The venerable F-14 Tomcat ends three decades of Fleet service this month. But it went out fighting on its last combat deployment in 2005-06.
The U.S. Navy's last two Tomcat squadrons recently completed the aircraft's final operational cruise, thus bringing to an end more than three decades of Fleet service for Grumman's ultimate fighting cat. An icon of the Cold War, and more recently a key asset in the Global War on Terrorism thanks to its new-found role as a precision bomber, the mighty Tomcat has remained in the vanguard of naval aviation right up until its retirement.
For the first two decades of its service life, the F-14 had been used exclusively as a fighter, with the "add-on" photoreconnaissance role being adopted by Fleet squadrons in the early 1980s. Built specifically to repel waves of missile-carrying Soviet bombers intent on sinking U.S. Navy carriers, the aircraft's future looked bleak in the post-Cold War 1990s. Threatened by wholesale decommissioning, and with close to a dozen Tomcat units disestablished because of the aircraft's astronomical maintenance costs, it appeared that the F-14's oceangoing days were all but over. A reprieve came thanks to the accelerated demise of another Grumman "Ironworks" product. The all-weather long-range A-6 Intruder bomber was hastily phased out in 1996-97, again because of high maintenance costs and the supposed evaporation of its mission in the post-Cold War world.
With the Intruder pensioned off, and the potential retirement of the Tomcat rapidly looming, the Navy found itself facing a shortage of tactical carrier aircraft to fulfill its global policing mission. When the F-14 was developed in the late 1960s, Grumman had built the jet with the capability to drop bombs, although this requirement had not been specified by the Navy. Having to diversify or die, the fighter community saw that the precision bombing role once performed by the A-6 was now vacant, so it pushed to pair the Tomcat with some form of targeting pod system.
Experimentation with gravity bombs hung beneath standard Tomcats had taken place just prior to Operation Desert Storm in 1991, although senior naval officers realized that the F-14 would not be a viable fighter/attack aircraft without some kind of precision weapons delivery capability. Little funding was available to develop such a system, so an "off-the-shelf pod was acquired thanks to the securing of modest financing through the GPS-guided Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) program in 1994. The equipment chosen was the LANTIRN (low-altitude navigation and targeting infrared night) pod, developed by Martin Marietta (later Lockheed Martin).
The 1999 conflict in the Balkans and Operation Southern Watch in Iraq gave Tomcat crews the opportunity to hone their skills as precision bombers. By the time Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) commenced in October 2001, the F-14 could rightfully claim to be more of a "Bombcat" than a Tomcat. The aircraft further enhanced its reputation over Afghanistan, followed by arguably the F-14's finest hour in combat when it led the first manned strikes of the "shock and awe" phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) in March 2003.
Since then, the number of units flying the Tomcat has gradually diminished as the F-14's place on carrier flight decks has been taken by the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. By the autumn of 2005, only two squadrons remained, and they deployed with Carrier Air Wing 8 (CVW-8) on board the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) for one last war cruise.
Into the Gulf
Although enjoying elder statesman status within the air wing, the 22 F-14Ds assigned to squadrons VF-31 and VF-213 found themselves in the thick of the action throughout the carrier's time on station in the Northern Arabian Gulf from 5 October 2005 to 11 February 2006. They were a key part of CVW-8's 64-strong force of combat aircraft that had relieved CVW-11 on board the USS Nimitz (CVN-68).
Within 48 hours of the Theodore Roosevelt being declared mission ready to the Qatar-based Combined Air Operations Center, which controls all Coalition aircraft operating over Iraq, a section of F-14s was providing close air support for U.S. and Iraqi troops in the vicinities of Al Hawijah, Al Hillah, and Al Muqdadiyah. This pattern of operations continued unabated for the next four months.
VF-213's maintenance officer and Tomcat radar intercept officer (RIO) Lieutenant Commander Robb Soderholm gave Proceedings a breakdown of the type of missions flown by both F-14 units during the squadron's time in the Northern Arabian Gulf: "We were flying between 14 and 18 sorties per day, with only three five-day port visits to Jebel Ali, in the United Arab Emirates, to break up this routine. At least a third of these flights were sixhour marathons up into Iraq. Generally, the two Tomcat units each put six to eight jets over the beach per day." The squadron's remaining ten sorties would remain around the ship, some of these jets being air spares for Operation Iraqi Freedom pushes that could transition to routine maritime surveillance patrols as part of Operation Sea Dragon if necessary.
