Monogram Kit #5803 F-14A Tomcat

Grumman F-14 Tomcat (PART THREE)

Tomcats also feature electronic countermeasures (ECM) and radar warning (RWR) systems, chaff/flare dispensers in the tail, fighter-to-fighter data link, and a precise inertial navigation system. The early navigation system was purely inertial. Initial coordinates were programmed into the navigation computer, and a gyroscope in the system would track the aircraft's every motion. These aircraft motions were sent to the navigation computer, allowing it to calculate the jet's distance and direction from the initial starting point. Later, GPS was integrated into this inertial system, providing not only more precise navigation, but providing redundancy in case either system failed.

The chaff/flare dispensers were located on the belly, at the very tip of the tail, just to one side of the arresting hook. The dispenser contained several cylinders, into which either flares or chaff could be loaded in any combination. The RWR system was arranged with 4 antennae around the aircraft, and could roughly calculate the direction and the distance of many different types of radar from various aircraft and missile types. The RWR set could also display the status of the tracking aircraft's radar. It could differentiate between search radar, tracking radar, and missile-homing radar. The electronic countermeasures system could analyze incoming radar signals and send confusing radar signals back to the source.

The original set of sensors also comprised an infrared sensor under the nose in a "chin pod": it was AN/ALR-23 with indium antimonide detectors, cooled by a self-contained Stirling cycle cryogenic system, but this proved ineffective, and was replaced with a new system. This was an optical system, Northrop AAX-1, also called TCS (TV Camera Set) and was used to help pilots visually identify and track aircraft, at least on day missions, up to a range of more than 60 miles (97 km) for large aircraft (a zoom function was included to help with small fighters). The TCS could be "slaved" to the radar to follow whatever the radar is tracking, and the radar could be slaved to the TCS to track whatever the camera "sees." Both the crew have access to the images on their displays. Despite its utility, for a long time most F-14s did not have the system added. Bill Gunston reported that even in 1983, only one in eight aircraft had the system fitted.

A dual IR/TCS system was adopted for the later F-14D variant, with an ECM antenna fitted as well in the same mast. This meant Tomcats could be configured with only an ECM antenna, or the IR sensor, or TCS, or many combinations thereof. The Tomcat's ESM system consists of many subsystems: RWR, ECM, and chaff/flare dispensers in various parts of the fuselage, nose, tail and wings. This was a marked difference with many previous fighter aircraft in that some did not even include a simple RWR.

The F-14 was designed to combat highly maneuverable aircraft as well as the Soviet cruise missile and bomber threats. The Tomcat was to be a platform for the AIM-54 Phoenix, but unlike the canceled F-111B, it could also engage medium and short range threats with other weapons. The F-14 was an air superiority fighter, not just a long-range interceptor. Over 6,700 kg (15,000 lb) of stores could be carried for combat missions on several hardpoints under the fuselage and under the wings. Commonly, this meant a maximum of two–four Phoenixes or Sparrows on the belly stations, two Phoenixes/Sparrows on the wing hardpoints, and two Sidewinders on the wing hardpoints. The F-14 was also fitted with an internal 20 mm M61 Vulcan Gatling-type cannon.

Operationally, the capability to hold up to six Phoenix missiles was never used, although early testing was conducted; there was never a threat requirement to engage six hostile targets simultaneously and the load was too heavy to recover aboard an aircraft carrier. During the height of Cold War operations in the late 1970s and 1980s, the typical weapon loadout on carrier-deployed F-14s was usually only one AIM-54 Phoenix, augmented by two AIM-9 Sidewinders, two AIM-7 Sparrow IIIs, a full loadout of 20 mm ammunition and two drop tanks. The Phoenix missile was used twice in combat by the US Navy, both over Iraq in 1999, but the missiles didn't score any kills.

The F-14 Tomcat was the US Navy's primary air superiority fighter and tactical reconnaissance platform from 1972 to 2006. The F-14 has served in Iran's Air Force from 1978 to the present.

