In my mind, the F-14 Tomcat was the best Air Superiority Fighter for it's time and will never see the likes of again. The Phoenix Missile System was so unique in that it could track six targets at once and had standoff capability of 100 miles. Libya found that out the hard way in the 1980's. The US Navy got smart when the F-14 was given Air-to-Ground Attack with Laser Targeting and became known as the F-14 Bobmcat. In Combat Missions over Iraq and Afghanistan, the F-14 did perform nicely in At
The big issue with using the TF-30 engines is that they were basically bomber engines and couldn't handle the rigors of thrusting a fighter like the F-14. It wasn't until many years later in the late 1980's the Tomcat finally received the power plants it needed in the form of the GE F-110 turbo fan engines which were designed as a fighter engine and could handle the higher tolerances needed for that kind of high speed flying and climbing.
Absolutely, the navy has always been a little short sighted, incredibly so with the retirement of the Tomcat series. But there was also a LOT of politics that killed the cat. If they developed the F-14 further like the F-15E then it would totally lethal. I don't care what anyone says. The super bug is a cobbled together redesign that was more expensive than building new advanced F-14s.
@69Cabeast the tomcat's price on plane was cheap but it's maintenance price was the heaviest out of all the 4th generation fighters. It's maintenance and upkeep (around 24-36 hours for just 2 hours of flight) was such a hassle to the goverment that they had to cancel it. I really like this jet a lot and wish it didn't retire.
Makes you sad to think the era of "two years to first flight" from contract inception will never be known again, and certainly not two years to initial capability - in the case of the F-35, two decades is accurate. The big mistake Dick Cheney made when he arbitrary supported the advancement of the F-15 platform in the nineties and simultaneously derided the Tomcat as ancient was failing to recognize that Grumman can never be resurrected, certainly not when there are agile, fast Su-47s on our European doorstep. Mourn with Grumman the last honest long range fighter jets.
@biped19 Yeah, did you ever notice that; then sec. of defense Dick (just the right name) Cheney viewed the F-14 as just a jobs program, matter of fact because he wanted it to end in favor of something newer. Well congress funded just 55 newly built 14 D's. the rest was upgraded A or B models to D status.
@Spadadiforza Well, nothing wrong with the GE 110. as matter of fact these powerplants have been known to put more than 20,000 pounds dry thrust. 32500 Max with A/B.
The F-14D Super Tomcat had structural change to acomodate the F-100 General Electric engines; for whose dont know yet, this was not impediment for Grumman Company.
@biped19 It wasn't more expensive. I am like you though.Loved the F14, however its time had come. The F18 Super Hornet has something like a 75 percent commomality in parts to the Classic model. With the money saved they were able to build a very effective defence fighter, electonically. Our airforce here in Australia have bought it for this same reason
@ewthmatth It's used to catch the aircraft in case something were to go wrong and the F-14 had to make an emergency landing,cause if it's that bad there isn't gonna be a chance to go around and try again if you miss the capture cable so it's sort of a back up to save the plane from running off the carrier.
Navy did everything to kill Tomcat since the beginning, that's the hard true. McNamara was a idiot, but Navy from 80's was even worse. Grumman build probably one of the best fighters ever. In only 3 years. Amazing accomplishment
@Aryanpars you need to remember that they did not have any thrust vectoring in 1971. Thrust vectoring did not come around until the f22 prototype in 1994. but i will agree they could have modified the f14d to have thrust vectoring and that therefore wouldve made the f14 much more lethal.
The f14 and F15 were the best aircraft ever produced. Then cam the F16, which was cheaper than the F15 and was a great companion to the total air dominant F15. The nava search for an equivalent and accepted the Fa18 Hornet as their version of the F16. Since then the Fa18 was improved upon and now the FA18 Super Hornet graces the decks of our aircraft carriers as air superiority aircraft as well as ground support. A few of the original Fa-8's remain as ground support only. I really think the Navy dropped the ball when replacing the F14 with the Super Hornet. Updates to the F14 could have kept it alive decades longer. But for now we're looking at the F35 to fill that role and many others. Too bad! A stealth version of the F14 could have kicked ass on anything else in the sky. It would have been the Nav's version of the F22 Raptor. But they are being forced to accept the problematic F35. Maybe the Pentegon will see the error of their ways and we will get a decent replacement for the F14.
