[Barrie Yates]

The Tornados were intended for use in a missile rich environment - European Eastern Bloc where . When used in Iraq (which was not classed as being a missile rich environment), at low level the unsuitability for low level action was demonstrated in that it was very susceptible to AAA and shoulder fired missiles.
Firing A-G missiles or laser guided bombs keep the aircraft out of range of AAA and Stingers etc.