The F-14 began replacing the F-4 Phantom II in US Navy service starting in September 1974 with squadrons VF-1 Wolfpack and VF-2 Bounty Hunters aboard USS Enterprise (CVN-65) and participated in the American withdrawal from Saigon. The F-14 had its first kills in U.S. Navy service, on 19 August 1981 over the Gulf of Sidra in what is known as the Gulf of Sidra incident. In that engagement two F-14s from VF-41 Black Aces were engaged by two Libyan Su-22 "Fitters". The F-14s evaded the short range heat seeking AA-2 "Atoll" missile and returned fire, downing both Libyan aircraft. U.S. Navy F-14s once again were pitted against Libyan aircraft on 4 January 1989, when two F-14s from VF-32 shot down two Libyan MiG-23 "Floggers" over the Gulf of Sidra in a second

Its first sustained combat use was as a photo reconnaissance platform. The Tomcat was selected to inherit the reconnaissance mission upon departure of the dedicated RA-5C Vigilante and RF-8G Crusaders from the fleet. A large pod called the Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance Pod System (TARPS) was developed and fielded on the Tomcat in 1981. With the retirement of the last RF-8G Crusaders in 1982, TARPS F-14s became the U.S. Navy's primary tactical reconnaissance system. One of two Tomcat squadrons per airwing was designated as a TARPS unit and received 3 TARPS capable aircraft and training for 4 TARPS aircrews. Portrait photography of four aircraft overflying orange desert and almost-flat terrain; horizon is blurred. Leading is black aircraft, followed by two single-engine jet aircraft, the one closer to camera being refueled by leading jet via a stiff hose connecting the two. Closest jet to camera is pale gray, has two engines and vertical fins, flying with wings unswept. An F-14A Tomcat from VF-32 during Desert Storm. A KC-135 Stratotanker and two EA-6B Prowlers can be seen in the background.

While the Tomcat was being used by Iran in combat against Iraq in its intended air superiority mission over the skies of Iran in the early 1980s, the US Navy found itself flying regular daily combat missions over Lebanon to photograph activity in the Bekaa Valley. At the time, the Tomcat had been thought too large and vulnerable to be used overland, but the need for imagery was so great that Tomcat aircrews developed high speed medium altitude tactics to deal with considerable AAA and SA-7 SAM threat in the Bekaa area. The first exposure of a Navy Tomcat to a SA-2 was over Somalia in April 1983 when a local battery was unaware of two Tomcats scheduled for a TARPS missions in prelude to an upcoming international exercise in vicinity of Berbera. An SA-2 was fired at the second Tomcat while conducting 10 thousand foot mapping profile at max conserve setting. The Tomcat aircrews spotted the missile launch and dove for the deck thereby evading it without damage. The unexpected demand for combat TARPS laid the way for high altitude sensors such as the KA-93 36 in (910 mm) Long Range Optics (LOROP) to be rapidly procured for the Tomcat as well as an Expanded Chaff Adapter (ECA) to be incorporated in a AIM-54 Phoenix Rail. Commercial "Fuzz buster" type radar detectors were also procured and mounted in pairs in the forward cockpit as a stop gap solution to detect SAM radars such as the SA-6. The ultimate solution was an upgrade to the ALR-67 then being developed, but it would not be ready until the advent of the F-14A+ in the latter 1980s. During the Gulf of Sidra operations in 1986, the Tomcats were used in over-water missions only due to their vulnerability overland. It was not until Desert Shield that US Navy Tomcats were introduced to overland combat operations on a regular basis.

The participation of the F-14 Tomcat in the 1991 Operation Desert Storm consisted of Combat Air Patrol (CAP) over the Red Sea and Persian Gulf and overland missions consisting of strike escort and reconnaissance. Until the waning days of Desert Storm, in-country air superiority was tasked to USAF F-15 Eagles due to the way the Air Tasking Orders (ATO) delegated primary overland CAP stations to the F-15 Eagle. The governing Rules of Engagement (ROE) also dictated a strict Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) requirement when employing Beyond Visual Range weapons such as the AIM-7 Sparrow and particularly the AIM-54 Phoenix. This hampered the Tomcat from using its most powerful weapon. Furthermore, the powerful emissions from the AWG-9 radar are detectable at great range with a radar warning receiver. Iraqi fighters routinely displayed countertactics as soon as the Tomcats "lit them up" with the AWG-9. The US Navy suffered its only F-14 loss from enemy action on 21 January 1991 when b/n 161430, an F-14A upgraded to an F-14A+, from VF-103 was shot down by an SA-2 surface-to-air missile while on an escort mission near Al Asad airbase in Iraq. Both crew survived ejection with the pilot being rescued by USAF Special Operations Forces and the RIO being captured and held by Iraqi troops as a POW until the end of the war. The F-14 also achieved its final kill, an Mi-8 "Hip" helicopter, with an AIM-9 Sidewinder.

