air strips. Older aircraft were reliant on a network of ground-based radar stations, but the F3's Foxhunter radar was capable of performing much longer and wider scans of surrounding airspace; the Tornado could track and engage targets at far greater distances. The Tornado also had the ability to share its radar and targeting information with other aircraft via JTIDS/Link 16 and was one of the first aircraft to have a digital data bus, used for the transmission of data between onboard computers. Operational history Royal Air Force On 5 November 1984, the first interim Tornado F2 was first delivered to the RAF. These aircraft were primarily for training by No. 229 Operational Conversion Unit RAF. From July 1986, the F2's short career came to an end as they were replaced by the improved Tornado F3 entered service; the interim aircraft were promptly placed into storage. Originally, the Tornado F2s were intended to be updated to Tornado F2A standard (similar to the F3, but without the engine upgrade) however, only the one F2A, the Tornado Integrated Avionics Research Aircraft (TIARA) was ever converted, having been customised by QinetiQ for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) trials at MoD Boscombe Down. In November 1987, No. 29 (Fighter) Squadron became the first RAF squadron to be declared operational with the Tornado ADV. The combat debut of the Tornado F3 was made in the 1991 Gulf War; a total of 18 aircraft were deployed to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia in support of coalition forces. In order to best prepare these specific aircraft for active combat, they were progressively upgraded under a crash program with improved radar, enhanced engines, superior defensive countermeasures, and multiple adaptions to the weapons systems that improved combat performance in the Iraqi theatre. Several shortcomings with the Tornado F3 were still present during the Gulf War, such as the lack of modern IFF and secure communications equipment. Partially due to this, they largely performed patrols further back from Iraqi airspace where encounters with enemy aircraft were less likely; no Tornado F3s ended up having the opportunity to engage enemy aircraft. From August 1990 to March 1991, the RAF's F3 detachment flew more than 2,000 combat air patrol sorties. In the aftermath of the Gulf War, the RAF maintained a small squadron of F3s in Saudi Arabia to continue routine patrols of Iraqi no-fly zones. The 1990s saw multiple occasions in which the Tornado F3