Panavia is a consortium formed by the governments of Germany, the United Kingdom, and Italy in 1968 to design a replacement for the F-104 Starfighter. Initial design work began in 1970 and resulted in a two-seat variable sweep wing aircraft designed for both high speed low altitude performance and low speed, short runway operation. One of the more unusual features of the design is the inclusion of thrust reversers. The Tornado was only the second fighter in the world to use thrust reversers to improve short-field performance. The first prototype aircraft was flown in 1974 and operational aircraft were delivered to the Royal Air Force and German Luftwaffe in 1979. A total of 992 aircraft were built for the German Air Force and Navy, Royal Air Force, Italian Air Force, and the Royal Saudi Air Force. The last aircraft was delivered in 1998.
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