In service, F-14s were charged with the broad role of fleet defense and its missions generally centered around Combat Air Patrol (CAP) - the seeking out and engagement of incoming enemy aerial threats at range before they could do damage to the fleet. To deal with the threat, the F-14 could manage a full combat load of up to six AIM-54 Phoenix missiles for long-range work, AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles for short-range work, and a 20mm M61 Vulcan internal cannon for extreme-close range service. The AIM-7 Sparrow could also be carried as a medium-range solution to better balance the attack potential of the aircraft. There proved ten hardpoints in play - six under the fuselage mass, two under the engine nacelles, and two under the wing "gloves". Two hardpoints supported external fuel tanks for even more extended operational ranges. Performance, agility, and the onboard radar coupled to this armament and support from Command-and-Control aircraft made the F-14 the preeminent interceptor of its day while its carrier-based nature gave it access to all points on the globe. As the ground-attack functionality of the F-14 did not materialize in time, the USMC moved away from its interest in the aircraft as its F-4 replacement.
The F-14A was to be improved with the proposed "F-14B" model and its Pratt & Whitney F401-P-400 turbofan engines but this mark was cancelled due to budget constraints. Instead, work progressed on the "F-14A+" (also "F-14 Plus") of 1987 in which the original Pratt & Whitney engines were dropped in favor of the better-performing General Electric GE F110-GE400 series turbofan. The original P&W engines held a penchant for blade failures and were generally regarded as underpowered for the aircraft and its carrier-based nature, requiring much power on take-off and climb-to-altitude. The F-14+ first went airborne in September of 1986 and the USN took on a new-build stock of 38 of the type and added a further 48 F-14A variants modified to the new standard. To add confusion, the USN eventually updated the F-14A+ designation to become "F-14B". Other changes to the mark included an all-new threat receiver system and lengthened jet pipes. The changes produced a much-improved carrier interceptor with added range.
The F-14C was a proposed multi-mission platform but this initiative fell to naught. This led the improved F-14D production models instead - the definitive mark of the line though limited mainly in the numbers procured. The aircraft appeared in 1991 and were given the General Electric GE F110-400 series turbofan engines as in the F-14B but bettering the previous mark by adoption of digital cockpits, digital avionics, and radar processing. The digital form of the original AWG-9 radar now became the AN/APG-71 series. A pair of Infra-Red Search and Track (IRST) pods were added under the nose and the Radar Warning Receiver (RWR) unit was improved. Ejection seats were updated to the "Naval Aircrew Common Ejection Seat" (NACES) standard. Thirty-seven F-14D models were manufactured by Grumman and 18 more were updated to the standard from existing F-14A airframes - again due to budget constraints as 127 D-models were originally sought by the USN). In 2005, F-14D models were given the Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receiver (ROVER) system which provided ground commanders an "eye-in-the-sky" capability for improved Close-Air Support (CAS) work.
Power for D-models were from 2 x General Electric F110-GE-400 turbofan engines which provided 13,810lb thrust on dry and 27,800lb thrust with afterburner engaged. Performance included a top speed of Mach 2.34 with a combat radius out to 500 nautical miles and a ferry range of 1,600 nautical miles. Rate-of-climb was 45,000 feet per minute with a service ceiling just above 50,000 feet.
Despite the various modernization initiatives, the F-14 was an interceptor born from work begun in the 1960s. By 2006, it had seen its best days as battlefield technology surpassed its design and enemy tactics shifted the focus away from thoroughbred interceptors to missile defense instead. As such, the F-14 was retired from USN service in 2006, ending the stellar career of the one of the finest naval interceptors to ever grace the skies. The F-14 was formally replaced by the McDonnell Douglas / Boeing F/A-18 "Super Hornet" in the same fleet defense role - though this platform also added a proven air-to-ground attack capability that the F-14 lacked.
The F-14B was eventually modernized in the latter half of the 1990s to support air-to-ground strike work and this produced the working nickname of "Bombcat". The move was brought about to tighten the gap created by the retirement of the Grumman A-6 Intruder strike fleet. Bombcats were cleared to carry the LANTIRN ("Low-Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night") low-altitude/low-light/all-weather laser designator pod (under the right wing unit) to be used in conjunction with precision-guided drop ordnance and saw only limited combat use by the end of the aircraft's service tenure.
Iran became the only foreign operator of the F-14 and continues its support to this day (2014). These represent F-14A models and serve across the 81st and 82nd Tactical Fighter Squadrons of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF). As Iran does not have a carrier fleet, the F-14s are used in a land-based, air defense role. The aircraft were obtained by the Islamist regional power through the relationship held between the last "Shah" and the United States (under then-President Richard Nixon) prior to the Islamic Revolution of 1979 which severely soured the partnership. Iran was offered access to current American military equipment of the time and selected the F-14 to shore up its interceptor fleet for possible use against neighboring Iraqi marauders and Soviet spy flights - the model was selected ahead of the competing McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle air superiority fighter. AIM-54 Phoenix missiles, engines, support, and training were all also part of the U.S.-Iran agreement (though sensitive avionics components were not). The first F-14 was delivered to the Iranians in January of 1976.
Despite the F-14 being a largely American weapons platform, the highest scoring Tomcat ace became Iranian Jalil Zandi who served during the bloody Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) and managed eleven kills. Iranian authorities have hinted that their F-14s have been modernized with Iranian equipment to keep them viable after all of these decades and a refusal by Washington to sell any support hardware to the Iranians (an 80th F-14A Tomcat was originally scheduled for delivery to Iran but absorbed into the USN fleet after the fall of the Shah).
In combat service, the F-14 did not disappoint. Early use in American hands saw it claim a pair of Libyan Sukhoi Su-22 Fitter aircraft in 1981 (the "Gulf of Sidra Incident") and, later, two more Libyan Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 Flogger fighters in 1989. Iranian Tomcats netted an Iraqi Mil Mi-25 helicopter in 1980 to earn their first Tomcat-based kill and managed the downing of several Soviet-originated aircraft against Iraq in their decades-long war of attrition. During the 1991 Persian Gulf War, USN F-14s split the CAP role with USAF F-15 fighters in the grand campaign that reduced the "Fourth Largest Army in the World" to ashes and ultimate retreat - also marked as the world's first "Digital War". They also undertook reconnaissance sorties to aid incoming waves of allied strike fighters and bombers. USN Tomcats then served under the NATO banner over the Balkans (Bosnia) in the tumultuous regional conflicts there where Bombcats could lay down precision munitions upon enemy targets for the first time. Its last operational sorties were conducted during the early stages of the American-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq before retirement in 2006.
Total F-14 production by Grumman yielded 712 aircraft and these were manufactured from the period of 1969 to 1991. Non-combat attrition proved relatively high for the series in that some 160 were lost in accidents alone. Many preserved F-14 Tomcats are showcased at outdoor and indoor displays across the United States today.
In May of 2015, an Iranian military parade revealed the Fakour-90 long-range air-to-air missile based highly on the Raytheon AIM-54A Phoenix. These missiles will be operated from the active Iranian F-14 stock. The AIM-23 Sejil is another weapon based on an American product (the MIM-23) that is slated for use on the F-14 fleet.
Content ©MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.