A tribute to the Tornado F3 will be launched as the aircraft nears retirement.
A book charting the jet’s history has been published by Squadron Prints.
The aircraft, flown by 111 (F) Squadron at RAF Leuchars, will be withdrawn in March after 22 years of service to make way for the Eurofighter Typhoon.
The first operational Tornado F3 ZE961 GA arrived at Leuchars Airshow in 1989 and that same aircraft was the last to land, after taking its final public bow, at last year’s airshow.
Since 1989 the F3 the “silent guardian of UK airspace” has been on constant duty and been flown by many famous RAF fighter squadrons.
It has been taken to war twice in the Gulf and patrolled no-fly zones in the Balkans and Iraq.
In the South Atlantic it performed an uninterrupted stint of 17 years.
‘Tornado F3’ covers every RAF squadron and unit that operated the F3, as well as the Royal Saudi Air Force and the Italian Air Force.
Exercises, deployments and special events are recounted by F3 people, including dark nights over the North Sea and hot days above the burning oilfields of Kuwait.
The book’s launch on March 22 will coincide with the disbanding of 111 (F) Squadron, ahead of the jet’s retirement on March 31.