Mr. Anthony D. WrightTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on progress on the Tornado GR4 Mid Life Update. [140561]
§ Dr. MoonieThe integration of TIALD on to the Tornado GR4, as anticipated, achieved a Military Aircraft Release in July and is being used in training by our front-line crews.
As experience has increased in using the new software, a number of reliability problems have been encountered with integration of the software supporting the TIALD pod with the Tornado GR4's computer. These problems are being urgently addressed by the contractor, who is working on a new release of software expected early next year. We are, therefore, delaying plans to deploy the GR4 operationally. The contractor, supported by MOD, has embarked upon an urgent investigation into the cause of the current problems and will report progress shortly. In the meantime, Tornado GR1, Jaguar and Harrier GR7 aircraft will continue to provide the operational capability.