Crews also conducted proficiency training for the various missions that VF-213 performed in theater, including practicing air-to-air work with the E-2s in an effort to keep both at the top of their games. "The squadron also carried out task group protection flights," explained lieutenant Commander Soderholm, "as our admiral was big on making sure that the vessels under his control were not taken by surprise by a fishing dhow packed with explosives."
OIF sorties on the deployment typically meant a sixhour hop across the beach about every third day for each crew. Missions were generally flown in support of friendly ground forces that needed an airborne presence to deter or disrupt insurgent activities throughout the country. Most hops were long and uneventful, which was good for the troops on the ground, but less than thrilling for the air crew involved. Typically, an F-14 would refuel three times during the course of a mission. When not flying over Iraq, Tomcat crews conducted hour-long flights around the gulf, "pressurizing the maritime environment"-official terminology for making their presence known-and preventing illegal activities in international waters.
Proving that the F-14 was still at the tip of the spear during its final deployment, VF-213 had the distinction of dropping the first ordnance to be expended in anger by CVW-8 on 11 October 2005. One of its crews destroyed rocket and mortar positions used by anti-Iraqi forces to shell Coalition forward operating bases in the vicinity of Ar Ramadi.
Such positions were typically detected during patrols over urban areas such as Baghdad, and in the surrounding Sunni triangle, in the wake of random mortar attacks on Coalition forward operating bases. The insurgents would usually fire rounds into these secure areas at night, when most of the occupants of the bases were asleep. Troops on the ground would work out roughly where the attack had originated and then ask the Tomcat crews to go and check these areas for "hot spots." lieutenant Commander Soderholm recalled: "We would be looking for the hot mortar tube and/or people running away from this general location. On several occasions our squadron was called on to hit just such a target after it has been pinpointed, the crew on station quickly locating the 'hot spot' in the target area assigned to them." Usually, the insurgents who had fired the weapon had fled the scene by then, but Tomcat crews were occasionally given authorization to drop JDAMs on the abandoned mortar equipment.
IED Factory Attacked
CVW-8 made only one pre-planned strike during its time in the Northern Arabian Gulf, and that was against an improvised explosive device (IED) factory in Al Muqdadiyah, northeast of Baghdad, on the night of 19 October 2005. One of the pilots involved in this mission was VF-31's Lieutenant Justin Halligan, who recalls:
I was pretty excited to be asked to fly on that mission as a wingman, as it was only the second time that VF-31 had dropped ordnance on cruise. We talked to guys on the ground as we approached Al Muqdadiyah, and they had been notified of our intentions well before we launched. With so much advanced warning, the soldiers had been able to clear residents from the surrounding area. We dropped our bombs from as high an altitude as possible in order to get some good kinetic energy behind the weapons.
Halligan and his RIO used the same target coordinates as the lead Tomcat crew, and both bombs hit almost the same spot in the small building. When the crew later saw the LANTIRN footage of the first GBU-38 to hit the factory, it showed the bomb going into the building and the top blowing out. The whole structure then collapsed.
Both Tomcat squadrons remained in the vanguard of the action when CVW-8 was committed to Operation Steel Curtain in early November. The aim of this offensive was to strengthen security along the Iraqi-Syrian border and destroy the al Qaeda elements in Iraq's terror network that had been operating throughout the town of Husaybah. Lieutenant Halligan again found himself in the right place at the right time on 8 November, when he received the call to provide live fire support for troops in contact with the enemy in Husaybah. While refueling just west of Baghdad, he and his section leader received a call from "King Pin" (the overall mission controller for Iraq who has a direct line to the general in charge of air operations in the Combined Air Operations Center-dubbed the "voice of God" by aviators in theater). The controller told them that the Marine Corps had a time-sensitive target for them to hit.
