Panavia Aircraft

Panavia Aircraft GmbH is the German company that the three Tornado partner states, West Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, set up to run the Tornado Multi Role Combat Aircraft project. It was established in 1969 by the British Aircraft Corporation, Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm and Fiat Aviazione, which became Aeritalia that year, and since its founding it has been based in Hallbergmoos in Upper Bavaria. Its partner companies are Airbus Defence and Space with 42.5 percent, BAE Systems Military Air and Information with 42.5 percent and Leonardo with 15 percent. The development of the Tornado RB199 turbofans was handled by a separate multinational company, Turbo-Union, based in Derby, and the avionics by another ad hoc European company, Avionica. The Tornado first flew in 1974, and the Panavia management model was later adopted for the Eurofighter Typhoon, with the NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency replacing the earlier Tornado agency as prime contractor.