The F-15 silent eagle is the same platform as old F-15A/B,with structural fuselage modification, with aesa radar, avionics and engines,the Tomcat could be modified as F-15, the Hornet A/B NEVER shoot down Su-22 and Mig-21 as Interceptor or Air superiority fighter of Navy. If you talk about expensive, talk also about F-35 program. Fanatic.
@reddead255 I would not go that far, especially with the F-22. The F-35 is still an unknown quantity, although the cockpit and avionics are top notch. Still, it is a stealthy dump truck compared to the "Super Tomcats" that should be rolling off the assembly line as we speak. A great high / low mix: Advanced Tomcats and F-35s on the deck. Now we will have two planes doing the exact same thing F-35 & the F-18E/F/G/H/I/J/K/L/M/N/O/P/Q/R/S/T/U/V/W/X/Y/Z.
@FutureMarine1775USA - I agree, however, why modernize an old airframe when you can design and build a completely new one for less money? What you want to do to the Tomcat will basically give you a SuperBug. If you look at the Super, from the air intakes forward, it looks a lot like a Tomcat front end. I reckon they should navalize the Raptor. That would be cheaper to do again. Strengthen undercarriage, arresor hook etc.. Your thoughts, mate?
The Tomcat was also quite unreliable and very expensive to maintain. It bled a shed load of energy in tight turns and as many of you have pointed out, really did only a few things well which are not relevant today. The Super Hornet is a much better aircraft. Us Aussies fee the same way about the recent retirement of the F-111. A legendary arcraft that did one job REALLY well. But also became very expensive to maintain. F-111 & F-14 were the only Phoenix carriers and had same engines as well.
They should have added Thrust Vectoring, front wings, upgraded jet engine and new avionics/radar system and this would have killed everything in the air...
As an air force tactical bomber and the SAC FB-111 and even the sparkvark the EF-111 raven the F-111 distinguished itself as a solid bomber but the issue is it was never designed for operations on a carrier plus it was not the most manuverable jet either that and the TF-30 engine had teething issues of its own for screaming down a valley in central Europe in the dead of night to take out a Warsaw pact command post flying just off the deck I would prefer the F-111 but as a fighter no I would not want to be doing ACM in an aardvark
Even Air Force pilots, who had flown the Ef 111 in combat, said when a fighter came after them, with missiles, they could evade, for a while, and hope an f-15 came along and pulled their fat out of the 🔥, so the ef, f 111 wasn't at all a fighter, from the beginning
@smeary10 I think it was much better than 60's handling and performace. Try 80's. But the 14E would have been much better (decades better) than the originals. Just take a look at the F-15E and the newer SE modle. Or even the F-16 Block 52 and 60's.
rear speaker one of the original designs for the Tomcat called for it to have a single vertical stabilizer. But because of the height requirements they decided to go with the twin vertical stabilizers. You can see one of the original models here. th-cam.com/video/mmEgQz7tfEU/w-d-xo.htmlm52s
The original design had one vertical fin but because of the high canopy two vertical fins were necessary for better directional control. The original prototype shown to employees had a single fin. The F-111 aircraft was a totally different aircraft the preceded the Tomcat.
I think they should clone the F14 like make it new version sort of a 6 generation, update body, computer n the whole 9yrds. It would be twice as deadly then any fighter on the planet... New Version F14, F15, n the F16...
@FutureMarine1775USA - Understood mate. But I still think you're reaching a little. As I mentioned, the F-14 & F1-111 were both state of the art and arguably ahead of their time in their day. But modern warfare has rendered these old girls redundant now. 1960's engineering and maintenance is too expensive to upkeep. 1960's handling and performance is a problem today as well.
