The Grumman F-14 Tomcat, made famous by “Top Gun,” is one of America’s most iconic fighters. As the United States Navy started retiring the iconic fighters in the late 1990s, museums, and collectors became aggressively interested in acquiring such items. But in 2007, the improper decommissioning of a few of the same type of F-14s led to dramatic federal intervention.
On March 6, 2007, agents from Customs and officials from the Defense Criminal Investigative Service seized four F-14s. Two were taken from the Yanks Air Museum and one from the Planes of Fame Air Museum, both located at Chino Airport in California. The fourth was seized from the Aviation Warehouse at Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville, California. This particular Tomcat had been sold to TV producer and Marine veteran Donald Bellisario for his show “JAG.”
According to an affidavit filed in federal court by ICE Agent Joshua Barrett, the aircraft were decommissioned between 1996 and 1998 at Naval Air Station Point Mugu, California. Navy officials did not follow through with the remaining steps to get rid of the planes which is to have the planes completely stripped of all military hardware. Navy officials did not follow through with the remaining steps to get rid of the planes which is to have the planes authorized contractor to dismantle and dispose of the Tomcats, but sold them in unauthorized transactions for $2,000-$4,000 each. Proceeds supported the Morale Welfare and Recreation Fund for a unit stationed at Naval Base Ventura County, California.
The improper disposal was discovered during an undercover sting investigation examining the potential black market sale of F-14 parts. Iran, the only country still actively flying the F-14s, was reportedly seeking parts to keep its fleet flying. ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice commented that while it is not believed that the planes had been plundered for parts by malefactors, their improper demilitarization does present a potential vulnerability.
The affidavit alleged the F-14s had been released improperly and without authority by the officer in charge to demilitarize them. It was sent to California Public Recycling in Oxnard, California, for scrap disposal, although, at the same time, the F-14 was specifically barred from scrap metal recycling programs. Marc Keenberg, a consultant for the company, said the planes were sold to another scrap yard, and they lost track of them.
Bellisario said his F-14 had been given to him through appropriate military means. “They didn’t sell us one. They gave us one, and they removed the engines,” he explained to the Los Angeles Times. The Navy, in demilitarizing the aircraft, literally sliced its fuselage in half and welded it back together again, rendering the big fighter unable to fly but eminently serviceable as a prop.
In 2005, the JAG F-14 was purchased by Aviation Warehouse Inc., which is presumed to be based in El Mirage, California. Its president is a man going by the name, Mark Thompson. The former told the Los Angeles Times that the last four F-14s cost him $ 15,000 after he bought them from California Public Recycling using a broker who he claims still handles his business. He resold the jet fighters to the museums at a whooping $ 50,000 apiece. Federal officials pointed out that no documentation of the planes’ demilitarization could be found. After the confiscation, the F-14s were removed from service and transported to a military facility in Tucson, Arizona, where they were stored and finally demilitarized.
The U.S. Navy retired its last Tomcat in 2006, but Iran’s fleet of F-14s, bought in the mid-1970s, is still in operation. Sanctions imposed after the 1979 revolution barred Iran from openly buying spare parts, and Tehran took to the black market. American authorities were onto the illegal trade as early as 1998, and several arrests followed over the years.
The parts war heated up, though, after the U.S. By the time the U.S. Navy had retired its very last F-14s, Iran was the only operator of the type. In 2007, U.S. agents seized four intact ex-U.S. Navy F-14s in California, charging the F-14s had not been properly stripped of useful parts that could wind up in Iranian hands. Congress reacted by passing a bill that specifically disallowed trade in Tomcat components with Iran or any other entity; the bill was signed into law by then-president George W. Bush in 2008.
Despite these, the shadowy businesses still try to dig up whatever remnants of Tomcat parts they find from landfills around the planet. The saga of the F-14 Tomcat remains a testament to the complexities of military decommissioning and the persistent lure of this legendary aircraft.
The MiG-23 was conceived in the 1960s as a replacement for the MiG-21 and was meant to be a fast climber and flyer at high altitudes with a substantial degree of ground attack. What sets this aircraft apart is a revolutionary “swing-wing” design reminiscent of the F-14 Tomcat; the wings swept back in flight for high speeds can also splay out for low speeds in flight and on landing. This revolutionary design helped it stay versatile in a multi-role use airplane.
With its afterburning turbojet motor, the Khachaturov R-35-300 motor powered the MiG-23 to a top speed of Mach 2.35. A two-spool axial arrangement with a three-stage low-pressure compressor and a six-stage high-pressure compressor helped give the engine its decent thrust-to-weight ratio, although it was relatively thirsty for fuel, particularly in full afterburner.
The aircraft was equipped with modern radar and weapon systems and was able to engage low-flying targets with the help of the RP-23 Sapfir look-down/shoot-down radar. The principal armament of the MiG-23 is the R-23 (AA-7 Apex) missile with a range of 35 km. The aircraft could also be armed with a 23 mm GSh-23L autocannon and carry a variety of air-to-surface ordnance in the ground-attack role.
First entering the Soviet Air Force service in 1970, the aircraft has been used in some conflicts, most notably the Yom Kippur War, the Iran–Iraq War, and the Gulf War. MiG-23s were used by the Syrian Air Force to confront other American-made advanced aircraft, significantly the F-4 Phantom II used by the Israeli Air Force, during the Yom Kippur War. Despite technological advantages, the MiG-23 often proved to be difficult to employ effectively in conflicts, due in part to poor training of pilots and maintenance, resulting in mixed combat results.
The aircraft had one of the major uses in the said War of Ground attacks on the positions of Mujahideen during the Soviet-Afghan War. The swing-wing design had also been highly versatile under the rough Afghan conditions for numerous types of missions, including close air support, interdiction, and reconnaissance.
This aside from its novelty design and multirole capability, made the MiG-23 have a checkered safety record and was often criticized as tough and expensive to fly and maintain. Western observers initially eyed it as no more than a “serviceable” aircraft, but retrospectively the MiG-23 has won respect as an impressive design that could stand up against at least some of the Western aircraft of the period.
The MiG-23 was produced in large quantities and was actively exported for use in many subcontinental air arms, from Eastern Europe to Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. More than 5,000 units had been manufactured by the end of the Cold War. Although most air arms have retired their fleets of MiG-23s by now, some are still in service—including a very few.
The MiG-23 was an important chapter in military aviation history that reflected technological progress and strategic doctrines of the time. The induction and large-scale use of the craft speak volumes about the dynamic character of aerial combat and military technology during the second half of the 20th century. Even while falling far short of perfection, the MiG-23 leaves a heritage worth studying among world military aviation enthusiasts.