Bombcatf -14 Bombcat the Us Navy’S Ultimate Precision Bomber the Us Navy’S Ultimate Precision Bomber

F -14 BOMBCATF -14 BOMBCAT THE US NAVY’S ULTIMATE PRECISION BOMBER THE US NAVY’S ULTIMATE PRECISION BOMBER the F-14 into ‘the multi-mission strike fi ghter and 6 Early Development FAC(A) platform it was always capable of being’ 62 Operation Enduring Freedom An iconic Cold War fi ghter, the F-14 Tomcat By the autumn of 2001, the venerable F-14 had came into its own as a precision strike aircraft been developed into a truly multi-role fi ghter- in the twilight of its career when threatened with 36 ‘Bombcat’ CO bomber, with more mission taskings than any premature retirement. Topgun instructor and F-14 RIO Cdr Dave ‘Bio’ other aircraft then embarked in a US carrier. It Baranek returned to the fl eet for his command was now set to play a leading role in the confl ict tour just as the ‘Bombcat’ came of age with the over Afghanistan, rather than being the bit-part 14 ‘Bombcat’ Blooded over advent of the LANTIRN pod. player it had been in Desert Storm. Bosnia The long-running confl ict in the Balkans provided 40 Air-to-Ground Training 70 Operation Iraqi Freedom I the F-14 community with the opportunity to test The tuition of Tomcat crews in how best to use In the vanguard of the fi ght during OIF I, the 52 the Tomcat in its new role as a bomber. VF- their air superiority fi ghter as a precision bomber Tomcats committed to the liberation of Iraq fl ew 41 ‘Black Aces’ made history when, operating evolved during the 1990s, particularly following air defence, precision bombing, FAC(A), SCAR closely with Hornet units from CVW-8, the unit the advent of the LANTIRN pod. and photo-reconnaissance missions. attacked targets in Bosnia. 48 Operation Southern Watch 76 Operation Iraqi Freedom II/III 20 LANTIRN Revolution Aside from brief campaigns in the Balkans and The Tomcat had been a resounding success in By the time VF-41 blooded the ‘Bombcat’ over Afghanistan, combat operations for F-14 pilots OIF I, fi ve squadrons using the venerable jet as a Bosnia in September 1995, the aircraft was and RIOs took place almost exclusively over Iraq multi-role strike aircraft across Iraq in support of well on the way to becoming a precision strike- post-Desert Storm. In the wake of this confl ict, the US-led Coalition in what proved to be a one- fi ghter rather than just a ‘dumb’ bomber thanks a no-fl y zone was created over southern Iraq, and sided war. The insurgency that erupted in the to a programme instigated ‘under the radar’ for 12 long years Tomcat crews drilled holes in wake of this victory would test naval aviation in a within AIRLANT. Key individuals responsible for the sky policing this area. way that the original campaign had not, however. providing the F-14 with the capability it needed to drop LGBs and, ultimately, GPS-guided weapons, recall how the aircraft’s frontline 55 Balkans Bombers 84 Last Catfi ght fortunes were revitalised. Almost four years after the Tomcat madie its The Tomcat’s fi nal operational deployment saw combat debut as a bomber over the Balkans, the the jet at the ‘tip of the spear’ during CVW-8’s aircraft was back in the same theatre proving commitment to OIF III in 2005-06, the 22 F-14Ds 30 The LANTIRN Demo its worth in the precision strike role - both in of VF-31 and VF-213 fl ying from the familiar deck Capt Alex ‘Yogi’ Hnarakis was tasked with delivering ordnance and, more importantly of ‘the Big Stick’ – USS Theodore Roosevelt proving that the LANTIRN pod would indeed turn providing guidance for other aerial assets. (CVN-71). Editor: Tony Holmes Group Marketing Manager: Martin Steele Distribution Managing Editor: Glenn Sands Marketing Manager: Shaun Binnington Seymour Distribution Ltd, 2 Poultry Avenue, Chief Designer: Steve Donovan Marketing Assistant: Amy Donkersley London EC1A 9PP. Designer: Lee Howson Commercial Director: Ann Saundry Tel: 020 74294000 Managing Director and Publisher: Production Adrian Cox PRINTED BY: Warners (Midlands) plc, Executive Chairman: Richard Cox Bourne, Lincolnshire 4 F-14 BOMBCAT www.airforcesmonthly.com Production Editor: Sue Blunt Production Manager: Janet Watkins The entire contents of this special edition is Contacts copyright © 2015. Advertising and Marketing Key Publishing Ltd No part of it may be reproduced in any form or PUBLICATION Advertising Manager: Ian Maxwell PO Box 100, Stamford, stored on any form of retrieval system without Advertising Group Manager: Brodie Baxter Lincs, PE9 1XQ the prior permission of the publisher. UK £5.99 airforcesmonthly.com Advertising Production Manager: Tel: 01780 755131 Debi McGowan Fax: 01780 757261 Advertising Production Controller: Email: [email protected] PUBLISHER: Key Publishing Ltd Danielle Tempest www.keypublishing.com PRINTED IN ENGLAND fighter to have been sent to sea. heed of the writing on the wall and continue activities as merely dropping bombs or strafing those that flew it, Cdr Curt Seth, commanding The F-14’s size meant it could be adapted to press forward into the world of mud- ground targets.” officer of the US Navy’s last fighter squadron to perform roles aside from that for which it moving!” As a naval aviator in the fighter By 1992 the only way the Tomcat was going equipped with the Tomcat, made the following was originally built – fleet defence against community at Naval Air Stations Miramar or to keep its place on a carrier flight deck was if comment when asked how the F-14 compared missile-equipped Soviet bombers. The Tomcat Oceana in the 1970s and 1980s, expressing it could drop bombs. Thanks to the aircraft’s with his new, considerably more modern, F/A- community was faced with a stark choice when such sentiments would have been viewed as awesome load-carrying capacity, legendary 18E Super Hornet on the eve of his unit’s INTRODUCTION the Cold War thawed in the late 1980s: turn the sacrilegious. Highly respected British aviation long range and the advent of a bolt-on targeting transition to the latter type: EW COLD War aircraft attained such cult after, and proved their durability in combat. aircraft into a multi-role strike-fighter platform journalist Lindsay Peacock noted just that in sensor pod for precision bombing, the Tomcat “Although I am sure that I will love flying the status and adoration among those who As the ultimate product of the Grumman such as its great rival, the F/A-18 Hornet, or his 1986 Osprey Combat Aircraft volume on the evolved into the ‘Bombcat’, and it went on to Super Hornet, there was simply nothing bad flew it, wanted to fly it or kept it flying ‘Iron Works’, the F-14 would inherit all the stick steadfastly to the fighter mission and Tomcat: “Although originally developed with play a pivotal role in the US military’s ‘War on about the Tomcat from a pilot’s perspective. F as the mighty Grumman F-14 Tomcat. qualities of its feline forebears. Like them, it face almost certain extinction. The reality was air-to-ground applications in mind, the F-14 has Terror’ from 2001 through to its retirement in The F-14 was, and still is, simply a great As big, bold and brash as the Top Gun film in would marry good performance with immense brought home to naval aviators flying the F-14 never been seriously viewed as a ‘mud-mover’ 2006. aeroplane.” which it played the starring role in 1986, the strength – a necessity if the aircraft was to during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, the and any aspirations it has in this direction are The F-14 was by then far from being in the Enough said. US Navy’s ultimate fleet fighter epitomised withstand the violence of operations from a campaign to free Kuwait from Iraqi occupation. extremely modest to say the least, weaponry flush of youth but its contribution to Operations what naval aviation was all about throughout its pitching carrier deck at sea. The Tomcat’s Some 99 Tomcats embarked on five aircraft which could be employed being confined to Enduring Freedom (2001-02) and Iraqi Freedom three decades of service. handling qualities made it more than a match carriers logged more than 4,000 sorties as conventional ‘iron bombs’. Nevertheless, it (2003-06) meant the aircraft approached Tony Holmes The Tomcat was the final creation of the for many of its opponents. they performed combat air patrols, fighter does possess the ability to take a respectable phasing out with claws well and truly bared. Sevenoaks, Kent Grumman Aircraft Corporation, which had been The F-14 was a big fighter in every sense escort missions for strike aircraft and aerial payload – 14,500lb (6,577kg) to be precise – Such was the feeling the jet evoked among June 2015 churning out fighters for the US Navy from its of the word, tipping the scales at 74,350lb reconnaissance. However, the jet was usurped and it is not beyond the realms of possibility Bethpage, New York, plant since the 1930s. (33,724kg) when fully loaded. Grumman’s first in its primary mission of air-to-air combat by the that it could be pressed into use as a Acknowledgements Wildcats, Hellcats, Tigercats, Panthers, fleet fighter, the biplane FF-1 of 1933, weighed US Air Force’s F-15C Eagle, which claimed 34 strike/close support fighter in a permissive I have had invaluable assistance with the text from the following individuals, all of who have vast Cougars and Tigers all graced the flight decks just 4,828lb (2,190kg).

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