Grumman F-14 Tomcat

1974 4TH GENERATION ALLIED FORCE COLD WAR GULF WAR IRAN-IRAQ WAR

• 1 Grumman F-14 Tomcat History
• 2 Grumman F-14 Tomcat Specification
  • 2.1 Basic
  • 2.2 Production
  • 2.3 Roles
  • 2.4 Dimensions
  • 2.5 Weight
  • 2.6 Performance
  • 2.7 Performance
  • 2.8 Armor
  • 2.9 Changes

Grumman F-14 Tomcat History

The Grumman F-14 Tomcat was the quintessential United States Navy (USN) fleet defense interceptor in the last years of the Cold War. Its existence is largely due to the demise of the failed F-111B program, a carrier-based version of General Dynamics' large swing-wing F-111 Aardvark fighter-bomber. The Model B was intended to succeed the famous (albeit aging) McDonnell Douglas F-4 "Phantom II" line, but the balloon failed, leaving the USN without a suitable replacement.

Grumman, which is already working on the F-111B program under General Dynamics, has a private risk role in the development of a future fleet defense fighter that could be sold to the U.S. Navy. One of these designs became the "G-303" Enterprise Model, which beat McDonnell Douglas's competing submission when submitted to USN.

The aircraft belongs to the acronym "VFX" ("Navy Fighter Experiment") of the new project.

VFX demands greater agility from the aircraft platform (compared to the outgoing F-4 Phantom fleet). Additionally, it was designed to move beyond the interceptor role and provide its crew with air combat capabilities that the F-111B could never match, proving to be an overweight, underperforming system at its core. The aircraft will employ a crew of two (like on the F-111) to spread the workload and operate the powerful onboard radar, weapons and common mission systems.

The radar of choice became the AWG-9 X-Band Pulse Doppler Radar System with ultra-long-range search and track capabilities that can engage airborne targets (aircraft or cruise missiles). The system has a range of up to 170 nautical miles, giving the aircraft a Beyond Visual Range (BVR) attack capability. This allows the crew to fire on the target before the enemy registers the aircraft on the radar.

The radar itself was a solution developed for the proposed but ultimately abandoned F-111B. The radar-guided Hughes AIM-54 Phoenix the "Million Dollar Missile" posed a new long-range air-to-air missile threat and became the aircraft's primary weapon. It was also originally developed for the F-111B program. Power for the airframe will be provided by a twin-engine side-by-side arrangement powered by a Pratt & Whitney TF30 afterburner turbofan - an engine also adapted for the failed F-111B.

Grumman's products have been given the U.S. Navy F-14 designation, continuing a storied relationship between the service industry and the carrier company, dating back to the days of World War II and the F4F fighter Wildcat.

The F-14B was eventually modernized in the second half of the 1990s to assist in air-to-ground strike efforts, earning it the nickname "Bomb Cat". The move is to fill the void created by the withdrawal of the Grumman A-6 Raider attack fleet.

Bomb Cat is authorized to carry the LANTIRN ("Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared at Night") low altitude/low light/all weather laser designator pod (under the right wing unit), which is the same as the precision-guided drop artillery and before the end of the life of the aircraft Limited use in combat.

Iran became the only foreign operator of the F-14 and continues to provide support to this day (2014). These represent the F-14A model and are in service with the 81st and 82nd Tactical Fighter Squadrons of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF).

Since Iran does not have an aircraft carrier fleet, the F-14s are deployed in land-based air defense systems. The planes were procured by Islamic regional powers prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution through the relationship between the last "king" and the United States (then President Richard Nixon), which severely affected the partnership. Iran obtained the latest U.S. military equipment at the time and chose the F-14 to bolster its interceptor fleet for possible use against neighboring Iraqi marauders and Soviet spy flights -- a model that preceded rival McDonnell Corp. The selected Douglas F-15 Eagle was chosen as an air superiority fighter.

AIM-54 Phoenix missiles, engines, support and training are also part of the US-Iran deal (though sensitive avionics components are not included). The first F-14 was delivered to the Iranians in January 1976.

While the F-14 is primarily an American weapons platform, the highest-scoring Tomcat ace is the Iranian Jalil Zandi, who served and killed 11 in the bloody Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988). Iranian authorities have suggested that their F-14s have been modernized with Iranian equipment to keep them operational decades later, and Washington has refused to sell any support hardware to the Iranians (80s originally Iran, but after the fall of the Shah later includes the U.S.

Navy Fleet).

In combat missions, the F-14 did not disappoint. Early service in the hands of the United States resulted in the claim of two Libyan Sukhoi Su-22 Fitter aircraft in 1981 ("Sidra Bay Incident"), followed by two Libyan Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 Flogger fighter aircraft in 1989 . In 1980, the Iranian Tomcat attacked an Iraqi Mil Mi-25 helicopter, scoring their first Tomcat-based kill and successfully shooting it down in a decades-long war of attrition Several planes from the Soviet Union. During the 1991 Gulf War, U.S.

Navy F-14s and U.S. Air Force F-15 fighter jets shared a CAP role in the grand campaign that reduced the "world's fourth largest military" to ashes and eventual withdrawal - also known as "the world's fourth largest army". World First" "Digital Warfare".

They also conducted reconnaissance missions to assist the arrival of Allied strike fighters and bombers. The U.S. Navy Tomcats subsequently served under the NATO flag in the volatile regional conflict in the Balkans (Bosnia), with the Bombers first firing precision munitions at enemy targets.

It was operationally deployed during the early stages of the U.S.-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq before being retired in 2006.

Grumman's total F-14 production totaled 712 aircraft between 1969 and 1991. Non-combat attrition for the series turned out to be relatively high, with about 160 people lost in accidents alone.

Today, many well-preserved F-14 Tomcats are displayed in outdoor and indoor displays across the United States.

In May 2015, the Iranian military parade showcased the Fakour-90 long-range air-to-air missile, which is largely based on the Raytheon AIM-54A Phoenix. The missiles are operated from Iran's active F-14 stockpile.

The AIM-23 Sejil is another weapon based on an American product (MIM-23) and is intended for use in the F-14 fleet.

Grumman F-14 Tomcat Specification

Basic

Production

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Changes