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The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, all-weather-capable variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft.The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experimental (VFX) program after the collapse of the General Dynamics-Grumman F-111B project.
F-14A Tomcats of VF-1 in flight in 1970s. The Tomcat made its combat debut during Operation Frequent Wind, the evacuation of American citizens from Saigon, in April 1975.F-14As from Fighter Squadron 1 (VF-1) and VF-2, operating from USS Enterprise, flew combat air patrols over South Vietnam to provide fighter cover for the evacuation route.
The first was for a low cost lightweight complement for the General Dynamics–Grumman F-111B which could replace the McDonnell F-4 Phantom II for air superiority, escort, and ground attack missions in the early 1960s. This role was dropped in favor of the VFX aircraft, which emerged as the F-14 Tomcat.
In the US Air Force the naming convention for fighter aircraft is a prefix "F-", followed by a number, ground attack aircraft are prefixed with “A-” and bombers with “B-”. Fighter aircraft from the second world war onwards are sorted into generations , from 1 to 5, based on technological level.
In the late 1960s the Navy began development of the Grumman F-14 Tomcat fighter, which offered dramatically improved performance over their F-4 Phantoms.The Tomcat's origins begin in the Fleet Air Defense (FAD) concept that was based on aircraft carrying very long-range missiles and radars, allowing them to attack enemy aircraft at ranges on the order of 100 miles (160 km).
Later, the company built McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom II tail sections, Grumman F-14 Tomcat tails, and Space Shuttle orbiter stabilizers. In 1964, the company purchased Hiller Aircraft , changing its name to Fairchild Hiller and producing the FH-1100 , until 1973 when the helicopter division was sold back to Stanley Hiller.
Candidates included the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, Panavia Tornado, Dassault Mirage F1 (later replaced by the Mirage 2000), plus the products of the American Lightweight Fighter (LWF) competition, the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, the F/A-18 Hornet, and a de-navalized version of the Hornet, the Northrop F-18L.
A TF30-P-412A being prepared for installation in an F-14A Tomcat on board a carrier. The Grumman F-14 Tomcat with the TF30-P-414A was underpowered, because it was the Navy's intent to procure a jet fighter with a thrust-to-weight ratio (in clean configuration) of 1 or better (the US Air Force had the same goals for the F-15 Eagle and F-16 ...