@smeary10 I disagree on the hornet being a much better aircraft, but I agree on the rest. The 14 like you said though was built for a reason, a long range interceptor figther during the cold war, not a bomber or dog fighter really just a specific reason! I think you are sleeping on the Tomcat though, I don't now if the Hornet is that great just alot more cost effective and more relevant for todays missions.
Now the Navy has no air superiority/fleet defense fighter. Instead we have two planes, The F-18E/F and F-35, that perform the SAME MISSION! It should be Advanced Tomcats and F-35 on the flight deck today. Ridiculous, embarrassingly ridiculous.
Testing barricade arrestment as used on the carrier in emergencies when the hook/wire system isn't available. The barricade damages an airplane, but it's repairable.
' come on america company... american air force company can make many new F-14st jetplanes, better mile ranges, fast speeding up, better flying, better systems
In my mind, the F-14 Tomcat was the best Air Superiority Fighter for it's time and will never see the likes of again. The Phoenix Missile System was so unique in that it could track six targets at once and had standoff capability of 100 miles. Libya found that out the hard way in the 1980's.
The US Navy got smart when the F-14 was given Air-to-Ground Attack with Laser Targeting and became known as the F-14 Bobmcat. In Combat Missions over Iraq and Afghanistan, the F-14 did perform nicely in At
At the end He said they hit the target drone from 120 Miles away , that is 193km which is like a 2 hour drive by car
The big issue with using the TF-30 engines is that they were basically bomber engines and couldn't handle the rigors of thrusting a fighter like the F-14. It wasn't until many years later in the late 1980's the Tomcat finally received the power plants it needed in the form of the GE F-110 turbo fan engines which were designed as a fighter engine and could handle the higher tolerances needed for that kind of high speed flying and climbing.
Awesome 👍
Absolutely, the navy has always been a little short sighted, incredibly so with the retirement of the Tomcat series. But there was also a LOT of politics that killed the cat. If they developed the F-14 further like the F-15E then it would totally lethal.
I don't care what anyone says. The super bug is a cobbled together redesign that was more expensive than building new advanced F-14s.
F 14 Tomcat Fantastic Fighter ✈. The Very Best.
@69Cabeast the tomcat's price on plane was cheap but it's maintenance price was the heaviest out of all the 4th generation fighters. It's maintenance and upkeep (around 24-36 hours for just 2 hours of flight) was such a hassle to the goverment that they had to cancel it. I really like this jet a lot and wish it didn't retire.
Short version is that they took the “good parts” of the F-111B and placed it in the F-14 airframe. Sadly the TF-30s were to be a problem later on.
Makes you sad to think the era of "two years to first flight" from contract inception will never be known again, and certainly not two years to initial capability - in the case of the F-35, two decades is accurate. The big mistake Dick Cheney made when he arbitrary supported the advancement of the F-15 platform in the nineties and simultaneously derided the Tomcat as ancient was failing to recognize that Grumman can never be resurrected, certainly not when there are agile, fast Su-47s on our European doorstep. Mourn with Grumman the last honest long range fighter jets.
SU-47's a non plane
Looks like we're in the Danger Zone!
@biped19
Yeah, did you ever notice that; then sec. of defense Dick (just the right name) Cheney viewed the F-14 as just a jobs program, matter of fact because he wanted it to end in favor of something newer.
Well congress funded just 55 newly built 14 D's. the rest was upgraded A or B models to D status.
@Spadadiforza
Well, nothing wrong with the GE 110. as matter of fact these powerplants have been known to put more than 20,000 pounds dry thrust. 32500 Max with A/B.
Yeah, F-14 still the best plane.
no
@@Themayseffect YES!!
@@youdontknowwhoiam8469 no
@@Themayseffect then fuck u
@@Themayseffect YES.PERIOD.
The F-14D Super Tomcat had structural change to acomodate the F-100 General Electric engines; for whose dont know yet, this was not impediment for Grumman Company.
