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The names of Grumman’s fighters are an integral part of the legend and mystique of naval aviation. There were Wildcats, Hellcats, Tigercats, Bearcats, Panthers, and Cougars. Now there’s a new breed of cat on the prowl and, like all Toms, it has already run into its share of trouble. But, its admirers contend, before its nine lives are over, it will be universally acclaimed as the best of its breed.
The U. S. Navy’s newest first-line fighter, the F-14A Tomcat, is designed as an air superiority plane capable of downing any adversary, yet it is able to fulfill other vital missions very well.
Built by Grumman Aerospace Corporation, the F-14 will gradually replace the superb McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom which has served the Navy well for almost 20 years and continues to have a valued place on carrier decks.
As an air superiority fighter, the F-14 is thought to be the equal of, or better than, any likely enemy aircraft in air-to-air combat at low and medium altitudes. It will serve the Navy, eventually with the F-18, well into the 1980s, and very likely into the 1990s.
Though fulfilling the needs of the Navy for an air superiority machine, the F-14 will also fly equally important fleet defense, plus close support and interdiction missions. The Tomcat is armed and equipped to counter aircraft, either in an old-fashioned dogfight, or in a long-range missile exchange. It can also destroy hostile ship-launched missiles.
The Tomcat can be armed with a variety of weapons used in conjunction with the Hughes AWG-9 airborne weapon control system. Depending on the mission, the F-14 carries a mix of missiles: either the long-range Phoenix, medium-range Sparrow, or the short-range Sidewinder. The Tomcat also carries the six-barrel M-61 Vulcan 20-millimeter cannon. For air-to-ground support it can carry 14,500 pounds of low-drag bombs.
The AWG-9 system includes pulse/pulse doppler radar, data processors, a computer, an infrared receiver, and auxiliary components. It is monitored and controlled by a naval flight officer (NFO) whose flight station is directly behind the pilot.
This system allows an F-14 crew to quickly locate, identify, and engage a variety of threats over a wide range of tactical situations. At least 17 targets can be tracked simultaneously at ranges in excess of 115 nautical miles. Significantly, targets can be either high-flying (70,000-feet-plus), high-performance aircraft, or difficult-to-track cruise missiles which characteristically approach just above surface level to avoid radar. An infrared sensor also permits detection, independent of radar, of afterburning targets such as the Foxbat at ranges in excess of 100 nautical miles.
Having identified potential targets, the NFO can either select and fire on as many as six targets simultaneously, or allow the computer to select targets. Additionally, the AWG-9 is tied in with the Navy’s data link system, resulting in mutual benefits of increased target data for both aircraft and shipborne tactical commanders.
The Tomcat’s long-range weapon is the Phoenix missile, capable of destroying targets at ranges of at least 110 miles with an 85 percent "kill” probability. This missile possesses excellent electronic countermeasures characteristics, can hit targets taking evasive action, and has one of the largest warhead lethal zones in existence. The Phoenix operates in a pulse radar, semiactive mode but shifts to an active radar phase when it nears its target.
All missiles and the 20-mm cannon are controlled in a variety of crew-selected modes by the AWG-9 system which adapts almost instantaneously to either long or short-range engagement requirements.
The AWG-9 system, and the engine that powers the F-14A—the Pratt and Whitney TF30-P412—were components originally developed for use in the Navy version of the undistinguished TFX, the F-niB. In essence, Grumman designed the F-14 airframe to accommodate an already proven engine and weapon system.
Besides the AWG-9, and the TF-30-P412 engine, the F-14 has other unusual features. Its swing-wing design is automatically controlled by computer, allowing the aircraft to fly at peak aerodynamic efficiency regardless of speed. The angle of sweep can be varied between 20 and 68 degrees. As the aircraft’s speed increases, the wings draw closer to the fuselage.
When the Tomcat slows, as for landing, the wings come forward for greater control at lower speeds.
The computer-controlled wing angle (which can also be manually controlled) is especially important during combat since maneuvers are usually sudden and violent, and the pilot is totally preoccupied in fighting his aircraft.
