In the late 60s, the United States began designing a long-range carrier-based interceptor to replace the F-4 Phantom-2.
The projects of McDonnell Douglas and Grumman were in the final of the competition. The McDonnell-Douglas firm had a fixed-wing aircraft design, and Grumman's wing sweep changed.
After the air battles over the territory of Vietnam, the military wanted the developers to add vertical and horizontal maneuverability characteristics to the aircraft being created, no worse than those of the MiG-21, which was then the main air rival of the US Air Force combat aircraft.
In theory, the variable geometry of the wing was supposed to give acceptable take-off and landing characteristics with a large mass, as well as good maneuverability in close combat, a high maximum supersonic speed during interception and a long patrol time.
Therefore, it was quite natural that on February 3, 1969, a contract was signed for the creation of the F-14F fighter with the Grumman company.
The aircraft was given its own name "Tomcat", reflecting the tradition of the Grumman firm of giving its naval fighters the names of different cats, and this time accidentally connected with Vice Admiral Tom Connolly, deputy chief of the Naval Aviation Command, who was a great enthusiast of the project. In the early stages, the F-14 was called "Tom's cat" - "Tom's cat", and over time it was transformed into "Tomcat".
The appearance of the new aircraft was finally formed by March 1969. The designers removed one tail and two foldable ventral fin, replacing them with a two-fin tail. This was supposed to give better stability in the event of a breakdown of one of the engines. In addition, the plane showed the great influence of the revolutionary Soviet MiG-25.
The pace of development of the aircraft outstripped the promising engine projected for it. Therefore, temporarily on the first experimental "Tomkats" put the Pratt-Whitney TRDDF TF30-P-412A. At the heart of these engines were the TF-30-P turbofan engines installed on the F-111 and A-7 attack aircraft. But even the thrust increased to 9070 kgf was not enough for a heavy fighter. Another problem was the poor stability and throttle response of the TF-30 engine during vigorous maneuvering at high angles of attack.
The Tomkats had problems with power units all the time. Approximately 28% of all crashed F-14s were lost for this very reason. According to American pilots, the F-14 copes with the assigned tasks, but requires careful piloting, in some cases, flights at low speeds at high altitudes can be risky.
For a decade and a half, more suitable engines were looked for for the F-14, but the issue was resolved only by the end of the 80s, after the installation of the General Electric F110-GE-400 engine, which was equipped with the F-15 and F-16 fighters. The process of refitting with new engines took place during the years 1988-90. And in 1990-93, they launched the production of another version of the "Tomcat" with a turbojet engine F110 and an improved avionics -F-14D.
The minimum wingspan of the aircraft was 11.65 meters, and the maximum was 19.54 meters. Length - 19.1 meters, height - 4.88 meters, wing area -52.49 m2. The empty weight of the aircraft was 18100 kg. Cruising speed 740 - 1000 km / h. Practical range - 2965 - 3200 km.
It was armed with one built-in 20-mm M61A-1 cannon for 675 rounds, located in the forward fuselage. The combat load was 6500 kg at eight hardpoints.
Under the fuselage, it was possible to place 4 AIM-7 Sparrow - medium-range missile launchers in a semi-recessed position, or 4 AIM-54 Phoenix - long-range missile launchers on special platforms. It was also possible to suspend 2-4 AIM-9 "Sidewinder" or AIM-120 AMRAAM - short-range missile launchers.
The combat potential of the vehicle was determined by the Hughes AWG-9 weapon control system.
The longest-range air-to-air missile system "Phoenix", coupled with a unique control system, made the not very successful aircraft one of the best fighter-interceptors of that time.
At the time of its creation, the long-range AIM-54 Phoenix guided missile was unique, it had no analogues. The main feature is a combined guidance system, which combined an autopilot at the initial stage and semi-active radar guidance in the middle section with active guidance in the final section: about 16-20 km. There was also a passive guidance mode on any source of electromagnetic radiation, for example, an anti-ship missile or aircraft radar.
The Phoenix rocket had a maximum launch range of 160 km; at high altitudes, the rocket reached a speed of M = 5. The core warhead had a radius of destruction of about eight meters, providing undermining with infrared, contact or radar fuses.
In the process of developing and fine-tuning the MSA and the rocket, great difficulties arose, so the Phoenix rocket did not immediately become the main weapon of the aircraft. Partly due to the high cost of one rocket - about $ 500,000 in the 70s.
Ultimately, the Navy felt that they needed a "long-armed" interceptor, so the Phoenix had no alternatives.
Another factor in favor of the Phoenix is that other air-to-air missiles could not intercept the MiG-25 at high altitudes.
