In August 1981, the United States military put on a significant show, starting in the
Mediterranean Sea to the north of Libya.
Two of America's supercarriers, the USS Forrestal and the USS Nimitz, both of which bear the
names of the classes to which they belong, had entered the waters that Libyan leader
Muammar Gaddafi had falsely claimed to be a part of his nation.
The American carriers were there to counter that proclamation, and for days, fighters
from both nations danced in the air, escalating diplomatic tensions until two American jets
engaged in a lethal battle.
One of the two F-14 Tomcat pilots, Lieutenant Larry "Music" Muczynski, reported how the
missile motor ignited and caused the left side of the lead Libyan aircraft to light
up with a large flame.
That missile banked up, missing both aircraft and providing the American fighters with all
of their momentum.
According to Music, the initial shot was fired by his fellow airman from station 1A (left
glove pylon, shoulder station).
The missile launched, turned 90 degrees, and struck the airplane in the tail.
The man was promptly ejected once the aircraft began to roll and the drag chute opened.
The F-14 Tomcat, a Navy carrier-based bomber hunter designed to defend American fleets
from invading aircraft during a great global confrontation that never materialized, had
just won its first air-to-air battle.
A Fighter Designed to Hunt Bombers America's fleet of aircraft carriers has long
been the country's strongest tool for projecting power, but because of their size, protecting
them is difficult.
The Second World War demonstrated that aircraft posed a greater danger at sea than hostile
ships, while the Vietnam War highlighted the F-4 Phantom's weaknesses in dogfights.
The Navy also understood that a terrible air battle would be fought if the Cold War ever
escalated.
The Navy required a plane that could be the first line of defense for a carrier strike
group, closing quickly with approaching bombers and fighting them from a distance that would
keep the carriers secure and out of harm's way.
At first, it was anticipated that the TFX aircraft program would be able to supply both
the Navy and Air Force with the necessary aircraft.
However, Admiral Thomas "Tomcat" Connelly of the Navy was able to obtain approval from
Congress for the Navy to proceed with its plans for a carrier-based fighter.
The Navy's TOPGUN school was already hard at work producing pilots with the knowledge
and skills necessary to contend with the Soviet Air Force, but the service required a plane
that could combine the quick takeoff and landing requirements of a carrier-based fighter with
the high top speed, large payload, and maneuverability of an interceptor fighter.
The interceptor, the TFX aircraft it would replace, looked to match one "heavy" fighter
design that Grumman Aerospace Corporation had suggested.
The aircraft would be able to optimize lift during takeoff and reduce drag during high-speed
flight thanks to the new design's sweeping variable-geometry wings.
It wasn't totally a novel idea.
Even though the Messerschmitt P 1101, built by Nazi Germany, never took to the air, shifting
wings have been seen on a number of earlier aircraft.
The prototype was found by American forces in 1945 after they took control of a Nazi
research facility in the Bavarian Alps.
Robert J. Woods, the leader of the information-collection team, was particularly moved by the discovery.
Later on, Bell Aircraft Corp., which Woods helped co-found, hired him as its chief designer.
It's like riding in a Cadillac while you're in an F-14.
The redesigned Grumman F-14's wings would move forward at the tips during takeoff and
low-speed flight, increasing their overall surface area and giving the fighter more lift.
However, at supersonic speeds, those wings would tuck backward and reduce the surface
area, transforming it into a more effective high-speed chase fighter with a faster peak
speed and greater fuel efficiency than fixed-wing competitors.
Additionally, the Navy meant it when it claimed "high speed."
Their newly developed F-14 Tomcat, which was given the name of its strongest supporter
in tribute, would still be superior to contemporary heavyweights like the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter
and F-22 Raptor.
Charlie Brown, a Grumman test pilot and part of the F-14 design team, stated, "The [Navy]
standards asked for Mach 2.34."
"We put the aircraft through a Mach 2.5 test.
A few times, I flew it at 2.5.
Phantoms are designed for 2.0, but when you fly that quickly, you can tell.
It's delicate, like sitting on a beach ball; you never know which way it'll roll.
" It's like riding in a Cadillac when you're in an F-14.
" The Navy was so pleased with its new fighter
that it decided to forego the prototype stage entirely, bringing the aircraft into production
in 1969 and receiving its first brand-new F-14s in 1972.
712 F-14s in all were built over the course of production, which lasted until 1991.
Zero Compromises for Air Superiority The two General Electric F110-GE-400 afterburning
turbofan engines each produced more than 28,000 pounds of thrust when their afterburners were
activated, allowing the F-14 Tomcat, which was just under 63 feet long and had a 64-foot
wingspan, to exceed Mach 1 at sea level and Mach 2.34 at altitude.
