F-14 Tomcat

F-14 Tomcat 

This is the F-14 Tomcat, a  supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft created and designed by Grumman Aerospace Corporation for the United States navy which was tasked to defend U.S. aircraft-carrier operations at long ranges against the enemy.

Overview

Crew: 2 (Pilot and Radar Intercept Officer)

Length: 62 ft 9 in (19.1 m)

Wingspan:

Spread: 64 ft (19.55 m)

Swept: 38 ft (11.58 m)

Height: 16 ft (4.88 m)

Empty weight: 43,735 lb (19,838 kg)

Loaded weight: 61,000 lb (27,700 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 74,350 lb (33,720 kg)

Powerplant: 2 × General Electric F110-GE-400 afterburning turbofans

F-14 breaking the sound barrier 

Performance

Maximum speed: Mach 2.34 (1,544 mph, 2,485 km/h) at high altitude

Combat radius: 500 nmi (575 mi, 926 km)

Ferry range: 1,600 nmi (1,840 mi, 2,960 km)

Service ceiling: 50,000+ ft (15,200 m)

Rate of climb: >45,000 ft/min (229 m/s)

Armaments

Guns: 1× 20 mm (0.787 in) M61A1 Vulcan 6-barreled Gatling cannon, with 675 rounds

Hardpoints: 10 total: 6× under-fuselage, 2× under nacelles and 2× on wing gloves with a capacity of 14,500 lb (6,600 kg) of ordnance and fuel tanks

Missiles:

Air-to-air missiles: AIM-54 Phoenix, AIM-7 Sparrow, AIM-9 Sidewinder, MIM-23 Hawk(IRIAF)

Loading configurations:

2× AIM-9 + 6× AIM-54 (Rarely used due to weight stress on airframe)

2× AIM-9 + 2× AIM-54 + 3× AIM-7 (Most common load during Cold War era)

2× AIM-9 + 4× AIM-54 + 2× AIM-7

2× AIM-9 + 6× AIM-7

4× AIM-9 + 4× AIM-54

4× AIM-9 + 4× AIM-7

Bombs:

JDAM precision-guided munition (PGMs)

Paveway series of laser-guided bombs

Mk 80 series of unguided iron bombs

Mk 20 Rockeye II

Others:

Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance Pod System (TARPS)

LANTIRN targeting pod

2× 267 US gal (1,010 l; 222 imp gal) drop tanks for extended range/loitering time

Avionics

Hughes AN/APG-71 radar AN/ASN-130 Inertial navigation system, Infra-red search and track, TCS Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receiver (ROVER) upgrade

Air-to-air underside view of a Fighter Squadron 211 (VF-211) F-14A. Fully armed with 6 Phoenix missiles.

Variants 

F-14A: Initial production model

F-14B: Fitted with GE-F110-GE-400 turbofan engines for improved performances. It also received the ALR-67 Radar Homing and Warning (RHAW) system. 

F-14D: The original TF-30 engines were replaced with General Electric F110-400 engines, similar to the F-14B. Also included were digital avionics systems including a glass cockpit and replaced the AWG-9 with the newer AN/APG-71 radar. Other systems included the Airborne Self Protection Jammer (ASPJ), Joint Tactical Information Distribution System (JTIDS), SJU-17(V) Naval Aircrew Common Ejection Seats (NACES), and Infra-red search and track (IRST).

Number built: 712

F-14 flying above burning oil fields in the Gulf War

US Navy

The Tomcat first saw action in 19 August 1981 at the Gulf of Sidra against the Libyan Airforce. Two Libyan Su-22 "Fitters” fired short range heat seeking AA-2 "Atoll" missiles against two F-14 Tomcats from the VF-41 Black Aces. The F-14s eventually evaded the missiles and returned fire, downing both enemy aircrafts. Both sides were once again engaged in 4 January 1989 when F-14s from VF-32 shot down two Libyan MiG-23 "Floggers" over the Gulf of Sidra. The two encounter were known as the  Gulf of Sidra incident. Since then, the aircraft was used in major military actions of the United States from Operation Desert Storm, Operation Desert Fox, Operation Deliberate Force, Operation Allied Force, Operation Enduring Freedom and lastly, Operation Iraqi Freedom. The last American F-14 combat mission was completed on 8 February 2006, when a pair of Tomcats landed aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt after dropping a bomb in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The F-14 Tomcat was retired by the United States Navy on 22 September 2006.

Jalil Zandi

Imperial Iranian Air Force/Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force

Iran is the only country in the world other than the United States in possession of the F-14 Tomcat. The Islamic country ordered 30 F-14s and 424 AIM-54 Phoenix missiles in January 1974, initiating Project Persian King, worth US$300 million. A few months later the number was increased to 80 Tomcats and 714 Phoenix missiles as well as spare parts and replacement engines for 10 years. The first F-14 arrived in January 1976, modified only by the removal of classified avionics components, but fitted with the TF-30-414 engines.

Unlike the United States, Iran's use of their Tomcat is ground-based. Iranian F-14s was very successful in the Iran-Iraq War, scoring its first air-to-air kill against an Iraqi Mil Mi-25 helicopter. According to a research by Tom Cooper and Farzad Bishop, Iranian F-14s shot down at least 160 Iraqi aircraft during the Iran–Iraq War, including 58 MiG-23s, 33 Mirage F1s, 23 MiG-21s, 23 Su-20s/22s, nine MiG-25s, five Tu-22s, two MiG-27s, one Mil Mi-24, one Dassault Mirage 5, one B-6D, one Aérospatiale Super Frelon, and two unidentified aircraft. Iraqi Army claimed it shot down more than 70 F-14s but the Foreign Broadcast Information System in Washington DC estimated that Iran lost 12 to 16 during the war. Jalil Zandi was the top ace, shooting down 11 Iraqi aircraft during the war, making him the most successful F-14 pilot. It is believed that 28 were still in service in 2014.

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