado excels at long range, using its superior sensors, the GA's brilliant missiles, and data fusion from the Seer Combat Information System to attack targets before they even know the Tornado is there.

Like all current-gen GA weapons systems, the Tornado places a strong focus on modular weapon systems that can be easily swapped for the mission profile, allowing it take on a variety of roles. Although the GA Spitfire is still king of close air support, the Tornado can easily be fitted with ground attack munitions, as well as maritime patrol gear, improved radar and sensors, and of course an air superiority loadout. The Luftwaffe describes the Tornado as a truly flexible "omnifighter", but to its critics the needs of fulfilling so many different roles forced design compromises and drove up the cost.

The Luftwaffe has come under pressure to drop the Tornado in favor of alternatives such as the cheaper Kuat Quickdraw, or develop a true "aerospace" fighter such as the Epoch (perhaps even simply using the Epoch's design.) The Luftwaffe hasn't helped matters by insisting on maintaining an aging Tacfortress fleet and suffering major development problems with the Cyclonus Aerial Attack Mecha.