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The F14 is one of the iconic aircraft of my youth. It took over the mantle as "Guardian of the Fleet" from the F4 Phantom. In the beginning it was a very controversial aircraft that many people said was too big, too complicated, and too expensive for the US Navy to use. For thirty years though it was often the sharpest point of US diplomacy and force projection around the world. The Grumman Tomcat made headlines and backed up White House demands and promises with physical force.
It was far from a perfect airplane and throughout its career various models and modifications attempted to address its flaws. For being a Mach 2 fighter the earliest model the F14-A was actually rather underpowered and had to be flown with great care in combat to avoid becoming a sitting duck. Its critics were correct in that it was something of a "Hanger Queen" that demanded constant maintainence, but used in conjunction with the E2 Hawkeye early warning aircraft it provided the US Fleet with unmatched capability for much of the Cold War. Now it has been relegated to pages of US Naval history. Only Iranians may still operate a handful of them in their air force.
It was far from a perfect airplane and throughout its career various models and modifications attempted to address its flaws. For being a Mach 2 fighter the earliest model the F14-A was actually rather underpowered and had to be flown with great care in combat to avoid becoming a sitting duck. Its critics were correct in that it was something of a "Hanger Queen" that demanded constant maintainence, but used in conjunction with the E2 Hawkeye early warning aircraft it provided the US Fleet with unmatched capability for much of the Cold War. Now it has been relegated to pages of US Naval history. Only Iranians may still operate a handful of them in their air force.
Category All / All
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Size 1114 x 495px
File Size 157.1 kB
If they do still have a few in flyable shape, it's from extensive cannibalizing of the rest. And as an aside, the Iranians turned one of theirs over to the Russians after the fall of the Shah. Also there were rumors that the Grumman techs who were helping to maintain them 'wandered off' with as many vital bits as they could as they were getting out of the country.
Having grown up with this plane and having a small squadron of 1/72nd & 1/48th-scale models of the various incarnations, there's so many great things I could say about this aircraft, but most of it's already been covered by you and the other posters here. I'm afraid I do have a slight nitpick though; the fuselage forward of the intakes seems to be at slightly more of a nose-down angle than it should be compared to the rest of the fuselage.
In my mind, when I think of F-14s, I think of X-wings, and when I think of X-wings, I think of the Tomcat (or Bombcat). Both are all purpose ass-kickers, both have a very distinct look that anyone will recognise right away, and they are both analogous to kicking ass in the 1980's
Also, I think the Israelis have some Tomcats left, along with the Iranians as you mentioned.
Also, I think the Israelis have some Tomcats left, along with the Iranians as you mentioned.
The US Navy retired the last of theirs them in 2006, leaving Iran --- a threat country --- with all the F-14's unique advantages, while we forfeited all of them.
The Navy was also very quick to smash-up every F-14 they could, as fast as possible, allegedly to prevent loose parts from being stolen and smuggled to Iran.
The reality is; the F-14 capabilities were a threat to the Navy's all-F/A-18 fleet agenda, and Iran was the perfect excuse to rid themselves of this nuisance --- now the higher-ups in the Navy have scored lots of brownie points with Boeing (the F/A-18's manufacturer), guaranteeing lots of 7-figure-a-year CEO jobs for those responsible after their "retirement" from the Navy.
*catches breath*
The Navy was also very quick to smash-up every F-14 they could, as fast as possible, allegedly to prevent loose parts from being stolen and smuggled to Iran.
The reality is; the F-14 capabilities were a threat to the Navy's all-F/A-18 fleet agenda, and Iran was the perfect excuse to rid themselves of this nuisance --- now the higher-ups in the Navy have scored lots of brownie points with Boeing (the F/A-18's manufacturer), guaranteeing lots of 7-figure-a-year CEO jobs for those responsible after their "retirement" from the Navy.
*catches breath*
Oh that´s too bad, was a good plane... but why by Iran? Looks like by a next war , I listened rumors about U.S. will invade Pakistan, IRan and maybe... veeeery maybe Venezuela and Russia XD.