Structural innovations in the F-14 include the increased use of high-strength titanium, whose value is most dramatically illustrated in the aircraft’s "box beam.” This centralized structure supports the swing wings and absorbs the loads placed upon them in flight. The box beams are entirely electron-beam welded—an innovation by Grumman—and so strong that one in the prototype F-14 was undamaged when the aircraft crashed. The titanium box-beam resulted in an important 900-pound savings in weight over older bolted-steel designs considered to have less strength.
Taken together, the basic design and the individual innovations of the F-14 result in an aircraft with performance characteristics considerably better than the F-4. The sum of these statistics is an aircraft which, as one F-14A pilot put it, "will fly the pants and shoot the wings off any likely adversary.”
It is also a safer airplane in many ways than the F-4. During a carrier catapult launch, the F-14 literally flies itself off, leaving the pilot in a virtually "hands off” position. On the other hand, if an F-4 pilot were not constantly alert, he could easily either fly into the water or over rotate and stall. In "up-and-away” flight, nearly 200 F-4s have been lost to spin-related causes. The aircraft gives little warning prior to a stall and subsequent spin. The Tomcat has proven to be an extremely "honest” airplane and has shown little tendency to spin.
Mission trainers are being employed extensively in the F-14 training program. Pilots in the first replacement training squadron (RTS), VF-124, must complete seven simulator missions before even climbing into a Tomcat cockpit. The multimillion dollar mission trainer is located in a modern academic center at Miramar Naval Air Station, near San Diego, and is designed to familiarize both pilots and naval flight officers with the F-14. Since there are no F-14s configured for dual control, instructor-student flight, the simulated missions are valuable, even though the F-14 is generally considered to be a much easier aircraft to fly than the F-4. The mission trainer can be used in crew training for everything from relatively simple aircraft familiarization to complex navigation, surveillance, target tracking, and missile attacks. Utilizing mission simulators reduces the number of aircraft assigned to training, fuel consumption, and aircraft operating costs. A trainer costs perhaps $100 pet hour, a fraction of the cost for an F-14 training flight. An NFO can "shoot” a Phoenix missile in a simulated tactical situation at very little expense. Real missiles cost $371,000 a copy and obviously cannot be expended in great numbers during training.
There are currently ten operational squadrons and two RTS squadrons flying F-14s. Seven squadrons, including a RTS, are at Miramar, the remainder at naval air station Oceana, Virginia. Several more squadrons are expected to be commissioned on the East Coast in the near future. The Navy is authorized 403 F-i4s through fiscal year 1981. There are currently 203 in service with 36 more expected by the end of the current fiscal year.
High-performance aircraft and their associated weapon systems are generally very expensive, and the F-14 program has been no exception. Including research and development costs, spare parts, and other expenses, each Tomcat costs $20.4 million, with the "flyaway” cost pegged at $14.1 million. Phoenix missiles, including research and development expenses, go for $515,000 each; 2,495 have been procured.
Though suffering from its share of mechanical, political, and cost problems, the F-14 program appears to have a long future. Seven aircraft have been lost in four years of operational flying. Two Tomcats of VF-124 (the West Coast RTS) crashed separately during the same week last June at Miramar, impacting within yards of each other, and killing both crews. Though costly in lives and aircraft, the loss rate is still below that of other Navy fighters at the same point in operational life.
Some consideration has been given to modifying the F-14 into an eventual replacement for the A-6 Intruder attack aircraft, but there is no ongoing program for using the Tomcat in this role. Its primary function is that of an airplane-and-missile killer. A "hang-on” pod containing a variety of sensors and other intelligence gathering equipment is being developed for common use on a number of aircraft types, including the F-14, but no specific reconnaissance configuration has been planned.
Eventually an F-14B, powered by an improved thrust engine, will be flown by the Navy. Originally, the Pratt and Whitney F401-PW-400 engine was to have been used, but has been discarded. Congress has authorized a competition for development of an engine for the F-14B.
The F-14 has an induction cycle of 30 months. After operational use for that period, it is sent through the rework process, rebuilt and refurbished as necessary, and returned to service. If and when an advanced technology engine is available, it will be installed during the rework process, along with any improved avionics that may have been developed, thus converting an A model into a B model. The Naval Air Rework Facility in Norfolk has been designated as the F-14 overhaul facility.