@biped19 It wasn't more expensive. I am like you though.Loved the F14, however its time had come. The F18 Super Hornet has something like a 75 percent commomality in parts to the Classic model. With the money saved they were able to build a very effective defence fighter, electonically. Our airforce here in Australia have bought it for this same reason
@ewthmatth It's used to catch the aircraft in case something were to go wrong and the F-14 had to make an emergency landing,cause if it's that bad there isn't gonna be a chance to go around and try again if you miss the capture cable so it's sort of a back up to save the plane from running off the carrier.
Navy did everything to kill Tomcat since the beginning, that's the hard true. McNamara was a idiot, but Navy from 80's was even worse.
Grumman build probably one of the best fighters ever. In only 3 years. Amazing accomplishment
F14 still one of the bests!
@Aryanpars you need to remember that they did not have any thrust vectoring in 1971. Thrust vectoring did not come around until the f22 prototype in 1994. but i will agree they could have modified the f14d to have thrust vectoring and that therefore wouldve made the f14 much more lethal.
The f14 and F15 were the best aircraft ever produced. Then cam the F16, which was cheaper than the F15 and was a great companion to the total air dominant F15. The nava search for an equivalent and accepted the Fa18 Hornet as their version of the F16. Since then the Fa18 was improved upon and now the FA18 Super Hornet graces the decks of our aircraft carriers as air superiority aircraft as well as ground support. A few of the original Fa-8's remain as ground support only. I really think the Navy dropped the ball when replacing the F14 with the Super Hornet. Updates to the F14 could have kept it alive decades longer. But for now we're looking at the F35 to fill that role and many others. Too bad! A stealth version of the F14 could have kicked ass on anything else in the sky. It would have been the Nav's version of the F22 Raptor. But they are being forced to accept the problematic F35. Maybe the Pentegon will see the error of their ways and we will get a decent replacement for the F14.
@1BULLDOGBLITZ
It is because the slower plane can do the Tomcat's job while still being made almost half the Tomcat's price
Where’s the rest of the video? Was enjoying that as Tomcat my favorite plane as a kid and it just cuts off and doesn’t link to part 2
The weakpoint of the tomcat was the engines. Using the low bypass turbo fans of the F22 plus OVT would make these F14s lethal.
The F-15 silent eagle is the same platform as old F-15A/B,with structural fuselage modification, with aesa radar, avionics and engines,the Tomcat could be modified as F-15, the Hornet A/B NEVER shoot down Su-22 and Mig-21 as Interceptor or Air superiority fighter of Navy. If you talk about expensive, talk also about F-35 program. Fanatic.
The best fighterjet killed by the greed of the politicians.
@reddead255
I would not go that far, especially with the F-22. The F-35 is still an unknown quantity, although the cockpit and avionics are top notch. Still, it is a stealthy dump truck compared to the "Super Tomcats" that should be rolling off the assembly line as we speak. A great high / low mix: Advanced Tomcats and F-35s on the deck. Now we will have two planes doing the exact same thing F-35 & the F-18E/F/G/H/I/J/K/L/M/N/O/P/Q/R/S/T/U/V/W/X/Y/Z.
They had f-80 rc equipped plane in 1972
thank you for sharing this!
@FutureMarine1775USA - I agree, however, why modernize an old airframe when you can design and build a completely new one for less money? What you want to do to the Tomcat will basically give you a SuperBug. If you look at the Super, from the air intakes forward, it looks a lot like a Tomcat front end. I reckon they should navalize the Raptor. That would be cheaper to do again. Strengthen undercarriage, arresor hook etc.. Your thoughts, mate?
The Tomcat was also quite unreliable and very expensive to maintain. It bled a shed load of energy in tight turns and as many of you have pointed out, really did only a few things well which are not relevant today. The Super Hornet is a much better aircraft. Us Aussies fee the same way about the recent retirement of the F-111. A legendary arcraft that did one job REALLY well. But also became very expensive to maintain. F-111 & F-14 were the only Phoenix carriers and had same engines as well.
Nice
@CaptHawkeye THIS POST RIGHT HERE IS MONEY! Great post.
They should have added Thrust Vectoring, front wings, upgraded jet engine and new avionics/radar system and this would have killed everything in the air...
changing the engines would require a complete structural redesign, not as simple as you think
super tomcat is d best...
