F-14 Fighter

Among the U.S. Navy’s fighter fleet, the most popular model among military aircraft fans is the F-14 Tomcat, nicknamed Tomcat. Fighter, the reason why this type of fighter is so popular among military fans. In addition to the super cool and beautiful appearance of Tomcat, its powerful combat effectiveness is another important point. For example, the Phoenix missile mounted on the F-14 Tomcat fighter jet makes the famous strategic saying "win from thousands of miles away" A fully realized representative weapon.

F-14 Tomcat fighter jet wonderful photos (16 photos)

Mostly used for assault and destruction.

Now let us go back to the end of 1970. The first F-14 prototype produced by Grumman was piloted by program test pilot William Millar and Grumman chief test pilot Robert Smythe for its first test flight. The test flight lasted only a short period of time, and the variable wings were maintained in a fully open state. But they were not so lucky during the second test flight. The prototype's main hydraulic system failed, and William and Robert immediately turned around and flew towards the runway, dragging the black smoke. And use the emergency pneumatic device to lower the main landing gear in preparation for an emergency landing. Unexpectedly, not far from the end of the runway, the prototype's second backup hydraulic system also failed. The two pilots had to eject to escape, and the plane was completely destroyed. A further 19 prototypes were subsequently produced, the seventh of which would become the F-14B prototype. The 10th prototype sent to Maryland died together with Wei

F-14(6 photos)

Lian.

According to the contract signed in 1969, the U.S. Navy ordered 429 F-14A production aircraft from Grumman. These mass-produced machines are sold at a fixed price, which means Grumman has to absorb additional costs such as inflation. But in the early 1970s, poor economic conditions meant that Grumman had to pay for each aircraft it delivered. By March 1971, Grumman could no longer afford the losses and asked the U.S. Navy to renegotiate the contract. It was not until 1973 that Grumman entered into a new contract with the U.S. Navy. Starting with the 135th mass-produced machine, a new bargaining method will be introduced. Moreover, the U.S. Navy lent Grumman US$200 million to turn over until further negotiation is successful.

However, this loan was criticized, so in 1974, the U.S. Congress voted to no longer lend to Grumman. Just as difficulties were looming, fortunately the Iranian Pahlavi government also wanted to purchase F-14s, so the Iranian bank loaned Grumman US$75 million. A group of U.S. banks also jointly loaned $125 million to Grumman for cash flow. The Tomcat mass production plan can continue.

In the fall of 1972, the VX-4 Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron at NAS Point Mugu received its first three F-14A fighters. This squadron is specifically responsible for the development of tactics and the establishment of teaching standards. In June of the same year, VF-124 Squadron located at Melama Naval Base began to replace F-14A fighters. The squadron's main job is to train qualified carrier-based aircraft squadron pilots. The first two squadrons to achieve combat readiness were VF-1 and VF-2, both at Melama Naval Base. In mid-1974, these two combat-ready squadrons were transferred to the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-65 Enterprise).

F-14 Flight Team Logo

Compared with the old F-4 Phantom aircraft, the performance of the F-14A has been greatly improved. At high thrust, the F-14A can maintain a high angle of attack of 77 degrees for a while.

The U.S. Navy limits pilots to flying fighter jets only to Mach 2.25, and the Tomcat is capable of 6.5g maneuvers at this high speed. It accelerates from standstill to Mach 1.8 in 75 seconds. When loaded with four Phoenix missiles, two Sparrow missiles and two Sidewinder missiles, the F-14A can perform combat air patrol missions 280 kilometers away from the aircraft carrier for 90 minutes, or 470 kilometers away from the aircraft carrier for one hour. . With the same load, the F-14A can perform interception missions at Mach 1.3 as far as 317 kilometers from the aircraft carrier.

Edit this paragraph F-14A service history In 1975, the Tomcat aircraft happened to catch up with the last scene of the Vietnam War, which was the fall of Saigon. The North Vietnamese Air Force did not dare to interfere with the Tomcat fighter jets on duty, and only used anti-aircraft fire to shoot them.