The contract for the creation of the first batch of 26 aircraft was signed in October 1970. 12 aircraft were included in the flight test program. There were also losses. On December 30, 1970, the first aircraft of this type crashed, but the pilots ejected.
The result of the flight tests of the aircraft was summed up by a group of naval pilots, consisting of the VF-124 test squadron. According to their commander Frank Schlanz, the aircraft demonstrated good flight characteristics and could potentially be used to achieve air superiority and air defense of ship formations.
Note that two more aircraft crashed during test flights. On June 30, 1972, pilot Bill Miller crashed while flying the tenth prototype during a demonstration flight over Patuxent River AFB. The cause of the disaster has not yet been clarified. Just a couple of weeks before his death, Miller took off in a top ten from the aircraft carrier Forrestal. On June 28, he was the first to board an aircraft carrier.
On June 20, 1973, another aircraft, number five, which launched the Sparrow missile launcher, was lost. The rocket left its rails horizontally, hitting the fuel tank located in the central fuselage. As a result, there was an explosion and fire. But since there was no warhead in the rocket, the pilot and operator managed to successfully eject.
In April 1972, tests of the F-14 / UR Phoenix fighter complex began, within the framework of which mass and size missile models suspended on Tomkets were dropped. And in July 1972, an epoch-making event happened: during the testing of the system, the Phoenix aircraft / rocket successfully hit the AQM-37A Stiletto target, which imitated the MiG-25. At the time of launch, the interceptor was at an altitude of 14,300 meters at a speed of M = 1, 2 at a distance of 65 km from the target.
Another significant event is the simultaneous launches of guided missiles against several targets. In mid-December 1972, for the first time, two Phoenix missiles were launched simultaneously at two targets imitating the Soviet Kh-22 anti-ship missiles.
In the future, missiles were launched at targets that create radio interference and simulate another threat from the USSR Tu-22M - a bomber, famous in the West, like the MiG-25. In April 1973, the Tomcat crew managed to locate a BMQ-34 target, which simulated a Backfire at a range of 245 kilometers, and then destroyed it at a distance of 134 kilometers from the launch point of the Phoenix missiles. And in November 1973, pilot John Wilson and weapons operator Jack Hover managed to intercept six targets at once. The American press called this episode "record". Within about forty seconds, Tomcat launched six guided missiles at six different targets, which were located at a distance of 80 to 115 kilometers. Four missiles successfully hit their targets, one failed with equipment, and one launch was declared unsuccessful due to a malfunction of the target.
However, the new weapon system also had significant drawbacks. First of all, the system is difficult to master and operate. Secondly, the high cost of one rocket. Until 1975, only the most experienced crews launched rockets. A test of the ability of ordinary combatant pilots to be as close as possible to combat conditions was carried out on a three-day exercise, in which the 1st Deck Wing of the aircraft carrier "John F. Kennedy" took part. The F-14A's crew of operator Lieutenant Kraay and pilot Lieutenant Andrews managed to shoot down a CQM-10B Bomark target, which imitated the MiG-25. True, this was only a theoretical test of the possibility of using guided missiles by rank-and-file crews. Only a very small number of combatant pilots and operators were able to launch the AIM-54 guided missile. The Phoenix was too expensive to use during combat training.
However, while the F-14 was all right with the "long arm", the maneuvering air combat was not so smooth. In order to conduct an offensive air battle, a fighter must have a decent thrust-to-weight ratio, which the F-14A lacked. According to a number of experts and pilots, Tomcat needed a 30% increase in engine thrust. The horizontal maneuverability also left much to be desired, several aircraft fell due to a flat spin during training maneuvers. As it turned out, when reaching high angles of attack, the plane begins to roll and yaw.
If the rudder and the differentially deflected stabilizer incorporated in the control system are simultaneously used at such speeds, then very high angular velocities arise, which contributes to a spin.
In this regard, the question arose about the feasibility of extending the service life of the F-4 multipurpose aircraft and the need to start developing a deck version of the F-15.
As a result, the admirals decided to create a mixed fleet of small, simple and cheap fighters, as well as heavy, complex and expensive fighters, following the example of the Air Force. These conversations spurred the development of the F-18 Hornet multirole fighter.
The first two combat squadrons were assigned to the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Eisenhower. The ship set off on its maiden voyage with the Tomkats on September 17, 1974. During the cruise, the pilots flew 2,900 hours on the F-14, making a total of 1,600 landings and take-offs on the deck. 460 were spent at night. During this operation, the first accident happened - on January 2, one of the "Tomkats" caught fire, but the crew managed to eject. The aircraft also took part in the Vietnam War, covering the American exit from Saigon.
