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MANUFACTURER: Grumman WEIGHTS: DIMENSIONS: PERFORMANCE: Acceleration: from 245kts(282mph; 456 km/h), military power F-14 Tomcat :OverviewThe F-14 Tomcat was the US Navy's standard carrier-based fighter. F-14 Tomcats missions include Combat Air Patrol (CAP), Deck-Launched Intercept (DLI), and air superiority. F-14 was a large, fast, heavy aircraft designed around the long-range AIM-54 Phoenix Air-to-Air Missile (AAM) and the powerful Hughes AWG-9 weapons control system, which weighs 1,300 I b (590 kg) and occupies a volume of 25 ft3 (0.71 m3). F-14 Tomcat :CharacteristicThe F-14 Tomcat was a two-seat,twin-engine Fighter with twin tails and variable geometry wings.Its general arrangement consists of a long nacelle containing the large nose radar and crew positions ex- tending well forward and above the widely spaced engines.The engines are parallel to a central structure that flattens toward the tail;butterfly-shaped air brakes are located between the fins on the upper and lower surfaces. Altogether, the fuselage forms more than half of the total aerodynamic lifting surface.The original design air frame life for the F-14 was 6,000 hours but was later extended to 7,200 hours.The wings were shoulder-mounted and programmed for automatic sweep during flight, with a manual override provided. The twin, swept fin-and-rudder vertical surfaces were mounted on the engine housings and canted outward. The wing pivot carry-through structure crosses the central structure; the carry-through is 22 ft (6.7 m) long and constructed from 33 electron welded parts machined from titanium; the pivots are located outboard of the engines. Normal sweep range was 20° to 68° with a 75° "over sweep" position provided for ship board hangar stowage;sweep speed is 7.5°/sec.For roll control below 57°, the F-14 used spoilers located along the upper wing near the trailing edge in conjunction with its all-moving, swept tail planes,which were operated differentially; above 57° sweep,the tail planes operate alone. For un-swept, low speed combat maneuvering, the outer two sections of trailing- edge flaps can be deployed at 10°, and the nearly full-span leading-edge slats are drooped to 8.5°. At speeds above Mach 1.0, glove vanes in the leading edge of the fixed portion of the wing extend to move the aerodynamic center forward and re- duce loads on the tail plane. The sharply raked,two-dimensional four-shock engine intakes have two variable-angle ramps, a bypass door in the intake roof,and a fixed ramp forward;exhaust nozzles are mechanically variable.Viewed from ahead,the top of the intakes are tilted toward the aircraft centerline;from above,the engines are canted outward slightly to reduce interference between intake airflow and the fuselage boundary layer.The engines exhaust through mechanically variable, convergent-divergent nozzles. The F-14 Tomcat's AWG-9 pulse-Doppler, multimode radar had a designed capability to track 24 targets at the same time while simultaneously devising and executing fire control solution for six targets.The cockpit was fitted with a Kaiser AN/ AVG-12 Head-Up Display (HUD) co-located with an AN/AVA-12 vertical situation display and a horizontal situation display.A chin-mounted Northrop AN/ AXX-1 Television Camera Set (TCS) was used for visual target identification at long ranges. Electronic Support Measures (ESM) equipment include the Litton AN/ALR-45 radar warning and control system, the Magnavox AN/ALR-50 radar- warning receiver, Tracer AN/ALE-29/-39 chaff/flare dispensers (fitted in the rear fuselage between the fins),and Sanders AN/ALQ-100 deception jamming pod. The F-14 Tomcat had an internal 20-mm Vulcan Gat ling type gun fitted on the left side,and can carry Phoenix, Sparrow ,and Sidewinder AAMs.Up to six Phoenix missiles can be carried on four fuselage stations between the engines and on two pylons fitted on the fixed portion of the wing; two Sidewinder AAMs can be carried on the wing pylons above the Phoenix mount. Since the early 1980s,F-14's have had provision for the attachment of the Tactical Air Reconnaissance Pod System (TARPS),carrying optical and infrared cameras and permitting the aircraft to perform the photo reconnaissance role without degrading its performance in other roles. The only modification required are wiring changes and cockpit readouts. F-14 Tomcat :DevelopmentThe F-14 Tomcat's initial operational capability was in 1973; its first flight was December 21, 1970. 79 Tomcats were delivered to Iran before the1979 revolution.They are normally grounded for lack of parts.The US Navy had almost 700 in service or on order in the early 1990s; deliveries were continuing. A complete F-14 D fleet was planned for 1998, with 127 new-production F-14 Ds modification of400 F-14 A and F-14 A+to D configurations . F-14 tomcat :VariantsYF-14 A: Prototypes and pre-production aircraft. 12 built. F-14 A: The original production two-seat all-weather interceptor fighter version for the US Navy. Modifications late in its service life added precision strike munitions to its armament. 545 F-14 A aircraft were delivered to the US Navy and 79 delivered Iran. The final 102 F-14 A's were delivered with improved TF30-P-414A engines.Additionally, an 80th F-14 A was manufactured for Iran, but was delivered to the US Navy. F-14 A + Plus or F-14 B: Upgraded version of the F-14 A with GE F110-400 engines. Much of the avionics as well as the AWG-9 radar were retained. Later re-designated F-14 B. 38 new aircraft were manufactured and 48 F-14 A were upgraded to B variants.In the late 1990s, 67 F-14 B were upgraded to extend airframe life and improve offensive and defensive avionics systems. The modified aircraft became known as F-14 B Upgrade>aircraft. F-14 D Super Tomcat: The final incarnation of the F-14. The original TF-30 engines were replaced with GE F110-400 engines, similar to the F-14 B. The F-14 D also included newer digital avionics systems including a Glass cockpit and replaced the AWG-9 with the newer APG-71 radar. 37 new aircraft were constructed and 18 F-14 A were upgraded to D variants. F-14 C,Quickstrike,Tomcat 21(Grumman private-venture long-range, air-to-ground variant),Attack Super Tomcat 21 (proposed attack variant). F-14 Tomcat :Combat ExperienceF-14 Tomcats from the carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) shot down two Libyan Su-22 Fitter aircraft in an encounter over the Gulf of Sidra in August 1981.On October 10,1985, four F-14s from the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga (CV 60) forced an EgyptAir Boeing 737 to land at Sigonella AB in Sicily. The airliner was carrying four terrorists who hijacked the cruise ship Achilk Lauro and killed an American.On January 4,1989, two F-14's from the carrier USS John F.Kennedy (CV 67) intercepted and downed two Libyan MiG-23 Flogger-Eaircraft, one with a radarguided Sparrow AAM and the other with an IR-seeking Sidewinder. The US pilots claimed to have seen two parachutes. 99 F-14s flew 3,401 sorties as Combat Air Patrol (CAP) aircraft from five carriers during the air assault on Iraqi targets that began Operation Desert Storm; another 781 sorties were devoted to TARPS reconnaissance missions. The F-14 Tomcat compiled the most flight hours(14,248) of any Navy fixed-wing aircraft. |
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