As an air force tactical bomber and the SAC FB-111 and even the sparkvark the EF-111 raven the F-111 distinguished itself as a solid bomber but the issue is it was never designed for operations on a carrier plus it was not the most manuverable jet either that and the TF-30 engine had teething issues of its own for screaming down a valley in central Europe in the dead of night to take out a Warsaw pact command post flying just off the deck I would prefer the F-111 but as a fighter no I would not want to be doing ACM in an aardvark
Even Air Force pilots, who had flown the Ef 111 in combat, said when a fighter came after them, with missiles, they could evade, for a while, and hope an f-15 came along and pulled their fat out of the 🔥, so the ef, f 111 wasn't at all a fighter, from the beginning
@smeary10
I think it was much better than 60's handling and performace. Try 80's.
But the 14E would have been much better (decades better) than the originals. Just take a look at the F-15E and the newer SE modle. Or even the F-16 Block 52 and 60's.
I knew it! I knew I'd seen an F-14 with a single tail-rudder but none of my fellow jet fighter pilots believed me!
its called a F-111
rear speaker one of the original designs for the Tomcat called for it to have a single vertical stabilizer. But because of the height requirements they decided to go with the twin vertical stabilizers. You can see one of the original models here. th-cam.com/video/mmEgQz7tfEU/w-d-xo.htmlm52s
The original design had one vertical fin but because of the high canopy two vertical fins were necessary for better directional control. The original prototype shown to employees had a single fin.
The F-111 aircraft was a totally different aircraft the preceded the Tomcat.
TOP GUN
I think they should clone the F14 like make it new version sort of a 6 generation, update body, computer n the whole 9yrds. It would be twice as deadly then any fighter on the planet... New Version F14, F15, n the F16...
@FutureMarine1775USA - Understood mate. But I still think you're reaching a little. As I mentioned, the F-14 & F1-111 were both state of the art and arguably ahead of their time in their day. But modern warfare has rendered these old girls redundant now. 1960's engineering and maintenance is too expensive to upkeep. 1960's handling and performance is a problem today as well.
i still dont understand way they replaced the tomcat with slower and cant carry as much plane. this plane was beast in the air
@CefiroGuy3 Not my call unfortunately. But that radar and those AIM 54s are a scary package.
@ 6:00
that is an F-14A+ or F-14B engine nozzle
@smeary10 I disagree on the hornet being a much better aircraft, but I agree on the rest. The 14 like you said though was built for a reason, a long range interceptor figther during the cold war, not a bomber or dog fighter really just a specific reason! I think you are sleeping on the Tomcat though, I don't now if the Hornet is that great just alot more cost effective and more relevant for todays missions.
the best plane in the world
Now the Navy has no air superiority/fleet defense fighter. Instead we have two planes, The F-18E/F and F-35, that perform the SAME MISSION!
It should be Advanced Tomcats and F-35 on the flight deck today. Ridiculous, embarrassingly ridiculous.
USS Enterprise had the first operational sqardren a fine plane.
@Dima200022 a concept very, varitech " valkyrie"
@biped19 look, even they rolled out F-15SE. i mean WTF.
does the gov't have a special relationship with boeng/Mcdonnel Douglas?
Which documentary was this taken from??
Eso pasa todo los días de que levantó voy a la guerra mundial
BUILDING A NEW,ENHANCED f-14 IS GOT TO BE CHEAPER THAN A NEW f-35
Not necessarily.
Too bad the F-14 got stuck with the same garbage engines as the F-111
Until the switch to the GE110's was made.
@deckire bullshit .....the tomcat was cheap in comparrasion its this simple if it makes sence its doesn't happen
;-))
7:50 what the hell is that?
Testing barricade arrestment as used on the carrier in emergencies when the hook/wire system isn't available. The barricade damages an airplane, but it's repairable.
'
come on america company...
american air force company can make many new F-14st jetplanes, better mile ranges, fast speeding up, better flying, better systems
hotpocket: you talk to much shit about the Tomcat,