"Upon our arrival, my section leader and I rolled in, and the Marine JTAC (joint tactical air controller) simply gave us the target coordinates, which we copied in, and cleared us hot to drop our JDAM," explained Halligan. "We pickled a single GBU-38 off each jet in the section. The first one hit the target, and the Marine JTAC immediately responded with 'Good hit. Stand by for the next coordinates.' Once my bomb had gone, the JTAC asked us if we had any more JDAM, and when we said no, he sent us on our way, as they needed to get more JDAM droppers overhead as soon as possible."
Surveillance
Only a fraction of the 1,163 combat missions flown by VF-31 and VF-213 in the Northern Arabian Gulf resulted in aircraft dropping bombs or strafing targets. For much of the 6,876 flight hours spent either over Iraq or the waters of the Persian Gulf, crews were using their onboard sensors to provide critical surveillance for the troops on the ground. One of the key pieces of equipment employed by the Tomcat squadrons only reached them in early December, some three months into their final cruise-the remotely operated video enhanced receivers (ROVER) system. This equipment allowed ground forces to view what the aircraft's sensors were seeing via real-time images transmitted to laptop computers configured to receive this video feed.
F-14 crews remarked that the ground controllers they worked with were excited about ROVER, as it eliminated the need for target "talk-ons." It gave them a lot more confidence when making the decision to expend ordnance, because they had the same real-time bird's eye view as the pilot and radar intercept officer.
The air wing made the request for ROVER, which is usually found in unmanned aerial vehicles in-theater, in early November, and within six weeks the program had moved from paper to installing the data transfer systems in the 22 Tomcats on board the Theodore Roosevelt at a cost of just $800 per jet. Such an expeditious turnaround allowed several days for air crews to train with the technology before the general election in Iraq on 15 December. The first ROVER mission was performed by VF-213 on 11 December, and the squadron made extensive use of the system during the increased operational tempo that surrounded the government election.
The arrival of ROVER in-theater also saw CVW-8 shift its section make-up from pairs of Tomcats patrolling Iraq to mixed formations of F-14s and F/A-18s. The air wing made this switch to have as wide a selection of weapons as possible in the air over Coalition troops at any one time. Therefore, a ROVER-equipped Tomcat, armed with a GBU-12 and a GBU-38, would be teamed with an advanced targeting forward-looking infrared radar- (AT-FLIR) equipped F/A-18C carrying a single 500-pound JDAM and an AGM-65E laser Maverick. This suite of weaponry could now be swiftly employed if needed thanks to the superior sensor mix of the LANTIRN/ROVER and ATFLIR.
ROVER directly helped both Tomcat units improve their performance when it came to undertaking one of their primary missions in the Northern Arabian Gulf, checking for suspicious activity along main roads and in urban areas. During a typical sortie in-country, F-14 crews would be told to look for IED placements along key roads used by Coalition convoys. LANTIRN's infrared capability would allow naval aviators to detect "hot spots" alongside the tarmac. Indeed, the sensors were powerful enough to locate disturbances in the earth, which typically denoted the burial of an IED-the insurgents' preferred way of placing explosives targeting convoys and road patrols.
Once a hot spot had been located, the Tomcat crew would relay coordinates to the closest Stryker team on the ground, and they would check it out while the F-14 remained in an orbiting pattern overhead, feeding them live video imagery. This allowed the Tomcat crew to guide the troops directly onto the suspected IED location by way of the LANTIRN picture feed, and greatly improved the air wings's mission effectiveness when it came to checking out possible roadside bombs. The troops were very impressed with the F-14's Rover/LANTIRN combination, which led them to potential targets as small as trash cans in urban areas.
The rules of engagement governing whether Tomcat crews could employ ordnance while in Iraq were adhered to throughout the deployment. The possibility of inflicting collateral damage on military personnel, civilians and property was paramount in the minds of both the JTACs and CVW-8's strike-fighter crews. As a direct result of this concern, only 9,500 pounds of ordnance was dropped by the air wing in four months of combat operations across Iraq. Commander Rick LaBranche, VF-31 's commanding officer, was philosophical about expending ordnance during the course of his squadron's myriad OIF missions over the beach:
Whether we deploy ordnance on the insurgents or simply scare them away by our physical presence in the area, we have achieved our stated aim while in-theater. You can hear in the tone of the JTACs' voices when we check in over Iraq that they are pleased to see us back overhead. When we recently returned to the line after a port call, on our first mission back over the beach one of the JTACs came up on the radio and told us "We missed you!" That was a first for me.
