The F-14 Tomcat symbolizes American air superiority, birthed out of the need in the Cold War struggle to deal with advancements made in Soviet long-range patrol and bomber aircraft. Grumman’s challenge would become the F-14A Tomcat, a fleet defense fighter equipped with AIM-54 Phoenix air-to-air missiles capable of engaging multiple targets over 90 miles away. The F-14’s variable-sweep wing design made it able to work over a very wide range of airspeeds, thereby balancing high-speed intercepts with carrying heavy ordnance.
First of all, the Navy looked at General Dynamics’ F-111B for its carrier-based air superiority mission, but due to its weight, it could not support carrier operations, so the Navy canceled the contract in April 1968. This eventually led the Navy to initiate the VFX program; Grumman and McDonnell Douglas were the two most powerful competitors. Grumman’s entry was the Model 303, with a twin-engined, two-seat, variable-geometry design developed around the Hughes AWG-9 weapons system; it won the contract. First flown on 21 December 1970 and introduced into service in June 1972 was the F-14 Tomcat.
The F-14 first saw combat in August 1981, shooting down two Libyan Su-22 fighters over the Gulf of Sidra. It saw a great deal of action during the Gulf War, in Iraq, and in Afghanistan, and the final active-service F-14 retired in 2006. Among its kind, the Museum’s F-14A (Bureau Number 157984) was originally the fifth Tomcat produced and one of the prototypes used in early testing.
Stepping back a bit, one has to remember the design of the F-14 was truly a product of its time utilizing all of the best technology, materials, and electronics available in the mid-1960s. Grumman had virtually no influence over Navy requirements and the selection of the TF-30 engine and the Phoenix missile system. Even so, the F-14 incorporated bleeding-edge technology, such as the CSDC and SDDI interface, years ahead of the MIL-STD-1553 databus.
But some of these design decisions have not aged so well. Honeycomb structures, which were quite prevalent during the 50s and 60s, were found to suffer from delaminations with age. Another area in which the F-14 was at the leading edge was the use of boron composites, which today have been replaced by other materials. The various maintenance issues with the aircraft, such as not having an APU for self-starting on carrier decks, were often pushed back in favor of higher-priority upgrades and modernizations.
The real evolution of the F-14 into the “Bombcat” truly marked a quantum leap in the aircraft’s role. From an aircraft originally envisioned for fleet air defense, the Tomcat turned into a strike fighter, filling a severe capability gap left by the retirement of the A-6 Intruder. Long range and heavy payload combined to make the F-14 an efficient deep-strike platform, rated to carry more bombs than the F/A-18A/C Hornet. However, the Bombcat configuration allowed the F-14 to carry a broad range of air-to-ground ordnance, from laser-guided bombs to cluster munitions.
The addition of the LANTIRN system in the mid-1990s further increased the strike capabilities of the F-14. On the other hand, the AAQ-25 LTS pod provided high-resolution targeting imagery for precise targeting in the demanding environments of Afghanistan. In addition, the F-14 could carry both the LANTIRN pod and TARPS recon pod simultaneously.
During its service, the F-14 proved itself in so many varied combat situations—from early fleet defender to the versatile strike fighter in the latter years. Indeed, the Tomcat left its mark on the naval aviation annals. Though retired, this aircraft will always remain a source of inspiration and information for modern military aircraft.