F-14 Tomcat
The F-14 Tomcat is a supersonic aircraft manufactured by Grumman. In 1972, the F-14 Tomcat entered service with the United States Navy and replaced the F-4 Phantom II. In 1976, the F-14 was exported to the Imperial Iranian Air Force. On September 1974, the F-4 Phantom was replaced by the F-14 and entered service to USN with squadrons VF-1 Wolfpack andVF-2 Bounty Hunters aboard USS Enterprise and also participated in the American withdrawal of Saigon. On August 19, 1981, the F-14 saw service on the Gulf of Sidra and had its first kills. The F-14 was also selected to inherit the Reconnaissance mission upon departure of the RA-5C Vigilante and RF-8G Crusaders from the fleet.
The F-14 was designed as both an air superiority fighter and a long range, naval interceptor. The plane features variable geometry wings swinging automatically during flight. The F-14’s fuselage and wings allow it to climb faster, while the twin-tail offers better stability. A Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance Pod Systems or TARPS was developed housing three sensors. In the 1980s, while the Tomcat was being used in combat for air superiority mission in Iran, the US Navy flew regular daily combat missions in Lebanon. During that time, the Tomcat was too large and was vulnerable for overland use type of mission. In 1986, during the Gulf of Sidra operations, F-14s were only used over water missions since it was vulnerable. It was on Desert Shield that F-14s experienced overland combat operations on a regular basis. In 1991, during Operation Desert Storm, the F-14s consisted of Combat Air Patrol over the Red Sea and Persian Gulf and overland missions consisted of strike escort and reconnaissance. The F-14s also participated in Operation Deliberate Force, Operation Allied Force, Operation Desert Fox, Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The F-14 was still considered the largest and most expensive fighter during its time. The F-14 has completed its retirement from US Naval service and was slated to remain in service through 2008. On February 8, 2006, the last F-14 combat mission was completed when a pair of Tomcats landed aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt after it dropped one bomb in Iraq.
The remaining intact F-14 aircraft have been stored at the Boneyard of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. As of July 2007, the remaining 165 aircraft were shredded to prevent parts from being acquired by hostile states.
Filed Under History
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