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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.
The F-14 was piloted by Lieutenant Hermon C. Cook III and Lieutenant Commander Steven Patrick Collins. [3] January 4, 1989 – A Grumman F-14A Tomcat (Bureau Number : 159610) shot down a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 using an AIM-9 Sidewinder missile. The F-14 was piloted by Commander Joseph Bernard Connelly and Commander Leo F. Enwright. [4]
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.
F-14 Tomcat. The Grumman F-14 Tomcat was central to the 1986 film Top Gun. [37] [348] [349] The U.S. Navy provided F-14s at $7,600 per flight hour for a total bill of $886,000 ($2,542,000 today [350]). [351] [340] The aviation-themed film created such interest in naval aviation that the Navy set up recruitment desks outside some theaters. [352]
The F-14 primarily conducted air-to-air and reconnaissance missions with the U.S. Navy until the 1990s, when it was also employed as a long-range strike fighter. [3] It saw considerable action in the Mediterranean Sea and Persian Gulf and was used as a strike platform in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq until its final deployment with the United States in 2006.
An AIM-54 Phoenix being attached to an F-14 wing pylon before the forward fins were installed (2003). The AIM-54 Phoenix was retired from USN service on September 30, 2004. F-14 Tomcats were retired on September 22, 2006. They were replaced by shorter-range AIM-120 AMRAAMs, employed on the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.
The A-3 had been used as a civilian operated testbed for many years before the type's retirement from US Navy, with Hughes Aircraft Company using the type as a testbed for developing the weapons system for the General Dynamics–Grumman F-111B and Grumman F-14 Tomcat, with Westinghouse and Raytheon also using the A-3 as a testbed. [29]
The Pratt & Whitney F401 (company designation JTF22 [1]) was an afterburning turbofan engine developed by Pratt & Whitney in tandem with the company's F100.The F401 was intended to power the Grumman F-14 Tomcat and Rockwell XFV-12, but the engine was canceled due to costs and development issues.