In 1995, F-14s from VF-14 and VF-41 participated in Operation Deliberate Force as well as Operation Allied Force in 1999, and in 1998, VF-32 and VF-213 participated in Operation Desert Fox. On 15 February 2001 the Joint Direct Attack Munition or JDAM was added to the Tomcat's arsenal. On 7 October 2001, F-14s would lead some of the first strikes into Afghanistan marking the start of Operation Enduring Freedom and the first F-14 drop of a JDAM occurred on 11 March 2002. F-14s from VF-2, VF-31, VF-32, VF-154, and VF-213 would also participate in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The F-14Ds of VF-2, VF-31, and VF-213 obtained JDAM capability in March 2003. On 10 December 2005, the F-14Ds of VF-31 and VF-213 were upgraded with a ROVER III downlink for transmitting images to a ground Forward Air Controller (FAC). The F-14s of VF-31 and VF-213 deployed on their last combat cruise on USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) in 2005.

While the F-14 had been developed as a light weight alternative to the 80,000 lb (36,000 kg) F-111B, the F-14 was still the largest and most expensive fighter of its time. VFAX was revived in the 1970s as a lower cost solution to replacing the Navy and Marine Corps's fleets of F-4s, and A-7s. VFAX was directed to review the fighters in the USAF Light Weight Fighter competition, which led to the development of the F/A-18 Hornet as roughly a midsize fighter and attack aircraft.

In 1994, Congress would reject Grumman proposals to the Navy to upgrade the Tomcat beyond the D model (such as the Super Tomcat 21, the cheaper QuickStrike version, and the more advanced Attack Super Tomcat 21). Instead, the Navy elected to retire the F-14 and chose the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet to fill the roles of fleet defense and strike formerly filled by the F-14. The last two F-14 squadrons, the VF-31 Tomcatters and the VF-213 Black Lions conducted their last fly-in at Naval Air Station Oceana on 10 March 2006. The last American F-14 to take off from a US Navy carrier, USS Theodore Roosevelt on 28 July 2006

The last American F-14 combat mission was completed on 8 February 2006, when a pair of Tomcats landed aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) after one dropped a bomb over Iraq. During their final deployment with the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), VF-31 and VF-213 collectively completed 1,163 combat sorties totaling 6,876 flight hours, and dropped 9,500 lb (4,300 kg) of ordnance during reconnaissance, surveillance, and close air support missions in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. On 10 March 2006, the 22 planes from these squadrons flew in formation into Naval Air Station Oceana after the last deployment of the F-14. VF-31 remained operational in the F-14 Tomcat under the Fleet Response Plan (FRP) through September and conducted the last carrier qualifications in late July maintaining their ability to deploy right up until the end. VF-213 and VF-31 would transition to the Super Hornet training.

The USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) launched an F-14D, of VF-31, for the last time on 28 July 2006; piloted by Lt. Blake Coleman and Lt. Cmdr Dave Lauderbaugh as RIO. The "official" final flight retirement ceremony was on 22 September 2006 at Naval Air Station Oceana, and was flown by Lt. Cmdr. Chris Richard and Lt. Mike Petronis as RIO in a backup F-14 after the primary aircraft experienced mechanical problems. The actual last flight of an F-14 in U.S. service took place 4 October 2006, when an F-14D of VF-31 was ferried from Oceana to Republic Airport on Long Island, NY.

The remaining intact F-14 aircraft in the US were stored at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group "Boneyard", at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. By July 2007, the remaining 165 aircraft were being shredded to prevent parts from being acquired by Iran, the only other nation to operate the F-14; as of that month, 23 F-14s had been shredded at a cost of US$900,000. The last remaining F-14s have been put on display at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida and aboard the U.S.S Yorktown Museum at Patriot's Point, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.

The sole foreign customer for the Tomcat was the Imperial Iranian Air Force, during the reign of the last Shah (King) of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

In the early 1970s, the Imperial Iranian Air Force (IIAF) was searching for an advanced fighter, specifically one capable of intercepting Soviet MiG-25 "Foxbat" reconnaissance flights. After a visit of U.S. President Richard Nixon to Iran in 1972, during which Iran was offered the latest in American military technology, the IIAF narrowed its choice to the F-14 Tomcat or McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle. Grumman Corporation arranged a competitive demonstration of the Eagle against the Tomcat before the Shah, and in January 1974, Iran ordered 30 F-14s and 424 AIM-54 Phoenix missiles, initiating Project Persian King, worth US$300 million. Only a few months later, this order was increased to a total of 80 Tomcats and 714 Phoenix missiles as well as spare parts and replacement engines for 10 years, complete armament package, and support infrastructure (including construction of the huge Khatami Air Base in the desert near Esfahan).