The F-14, along with the lighter and less expensive F-18, and the S-3A Viking, will likely form the backbone of U. S. carrier aviation at least through the 1980s. In the final analysis, however, the longevity of this excellent fighter will be determined by the quality and sophistication of enemy aircraft and weapons ranged against it.
Left: An instructor at the well-equipped training facility at Miramar Naval Air Station describes the installation of the Phoenix missile lying next to him. The Phoenix is the prime weapon of the F~14 and is able to counter a variety of threats ranging from MiG-25s approaching at 82,000 feet to cruise missiles flying as low as 50 feet above surface level.
Top: On a hydraulic system trainer, an instructor explains the maze of tubes, lines, and pumps that move the Tomcat’s "lifeblood" hydraulic fuel to devices that lift and lower flaps, wheels, and a host of other machinery.
Middle: In a cockpit identical to that of a full-size aircraft, a pilot begins his "pre-flight” check before training in the Hughes-built 15C9A simulator. The position of the cockpit can be hydraulically shifted, simulating attitude changes in flight. The trainer is fully instrumented, and thus a pilot will go through a simulated flight in much the same way he would fly the actual Tomcat in the air.
Bottom Right: Squadron mechanics labor over a TF30-P412 engine that will be reinstalled in one of the aircraft of VF-124.
Top: The shapes of two F-4 Phantoms (right) engaging two F-14 Tomcats form part of the running record of an "electronic dogfight” on the Air Combat Maneuvering Range near Yuma, Arizona. The track of a missile being fired is seen on aircraft number two. Using special instrumentation pods, fighters from Miramar can fly engagements over the ACMR and have an accurate record on computer tape for analysis after returning to their home base.
Top right: If one were required to draw a picture of a mountain range using only straight lines, the result would probably resemble this computer "picture” of the Air Combat Maneuvering Range. Fighters, like the one visible in the upper left part of the photo, carry special equipment that transmits flight data to tracking stations at the range. The data are then transformed into a computer-generated picture such as this one of an F-14 flying over the mountains surrounding the ACMR.
Middle: An instructor points out features of the M61A1 20-mm cannon mounted in a cutaway display. The gun, actually a six-barrel weapon, could theoretically fire 6,000 rounds a minute, but the F-14 carries only 676 rounds for it. Like other weapons in the Tomcat, the gunfire solution for the cannon is provided by the AWG-9 computer, but it can be fired in boresight.
Bottom right: Using the express hand language customary among pilots, this one traces the course of a mock dogfight between F-4s and F-14s. While blackboards and hand language have been a valuable means of analyzing training flights, more sophisticated computerized methods are being used more and more to find tactical mistakes and thus improve combat performance.
Top: Rows on rows of the finest virtuosos—a sizable portion of the Navy's fleet of F-14s, 36 aircraft valued at more than $500 million sit on the apron at Miramar, the principal fleet fighter base on the West Coast.
Middle: Two Tomcats, one already on the starboard catapult, wait for launch from the deck of a carrier off the California coast.
Bottom right: In the early morning hours before dawn, maintenance personnel begin readying planes spotted in the hangar deck for an approaching launch.
Left: A pilot of VF-124, the West Coast replacement training squadron climbs into a Tomcat cockpit before a flight from Miramar Naval Air Station.
Top: Unlike eearlier naval aircraft whose wings were folded upward and inward to conserve valuable deck space, the F-14’s wings are swept closer to the fuselage. In this position, the wings are overswept to an angle of 75 degrees, seven more than the maximum used in flight.
Bottom Right: Maintenance personnel work atop a Tomcat in the bright sun at Miramar. One stands between the aircraft’s twin vertical tails. They greatly improve handling performance over that of single-tail aircraft. The two tails help tnake the F-14 spin resistant, give it redundancy in the event one is damaged in combat, and conserve vertical space.
Left: With steam from the previous launch still rising, flight deck personnel on board the USS Ranger (CV-61) work to align an F-14 on the starboard catapult just prior to launch.
Top: A fuel hose is run out on the Ranger’s deck in preparation for refueling one of the carrier’s pride of fighters.
Middle: The landing signal officer coaches a Tomcat pilot as the plane moves down the glide path toward landing.
Bottom right: A Tomcat of VF-124 sweeps past the LSO on the Ranger's flight deck an instant before applying power and becoming airborne again during "touch-and-go”practice approaches.