 |
|
| |
|
||||
 The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is a U.S. Navy supersonic, twin-engine, variable sweep wing, two-seat strike fighter. The Tomcat's primary missions are air superiority, fleet air defense and precision strike against ground targets.
DevelopmentThe F-14 was developed to take the place of the aborted General Dynamics F-111B, a navalized version of the U.S. Air Force tactical strike aircraft. Intended to provide fleet air defense, the F-111B proved unmaneuverable, overweight, and, in general, poorly suited to aircraft carrier operations, leading to its cancellation in 1968. The Tomcat was intended as an uncompromised air superiority fighter and interceptor, charged with defending carrier battle groups against Soviet Navy aircraft armed with cruise missiles. It carried the Hughes AN/AWG-9 long-range radar originally developed for the F-111B, capable of detecting bomber-sized targets at ranges exceeding 160 km (100 miles), tracking 24 targets and engaging six simultaneously. Originally, the F-14's primary weapon was the AIM-54 Phoenix missile, capable of engaging a target at up to 200 km (120 miles), but this was removed from service on 30 September 2004. The F-14 was the only aircraft to carry this weapon, which was designed as an integral part of the Tomcat weapons system. Medium-range armament is provided by the AIM-7 Sparrow semi-active radar homing missile, backed by AIM-9 Sidewinder infrared missiles and a single M61 Vulcan 20mm cannon for close-in use. The F-14 was designed with some air-to-ground capability, but this was not explored until late in its career; Tomcats have now been equipped to carry the LANTIRN targeting system for the use of laser-guided bombs and other precision-guided weapons. Some F-14s are also equipped with the Tactical Air Reconnaissance Pod System (TARPS), giving the Navy its only manned tactical reconnaissance platform. The F-14 is perhaps the most maneuverable and agile of all swing-wing aircraft. The flat, pancake-like section between the engines acts as an airfoil to provide additional lift, giving the Tomcat an effective wing area about 40% greater than its actual wing dimensions. This results in relatively low effective wing loading. The Tomcat also has a Mach Sweep Programmer (MSP) that automatically adjusts the wing angle for optimum flight performance (the only VG aircraft so equipped -- a similar system was tested but not used for the Panavia Tornado ADV), and movable glove vanes that improve airflow over the wings in fast turns. Most variable-geometry aircraft are optimized for fast, low-altitude attack, emphasizing good gust response rather than maneuverability. Despite the Tomcat's considerable size, its agility compares well to many other fighters, although that created problems with the TF30 turbofans, which are subject to stalls in violent maneuvers or high alpha. The F-14 entered the fleet in 1973, replacing the F-4 Phantom II. The F-14B, introduced in November 1987, incorporated new General Electric F110 engines. In 1995, an upgrade program was initiated to incorporate new digital avionics and weapon system improvements to strengthen its multi-mission competitive edge. The F-14D, delivered in 1990, was a major upgrade with F-110 engines, new AN/APG-71 radar system, Airborne Self Protection Jammer (ASPJ), Joint Tactical Information Distribution System (JTIDS) and Infrared Search and Track (IRST). Additionally, all F-14 variants were given precision strike capability using the LANTIRN targeting system, night vision compatibility, new defensive countermeasures systems and a new digital flight control system. The F-14 is rapidly disappearing from U.S. Navy service. It originally was slated to remain in service through at least 2008, but all F-14As have already been retired, and the remaining -B and -D aircraft are now expected to be gone by 2008. It is being replaced by the Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet. The Tomcat is said to be named for late Vice Admiral Thomas Connolly, whose testimony before the Senate was critical in the cancellation of the deeply-flawed TFX project (hence, "Tom's Cat"). Ironically, much of the F-14's equipment was re-used from the TFX, including the radar, Phoenix missile, and the Pratt & Whitney TF30 engines. The Tomcat had extremely limited foreign export sales, but its foreign export sales make for one of the more colorful events in its history. The United States in the late 1970s supplied F-14s to Iran, only to have them fall into the hands of the Islamic Republic of Iran after the 1979 revolution. From that point forward, Iran used the fighter primarily as an airborne radar controller, escorted and protected by other fighters. Iran was unable to regain any substantial ability to maintain the aircraft after that (despite receiving spare parts and missiles for the aircraft during the Iran-Contra affair) and their ability to operate the aircraft as of 2004, while unknown, is estimated to be extremely limited. This may in part be due to purported sabotage of the aircraft or their missile systems by Grumman engineers during the revolution. Some rumors suggest that a few of the AIM-54 Phoenix missiles supplied to Iran before the revolution were sold to the Soviet Union, where they may have strongly influenced the development of the similar Vympel AA-9 'Amos' long-range missile. Grumman had submitted several 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) but the Super Hornet was chosen as the future Navy attack aircraft instead. Speculation was that Grumman felt they were the only serious option for the Navy to consider and quoted them an inflated estimate for building new F-14s (the airframes already in use were approaching the end of their lives). In an act of reprisal, then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney ordered Grumman to destroy the tooling and molds for the F-14. There is some debate whether the destruction was actually carried out in full, however Grumman was acquired by Northrop in 1994 (the F-14 was probably the only program keeping them in business), sealing the fate of the F-14. Ironically, the original F-14 was intended to be a multi-role aircraft with a potent strike capability from the outset but complexity and budget constraints meant that this support was dropped before the F-14 was brought into service. However this capability was resurrected later in its life with the ability for later model F-14s to carry the LANTIRN pod. With this accessory the F-14 could deliver Laser-guided bombs or many other Navy air-to-ground munitions with a fair amount of accuracy and over intermediate ranges. After the retirement of the A-6 attack aircraft, the F-14 was the longest range strike platform on U.S. supercarriers. It is debatable, and to many doubtful, whether the Super Hornet will be able to deliver the quantity of munitions that the F-14 can over similar ranges. Unfortunately, without the ability to re-manufacture or replace the F-14 fleet, the tired and high-maintenance airframes and engines fitted mostly with technology from the 1970s are on their way out, though by many standards it is still superior to the fighters of many airforces.  General Characteristics
The AIM-54, AIM-7, and AIM-9 air-to-air missiles may be loaded in one of the following configurations: Missing image F14Missile.jpg An F-14 launches an AIM-7 Sparrow.
Operators
F-14s in CombatF-14s of the U. S. Navy have shot down five enemy aircraft for no losses. One has been lost to a surface-to-air missile.
Missing image Gw-tomphoenix.jpg An F-14 launcher an AIM-54 Phoenix during training. Photo courtesy US Navy. F-14s in FictionThe Tomcat has appeared in several military novels, films, and television series, the most notable being the 1986 film Top Gun. James W. Huston's novel "Flash Point" is about a group of US naval aviators flying Tomcats. The 1980 time-travel film Final Countdown featured the VF-84 "Jolly Rogers" F-14 fighter squadron aboard the U.S.S. Nimitz. Tomcats were also featured in Tom Clancy's novel Red Storm Rising. The VF-1 Valkyrie robot mecha design in The Super Dimension Fortress Macross Japanese animated series (dubbed and adapted outside Japan as part of Robotech) were also based on the Tomcat. The 2002-2004 animated prequel series Macross Zero featured a F-14A+2 design (a fictional variant of the F-14 Tomcat). External links
|
||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
Copyright 2008 WordIQ.com - Privacy Policy
::
Terms of Use
:: Contact Us
:: About Us This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "F-14 Tomcat". |