Typical tasks of deck F-14s are interception and patrolling. Typically, a pair of aircraft patrolled for about fifty minutes at a distance of 550 kilometers from the aircraft carrier. The Tomcat's payload included four Phoenix guided missiles, two Sparrow, two Sidewinder, and two PTBs with a capacity of 1060 liters. If a fighter took off to intercept, then a similar load was on the external suspensions. At a flight speed of M = 1.5, the combat radius reached 247 kilometers.
The second aircraft carrier to receive the Tomcats is John F. Kenedy. In 1976, two squadrons of Tomkats took up combat duty on the aircraft carrier America. The peak of the introduction of aircraft came in 1977, when they appeared on the aircraft carriers Kitty Hawk, Constellation, and Nimitz.
In total, the Tomkats were armed with 22 deck squadrons, as well as two training and four reserve squadrons. 557 F-14Fs were produced, including 79 for the Iranian Air Force and 12 experienced, as well as 38 F-14Bs, 37 F-14Ds.
After entering the divisions with "Tomkats" flight accidents began to occur. For example, flights of this type of aircraft had to be halted twice after two accidents with an interval of two days on June 21 and 23, 1976. After a thorough investigation and inspection of all aircraft, the situation has not changed. On September 14, one of the planes crashed into the water during takeoff, sank in shallow water, next to the ships of the Soviet Navy. It is not known what reaction the Soviet military had to the plane, but the Americans launched a frantic activity to prevent the likely enemy from raising the plane. A rescue vessel and two tugboats left for the disaster area. The plane was lifted and brought for inspection to the territory of the English base Rosyth. The missiles were removed from the aircraft at the bottom, using the US Navy research submarine NR-1. By the middle of 1984, accidents and disasters happened to 70 more fighters. Stalling and fire in engines appeared as the main reasons.
Along with this, the low reliability of the material support of the new aircraft was noted, the engines were unreliable. On board the aircraft carrier there were at least eight TF-30 turbojet engines, which were to replace the failed ones. Normal combat readiness is 8 out of 12 Tomkats.
The F-14s got into real combat in the late summer of 1981. The American aircraft carriers Forrestal and Nimitz were flown over by the Libyan Su and MiGs. During one of them, two Tomkats from the VF-41 squadron shot down two Su-22s.
There were also combat losses. In the winter of 1982, Syrian air defense systems destroyed three Tomkats, which were accompanied by A-6 attack aircraft to strike at various targets in Lebanese territory. Six aircraft carriers were deployed in Operation Desert Storm. Four of them carried F-14 aircraft. "Tomkats" accompanied attack aircraft, carried out reconnaissance missions. The Tomkats managed to shoot down one Iraqi helicopter. Iraqi air defenses, in turn, shot down one Tomcat.
Judging by the experience of the combat use of "Tomkats", we can conclude that the aircraft failed to solve the tasks assigned to it, especially if analyzed in accordance with the criterion "cost-effectiveness". The most high-profile victories of the F-14 took place over the Gulf of Sidra during the battles with the Libyans. The conditions were practically range, there were no maneuverable battles.
Many experts doubted the reality of the technical specifications that the Americans declared.
Judging by the report that was prepared for the American Congress, it is impossible to accurately predict the probability of an AIM-54 missile hit due to the lack of launch statistics in real conditions. The Americans invested a lot of money in the development of the AIM-54C variant, which could intercept low-altitude targets with an RCS of about 0.5 m2. However, even she could hardly intercept a low-altitude cruise missile, the speed of which is more than M = 3.
After the end of the Cold War and the final degradation of Russian naval aviation in the early 2000s, the gradual withdrawal of the Tomkats from the US Navy began. They were replaced by the Jack of all trades "Superhornet".
At the end of their combat career, the F-14 got into combat during the "anti-terrorist" operation in Afghanistan. There were no meetings with the Taliban aviation, the carrier-based interceptors operated with guided bombs from a great height.
In 2006, the US Navy officially said goodbye to these aircraft. This was a landmark event for the United States; during the Cold War, this aircraft was considered the main interceptor for carrier-based aircraft, which is highly valued by professionals. In 1986, the cult film Top Gun was released, starring Tom Cruise.
Satellite image of Google Efrth: carrier-based aircraft F-18, E-2C, F-14 at the US Navy Lakehurst training ground
Several Tomcat aircraft are currently being maintained in flight condition at American training and test centers.
The only country that continues to use Tomkats is Iran. True, even there they will soon be written off due to a lack of spare parts.
Satellite image of Google Efrth: F-14 aircraft at the Davis-Montan storage base
The US government has restricted the sale of decommissioned aircraft to private individuals, unlike other aircraft types. Thus, the US government wants to insulate itself from buying spare parts by Iran.