Tomcat Tweaking
The statistics for the Tomcat's final cruise make for impressive reading. Between 5 October 2005 and 11 February 2006, VF-31 and VF-213 completed 1,163 combat sorties over Iraq, totalling 6,876 flying hours, during 96 days of combat operations. Many more missions were flown as part of CVW-8's commitment to Sea Dragon. But these figures only tell the story from the perspective of the naval aviator-the end user of the Tomcat.
For every flying hour that the F-14 completed over the beach in Iraq, squadron maintainers up on the Roosevelt's "roof" or in the vessel's cavernous hangar bay spent around 60 hours mending weeping hydraulic lines, troubleshooting temperamental avionics, or just simply turning the jet around between missions. In total, the 420 maintenance personnel assigned to VF-31 and VF-213 notched more than 720,000 man-hours working on the F-14Ds charged to their care for the duration of the cruise.
By comparison, the figure for the 20 F/A-18Cs that shared deck space with the Tomcats on board the carrier was just more than 200,000 maintenance hours for the same amount of flying time. Like the two Tomcat units, VFA-15 and VF-87 each completed around 1,000 flying hours per month during the cruise. And this is why the last of the Grumman fighters is being retired, as Commander LaBranche was quick to point out to Proceedings:
The jet is not going away because it has become obsolete-far from it. It is being phased out is because the jet is very difficult for our people to maintain in Fleet service. With the Hornet, it is 10 to 15 maintenance man hours per flying hour, whereas for Tomcat squadrons, that figure is closer to 60. We are working three to four times harder than the two Hornet units in CVW-8 to achieve the same flight hours from our jets. We cannot expect our maintainers to have to work three times as hard as their colleagues servicing the F/A-18 chained down alongside them in order to keep the F-14 in the sky.
The End is Nigh
The F-14 proved to be the pre-eminent strike fighter in-theater while the Theodore Roosevelt was on station in the Northern Arabian Gulf, and this fact was brought home to VF-213 pilot lieutenant Ken Hockycko in one of his final missions over Iraq in late January. He was patrolling over Balad, when he got the call to support troops in contact with enemy forces. He arrived overhead at the same time as a section, each of F-16s and Harrier IIs, and the JTAC told the Air Force and Marine Corps pilots to stand by, as he would rather work with the Tomcat. "I was flying in a mixed section with a Hornet at the time," Lieutenant Hockycko recalled, "and the Navy team had a wider variety of sensors and weaponry to offer the guys on the ground, hence their request that we work with them ahead of the other fast jet types."
The new year brought fewer opportunities for the F-14 squadrons to put "warheads on foreheads," as the crews were fond of saying, although both units continued to fly thrice daily patrols over Iraq and myriad Sea Dragon sorties. With the Theodore Roosevelt's time on station drawing to a close at the end of the first week of February, a VF-31 Tomcat flown by lieutenant Bill Frank dropped a single GBU-38 in support of Coalition troops in contact with insurgent forces near Balad on 7 February.
Fittingly, this solitary JDAM was dropped on what proved to be CVW-8's final mission over Iraq. The last F-14 to land back on board the Theodore Roosevelt was VF-213's "Lion 204," flown by the air wing's commander and veteran Tomcat pilot, Captain William Sizemore. The aircraft trapped at 0035 on the morning of 8 February 2006, thus bringing to an end a famous chapter in naval aviation history. As if preordained, the Tomcat had gone out still swinging punches.
A native of Western Australia, Mr. Holmes has lived and worked in England for the past 18 years. A full-time aviation writer/editor, and veteran of 23 carrier embarks dating back to 1986, he was the first non-American to be awarded Hook Magazine's contributor of the year award in 2005. Author of four books detailing Tomcat and Hornet operations in Operation Iraqi Freedom, he is presently working on a volume chronicling the F-14's war in Operation Enduring Freedom.