{"id":14340,"date":"2018-04-11T11:54:15","date_gmt":"2018-04-11T11:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/04\/11\/german-tornados-still-struggling-with-night-ops\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:23:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:23:22","slug":"german-tornados-still-struggling-with-night-ops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2018\/04\/11\/german-tornados-still-struggling-with-night-ops\/","title":{"rendered":"German \u2018Tornados\u2019 still struggling with night ops"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

COLOGNE, Germany \u2013 Germany\u2019s <\/a>Tornado aircraft are still behind the curve when it comes to the critical capability of night vision, the defense ministry has told lawmakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defense officials blame the delay, expected to last at least through 2018, on a personnel shortfall in the government office responsible for certifying the technology as deployment-ready, according to a confidential report seen by Defense News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem is two-fold: For one, the cockpit\u2019s current display lights are not suited for night-vision mode, meaning pilots wearing light-amplifying goggles are blinded by them. Secondly, military certification officials are unsure they can obtain the technical documentation from the goggles vendor that would be required for a fleet-wide stamp of approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When media reports surfaced in early 2016 that German Tornados providing reconnaissance over Syria and Iraq under Operation Inherent Resolve were unable to fly at night, the defense ministry within weeks retrofitted some aircraft with an interim solution. Even so, officials then said the night-vision capability was effectively unnecessary because the aircraft were only collecting imagery during the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time, a Bundeswehr photo quickly spread that showed a pilot wearing night vision goggles sitting behind the faint green glow of newly modified flight instruments, and the story mostly faded from public view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that makeshift fix remains an exception, and a suboptimal one at that, according to the defense ministry report. A fleet-wide implementation has \u201cfor years\u201d been hampered by a shortage of certification experts, though a higher priority is now assigned to the project and a key qualification test is eyed for July, the report states.<\/p>\n\n\n\t