Other thing, this plane is in service today in Israel right? or where is in services this plane?
Other thing, this plane is in service today in Israel right? or where is in services this plane?
Iran imported F-14 Tomcats in the late 1970s, just before the Islamic revolution that overthrew the Shah. It was the only country to ever export F-14s.
Their motive for importing F-14s was that the Soviet Air Force was spying on Iranian military assets with Mig-25 Foxbats, which flew directly through Iranian aerospace and were too fast for their F-4 Phantom IIs to intercept.
Once the Iranian F-14s were active, the US Navy conducted an exercise in the Persian Gulf, where F-14s used AIM-54 Phoenix AAMs to shoot down drones. These drones flew at the same speeds and altitudes as Mig-25s, so it was essentially a warning for the Soviet Air Force to stop overflying Iran --- which they did immediately after.
Israel also evaluated the F-14, but ended up buying the cheaper F-15 Eagle instead.
Regarding Venezuela and Russia, they're full of hot air, and the US State Department knows it. We're not likely to get into a shooting war with Pakistan, either.
As for Iran... who knows...
Their motive for importing F-14s was that the Soviet Air Force was spying on Iranian military assets with Mig-25 Foxbats, which flew directly through Iranian aerospace and were too fast for their F-4 Phantom IIs to intercept.
Once the Iranian F-14s were active, the US Navy conducted an exercise in the Persian Gulf, where F-14s used AIM-54 Phoenix AAMs to shoot down drones. These drones flew at the same speeds and altitudes as Mig-25s, so it was essentially a warning for the Soviet Air Force to stop overflying Iran --- which they did immediately after.
Israel also evaluated the F-14, but ended up buying the cheaper F-15 Eagle instead.
Regarding Venezuela and Russia, they're full of hot air, and the US State Department knows it. We're not likely to get into a shooting war with Pakistan, either.
As for Iran... who knows...
Interesting about the iranian forces.
Yeah Venezuela and Russia have nice planes, is incredible how Venezuela is converting in a "mini-Russian" country XD (mini-me...)
I listened something about the terrorist and somethings like this, the pakistan is guilty and all these things, I don´t know pretty good about this, but thanks for your information.
Yeah Venezuela and Russia have nice planes, is incredible how Venezuela is converting in a "mini-Russian" country XD (mini-me...)
I listened something about the terrorist and somethings like this, the pakistan is guilty and all these things, I don´t know pretty good about this, but thanks for your information.
The F-14A was an exceptionally specialized fighter for the Navy; its primary role was to carry Phoenix missiles out to shoot down the waves of bombers that the Soviet Union would be throwing at our CVBGs, and it sacrificed a number of things to that end. The Phoenix had virtually no use beyond shooting down bombers; its rocket engine boosted it to high speed in a climb, and it would then glide to its target; clearly, if the target could maneuver hard, the missile couldn't keep up. Interestingly, while the F-14A could carry six Phoenix missiles, it almost never did so -- even with almost all the fuel burned off, an F-14 with six Phoenix missiles loaded was overweight for landing on a carrier, and CAGs were understandably reluctant to drop million-dollar missiles into the water.
For its role, there was no aircraft that even came close to the capabilities of the F-14. You'd think that an aircraft designed around a weapon system would be a superior choice when compared to an alternative that is a jack of all trades.
It reminds me of when they were trying to replace the A-10 (another aircraft designed around a weapons system) with the JSF, except that the bureaucrats failed to make the A-10 look inferior.
It reminds me of when they were trying to replace the A-10 (another aircraft designed around a weapons system) with the JSF, except that the bureaucrats failed to make the A-10 look inferior.
F-14... one of my most favourite aircraft along with A-10. Both fairly large combat planes, they're almost like a couple, F-14 being the lovely lady and A-10 the handsome guy. Reasoning for that being the F-14 is just so very posable, there's almost no wrong angle to take a picture of it, and the A-10, it's just such a utilitarian beaty (plus it has a freakin' big gun in its nose), I can't help but love both of them. Also the other being high-maintenance and the other not so much, not to mention they were introduced only three years apart fits too, no?