Despite having a total range of 1,600 miles without refueling, the F-14 was typically
thought to have a 1,000-mile fighting radius.
There is no denying the F-14's speed.
And although the massive, heavy fighter was surprisingly maneuverable because of its sweeping
wing system, which automatically adjusted for best performance at any speed or altitude,
the F-14 was more than simply a pretty set of wings.
The F-14 was a genuinely fearsome foe thanks to its striking look and advanced internal
technologies.
With the AWG-9 X-band pulse-doppler radar, which just so happened to use one of the first
microprocessors to ever find its way onto a fighter jet, you could track as many as
24 enemy aircraft from as far away as 195 miles from the radar-intercept officer's seat,
which was situated just behind the pilot.
Long-range missiles might even be directed at six different targets simultaneously by
the advanced onboard technologies without losing track of the others.
According to Paco Chierici, veteran F-14 pilot and author of Lions of the Sky, "the Tomcat/AUG-9
radar/Phoenix trio were created to shield the fleet from supersonic Soviet bombers whose
only purpose was to destroy the carrier."
The F-14 could potentially target and engage airborne cruise missiles thanks to the AWG-9
system's advanced capabilities.
The ALR-23, the Western world's only internal infrared search and track sensor at the time,
provided early support for that system, but it was later replaced by an optical sensor
that sent data directly to the AWG-9.
Armed with similarly powerful weapons, the fighter had a wide range of options depending
on the type of target and how far away it was from the Tomcat.
The Tomcat was a powerful weapon with ten total hardpoints and a 14,500-pound payload
capacity, but the Phoenix missile was the true powerhouse.
According to Chierici, the Tomcat was a huge aircraft concealed behind a huge radar that
was made specifically to fire the AIM-54 Phoenix, the most deadly air-to-air missile in the
western arsenal.
The capabilities of today's missiles are just beginning to match some of those of the Phoenix.
The Cold War is over.
The United States Navy came to a fork in the road in 1991 after the demise of the Soviet
Union.
The powerful F-14 transformed into a warrior without a battle without the threat of Russian
bombers hanging over its head.
The Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance Pod Systems (TARPS) were installed on 65 F-14s, transforming
the dogfighting platform into a very effective reconnaissance aircraft.
Other F-14s had modifications to improve their suitability as air-to-ground strikes.
platforms.
The F/A-18 Hornet and its replacement, the Super Hornet, were among the The finicky F-14
was more expensive to maintain and more difficult to fly.
Due to the F-14's out-of-date systems' inability to distinguish between friendly and hostile
aircraft at a distance, Iraqi pilots made it a point to avoid engaging with them when
the Gulf War first started.
The Tomcat was consigned to ineffective patrols.
Even worse, the Navy lost one Tomcat to an SA-2 surface-to-air missile fired by Iraq.
In the early stages of the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, Tomcats were able
to fly air attack missions against ground targets thanks to minor electronic improvements,
although they had already passed their prime.
As the previous millennium gave way to the new one, the Navy began to believe that maintaining
a fleet of air superiority fighters on its carriers was less vital and too expensive.
The less expensive Super Hornets were specifically designed with air-to-ground battles in mind.
The F-14 was replaced in 2006 by the less expensive, slower Super Hornet.
From the Bottom Ring to the Top Gun Top Gun swept the box office in 1986, 20 years
before Tomcat retired, but its success went much beyond simply filling up American movie
theaters.
Navy recruiting increased as a result of recruiters setting up booths outside of screenings to
answer questions from prospective pilots.
Tom Cruise may have been the headliner, but the Tomcat really stole the show for young
Americans who wanted to fly a combat plane.
The majority of the U.S. Navy's surviving F-14s were put into enormous industrial shredders,
a devastating conclusion for such a legendary aircraft.
The United States supplied Iran with 79 Tomcats before the Iranian revolution in the late
1970s.
There are now fewer than 12 that are thought to be in use, and it is feared that any spare
components may end up in Iranian hands.
However, the aircraft's legacy endures (and not just in Top Gun: Maverick).
Systems developed on the Tomcat advanced and are now present on many fighter platforms.
With a growing China, it's possible that the upcoming American air supremacy fighter, codenamed
"PCA" for "Penetrating Counter Air," will reuse some Tomcat design elements.
The F-14 was a fighter designed with an unrealized conflict in mind.
But when deterrence is the goal, the Tomcat succeeded in its objective.
After all, it's difficult to outrun an F-14 that is fully equipped with more than 14,000
pounds of missiles and roaring your way at twice the speed of sound.
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