Turns out, on their first deployment to Afghanistan, they did not fire a single shot or drop a single weapon, but on their second tour they used every weapon in their arsenal.
It also turns out that the lovely Poppy is the person who "fights" the aircraft - she's in contact with the ground controllers and chooses and sets up the weapons for an attack. She then tells the pilot where to fly the aircraft and tells him when to fire the weapon(s)
I had a good look round the Tornado and although they're getting on a bit, they still pack a helluva punch - and they have a thermal to die for.
Not surprisingly they were a bit coy when I asked them about l lens size and sensor resolution
Outside the squadron offices they have full size replicas of Barnes Wallis's bouncing bomb and also one of the "Tallboy" 12,000 lb bombs used to sink the Tirpitz.
Inside they have lots of stuff commemorating the Dambusters raid and bits from the Tirpitz.
Best laugh was when I was looking at some old books and found a Haynes service manual for a Lancaster!!!!
Cheers
Bruce
