We may now be at the beginning of Airliner Season in Microsoft Flight Simulator, but that doesn’t stop other developers from working on their smaller airplane projects. One of those developers, Indiafoxtecho, has revealed this week another exciting military aircraft for MSFS: the Tornado!
Indiafoxtecho released the Su-31 just a couple of weeks ago, so the team is naturally looking into new projects to develop… even though we know they’re working on the Eurofighter and the Aermacchi MB-346. With the Tornado, the team now has another treasured military jet in the works, looking to expand simmers’ choices for fast, mean-looking airplanes.
A bit of history, for the unaware. The Panavia Tornado was the result of a collaborative European military project to create a fast, low-flying strike aircraft, capable of penetrating the enemy’s defenses at a time when the Cold War was in full swing. Three main variants were developed, with different roles: the IDS (Interdiction and Strike) fighter bomber, the ECR (Electronic Combat and Reconnaissance), and the ADV (Air Defense Variant) fighter.
The Tornado’s most distinctive feature is its “swing wings” which, not unlike the American F-14 Tomcat, could be opened wide for elevated lift during takeoffs and landings and swept back for improved aerodynamics during cruise.
Indiafoxtecho will be using the IDS variant as a base model, since the team has good documentation about that variant, with the necessary data to build a fairly authentic virtual model and simulation for MSFS. Other variants may also be feasible if Indiafoxtecho finds the resources to work on them.
To illustrate this announcement, Indiafoxtecho released the first teaser images of the Tornado in MSFS, showing the familiar airframe of this striking airplane, looking as badass as ever. Development is expected to take its time, so the developer warns us that a release date is not to be expected anytime soon. Considering their ongoing work with the two other aforementioned airplanes, we reckon the Tornado should only be with us sometime next year.