The sweep angle of an F-14A variable-sweep wing has been completely reduced

In August 1981, the USS Forrestal and Nimitz A battle group composed of the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier entered the Eastern Mediterranean. Its mission is to protest against the Libyan government's claim that the Gulf of Sidra is its territorial waters. The method of protest was to sail the warship into the Gulf of Shetra. On the 19th, two SU-22 fighter jets took off to fight against two F-14A. As a result, the F-14A shot down the two SU-22 fighters using AIM-9L omnidirectional Sidewinder missiles. This was also the world's first air battle between a variable-wing aircraft and a variable-wing aircraft.

In 1983, the USS Eisenhower and USS Independence aircraft carriers located in the Eastern Mediterranean were ordered to support the US Marine Corps' landing on the coast of Lebanon. Tomcats carrying the Tactical Air Reconnaissance Pod System flew several reconnaissance sorties, while the remaining Tomcats were responsible for cover operations. During these missions, it was fired several times by surface-to-air missiles, but none of them hit. In October of the same year, the United States launched Operation Urgent Fury against the island nation of Grenada. Tomcats also flew several reconnaissance missions.

In October 1985, seven Tomcats taking off from the USS Saratoga aircraft carrier were responsible for intercepting a civilian aircraft taking off from Egypt. The plane had been hijacked by terrorists who killed American tourists. In the end, the Tomcat accurately intercepted the aircraft and forced it to land at an Italian airport.

In March 1986, U.S. Navy carrier-based aircraft launched several attacks on Libya, with F-14s providing air cover. In April, the US Air Force launched a fleet of UK-based F-111s to bomb Libya, with F-14s again providing air cover.

On January 4, 1989, two F-14s taking off from the USS John F. Kennedy aircraft carrier shot down two Libyan MiG-23 fighters. During this conflict, the F-14 television camera crew clearly captured the MiG-23 carrying missiles. This makes the US military's preemptive action barely justified. As for the two pilots who ejected and escaped, they were not found by Libyan search and rescue personnel.

In addition to the conflict with Libya, the US military also conducted tanker escort operations in the Persian Gulf in 1988 and 1989. Two Tomcats allegedly engaged Iranian F-4Es, and the F-14s did fire Sparrow and Sidewinder missiles. However, these missiles were warning in nature and were not used correctly, so they did not shoot down any Iranian fighter jets. In addition, the F-14s of the U.S. Navy and the Iranian Air Force have not fought face-to-face.

In the Gulf War in January 1991, F-14s played the role of air cover. It was left to the F-15C fleet to hunt down the Iraqi fighter jets.

On February 6, a two-plane formation of F-14s shot down a Mi-8 helicopter with a Sidewinder missile. This was the F-14's only air combat victory of the war. Earlier on January 21, a Tomcat was shot down by an old SA-2 anti-aircraft missile. This was the first and only loss of a U.S. Navy Tomcat fleet in combat. One of the two pilots who ejected was rescued by helicopter, and the other became a prisoner of war.

Compared with the fruitful results of the U.S. Air Force’s F-15C air superiority fleet, the U.S. Navy’s F-14 fleet is simply doing nothing. But in the final analysis, this is not because of poor performance of the F-14, or because the F-14 did not participate in escort missions in Iraq. But during the Iran-Iraq war, the Iraqis had long been frightened by the AWG-9 radar, which had an output of ten kilowatts. As soon as the U.S. Navy's F-14 fleet arrived, all the Iraqi fighter jets immediately fled, leaving not even one F-14. As for the U.S. Air Force F-15C, it was much luckier. Because the Iraqis could not distinguish its radar signals, Iraqi fighter jets were shot down by this type of aircraft. Therefore, the American attack aircraft personnel jokingly asked their superiors to issue an electronic warfare pod. As long as this pod can emit the AWG-9 radar signal, the Iraqi fighter jets will escape and there will be no need for real F-14 escorts.

The above are the combat operations in which F-14s serving in the U.S. Navy participated. In total, the F-14 shot down two Su-22s and two MiG-23s. Plus a Mi-8 helicopter. Interestingly, all four jet fighters belong to the Libyan Air Force, and they are all variable-wing fighters.