The Tornado GR1A is a world leader in the field of all-weather, day and night tactical reconnaissance. The GR1A has no cannons mounted in the forward fuselage. Replacing these are a Sideways Looking Infra-Red system and a Linescan infra-red surveillance system. This is the major point of identification between the GR1 and GR1A, because the systems require a small window in the side of the fuselage, just below the cockpit. The standard Tornado GR1 and the Jaguar can also fulfil tactical reconnaissance tasks when equipped with a Vicon camera pod.

Powerplant: Two afterburning Turbo Union RB199-103 turbofans of 15,800lb st.
Span: 45ft 7.25in (13.90m) - wings fully spread; 28ft 2.5in (8.59m) - 68° sweep
Length: 54ft 9.5in (16.70m)
Max Speed: 1,452mph (2,336km/h) at 36,000ft (11,000m)
Accommodation: Pilot and navigator in tandem seating
Armament: Up to 18,000lb of ordnance.
Recognition: Short fat fuselage with a very large swept fin and rudder. Shoulder-mounted variable geometry wings of delta shape when fully swept. Bubble two-seat tandem cockpit and a short nose cone. All moving tailplane on the sides of the twin tailpipes.