It had its first bloodletting in August 1981 when it was deployed to the Mediterranean Sea, on the USS Forrestal and Nimitz supercarriers that opposed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's claim of territory. This opened the stage for the showdown between the US and Libyan forces, after the tension that ended in the first dogfight for the Tomcat.
The winner of this aerial engagement is the F-14 that overcome the opposition that day. One of the pilots, Lieutenant Larry "Music" Muczynski engaged the Libyan jets and used an AIM-9L missile to shoot down the first kill. But, the enemy pilot got out in time.
A legend is born and made to rule the air
In that deployment in Libya, the navy's premier fighter bomber had killed its first mark with an air-to-air missile. This is was a thoroughbred plane made to defend carriers and naval ships from attack by bombers and fighters. It proved effective but the great war never came, reported Pop Mech.
A total length of 63-feet and with a 64-foot wingspan, the swing-wing fighter F-14 Tomcat could reach an airspeed of Mach 1 + at sea level. If it is at a certain height with a full speed of Mach 2.34+ with its dual turbofan engines from General Electric, with 28,000 pounds of thrust when afterburners are used, noted Fas Org.
It had a good 1,000 combat radius and 1,600 miles without refueling which made it an excellent carrier-based fighter. It could intercept at long distances than the F-35, which is a bit too short on that.
A beast of a plane!
An F-14 is made for speed, with its variable swept wing system at specific speeds and altitudes. This allows it to be more maneuverable despite its formidable size, and fancy looks. Under the skin are the avionics and all the systems that made it more than eye-candy. It was a perfect fighter-bomber even by today's standards.
It was equipped with a radar system that could track about 24 planes in one scan and see them beyond visual range (BVR) at 195 miles away, via an AWG-9 X-band pulse-doppler radar. It was equipped with the first microprocessors used in any jet till the Tomcat.
The weapon system can process and control targeting info on all six long-range missiles on six different targets, simultaneously tracking all six with ease. A combo of the F-14, AUG-9 radar, Phoenix trio was the sole reason for its existence, that is to shoot down fast Russian bombers that target carriers.
Its radar system is capable of tracking airborne cruise missiles, using an Infrared Search and Track sensor (IST) called the ALR-23, cited Global Defense. Later the IST was changed to an optical sensor linked to its radar.
Made to fight as a dogfighter, the F-14 Tomcat has tools for the job. Under it were 10 weapons mounts or hardpoints to carry 14.5 tons. One of these is long-ranged Phoenix missiles for beyond eyesight air to air attacks. When the plane flew many adversaries would not want to be at the receiving end.
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