That aside, I was sad to see this kitty go, but it's understandable, as it required about ten times more maintenance per flight hour than some other planes, if I recall correctly, and even the AIM-54 Phoenix, the long-range missile only the F-14 could carry wasn't used that much despite its capabilities. Oh well, atleast it was in service as long as it was, and the F/A-18 Hornet's not that bad a replacement, even though it lacks in the looks department.
That aside, I was sad to see this kitty go, but it's understandable, as it required about ten times more maintenance per flight hour than some other planes, if I recall correctly, and even the AIM-54 Phoenix, the long-range missile only the F-14 could carry wasn't used that much despite its capabilities. Oh well, atleast it was in service as long as it was, and the F/A-18 Hornet's not that bad a replacement, even though it lacks in the looks department.
There was for a good many years only one model of the F14 made, and that was the A. The A+ came out in the late 80's, and the only real difference between that and the A was the engine, the engine in the F14 suffered a great many issues and was never really up to the job, the A+ however (which was just an engine mod and they did go back thru the existing planes to up mod quite a few) was a completely different aircraft. I would also be hesitant to call it a 'sitting duck' as it was a fairly good dog fighter from every pilot I ever talked to (and as a Grumman Aerospace Flight Test Engineer working out of Calverton where they all got built, I talked to a lot of test pilots and navy pilots who really loved the Tomcat).
The political issues with the Tomcat came because Robert McNamara wanted to use the F-111 for all the branches of the service, the Navy was supposed to get the B model, shorter nose, less avionics. Problem was, it flew like a pig and did not work on Carriers worth a damn. So Grumman designed the F14 on it's own dime and proved it was a better plane and got permission to build that instead. (A friend's dad was one of the major designers on the F14 btw).
The D model was Grumman's attempt to keep the plane (and the company) alive by competing against the hornet 2000. The D model is a superior aircraft, it outperforms the f18 in every way, however at that point it was no longer about performance, but about politics, and Grumman was suffering the brunt of a lot of hate against the NY delegation in the Congress. So the D model never really made it into anything but limited production, and now all of Grumman's Aircraft building lines have pretty much been torn down, the jigs destroyed, etc. As an Aircraft company Grumman really no longer exists, all the plants where these great planes were built are gone. Kind of sad, I used to take a walk out onto the catwalks of building 6 every once in a while and watch the A6's and the F14's get built.
Grumman Aerospace was without a doubt the best place I ever worked in my life, and being a Flight Test Engineer was definitely one of the coolest jobs ever.
The political issues with the Tomcat came because Robert McNamara wanted to use the F-111 for all the branches of the service, the Navy was supposed to get the B model, shorter nose, less avionics. Problem was, it flew like a pig and did not work on Carriers worth a damn. So Grumman designed the F14 on it's own dime and proved it was a better plane and got permission to build that instead. (A friend's dad was one of the major designers on the F14 btw).
The D model was Grumman's attempt to keep the plane (and the company) alive by competing against the hornet 2000. The D model is a superior aircraft, it outperforms the f18 in every way, however at that point it was no longer about performance, but about politics, and Grumman was suffering the brunt of a lot of hate against the NY delegation in the Congress. So the D model never really made it into anything but limited production, and now all of Grumman's Aircraft building lines have pretty much been torn down, the jigs destroyed, etc. As an Aircraft company Grumman really no longer exists, all the plants where these great planes were built are gone. Kind of sad, I used to take a walk out onto the catwalks of building 6 every once in a while and watch the A6's and the F14's get built.
Grumman Aerospace was without a doubt the best place I ever worked in my life, and being a Flight Test Engineer was definitely one of the coolest jobs ever.
I gather that the new F22 Raptor is taking on the title of being a "Hanger Queen." That's okay if you're never in a real war, with anything like a matched opponent, or have enough money to own a surplus of combat aircraft. But it still seems to me to be big drawback in principle.
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