If a plane like the 14 tomcat retired; can it come back to active duty?

Answer 1

+ I am afraid to say the good old F-14 is probably pretty much gone from the US forces. You might find that we sell this great piece of hardware to some other country and they have it for many more years. I have been to some countries that have purchased our equipment and are still using things 20 or more years after we retire it. An example is that I was assigned as a liaison officer to an asian country and worked aboard a ship that we had decommisioned in 1954. It was running and in great shape and had many upgrades. It was perfect for thier use. I can only imagine that will be the fate of most of the remaining F-14's

Answer 2

The F-14 will probably be around with reserve squadrons for a few more years, and then several squadron's worth of aricraft will go somewhwere to be put into preservation, in the event that they are needed again in the future. While I was in the Marines, stationed at Cherry Point, NC, there was a preserved squadron of F-4 Phantoms on the other side of the base, and about every other month or so, they would roll a couple out and put them through their paces, just to make sure they were still serviceable.

Don't know what model of F4 they were, but the rumor (our squadron descended from a photo-recon unit) was that they were RF-4 Phantoms, and outfitted with cameras and electronic sensors for doing photo runs, as well as SEAD missions (Suppression of Enemy Air Defense), known as 'Iron Hand' in the Navy, and called the Wild Weasal in the air force.

We had no way of determining what type they were, but they were there, none the less, and had been put into preservation sometime in the early 80's.

Answer 3

If the case of the F14,No.... It's done. The F-14's days are over. The only flying ones left are in IRAN. We sold some to Iran be before the Shah fell. They are the only other F-14 users in the world. Few still fly due to the lack of parts. For others, they get stored at the Boneyard At Davis Monothan AFB in Arizona. Old planes are stripped, sealed and placed in desert storage. Some like the F4 get taken out and turned into target drones. Some get sold overseas or used for spare parts. The Navy does the same thing with ships. The Philly Navy yard is filled with retired ships that are kept in case the need to be reactivated.

Answer 4

I believe the F-14 is retired from active duty. It may still have a role in Navy or Marine reserve squadrons. But to re-activate a squadron would require storing the aircraft in dry conditions, keeping spare parts available, maintenance crews trained and some kind of simulators available. That may not be cost-effective if an alternative is available.

The F-14 became too expensive to operate (2 crew members, high fuel consumption compared to F/A-18) and to maintain (swing-wing mechanism required a lot of maintenance and high amount of wearout.)

The F/A-18 is a single seat aircraft which can carry a large payload, and can handle many missions - combat air patrol/fleet defense, reconnaissance, long-range all-weather attack and refueling/tanker. Therefore, it is much more cost-effective to acquire/maintain/update and more flexible to use by the Navy and Marine Corps.

See link for article and photo of last F-14 making its final flight at NAS Oceana, FL.

Answer 5

In the past some planes have been resurrected to the point of total extension. Case in point the B-26 Invader was resurrected for the Vietnam war and when they were done with them there was literally not a plane left to retire.

Answer 6

The F-14 was officially retired last week. They did a fly-by of my office at about 10:30. They'll send them down to the graveyard in Arizona where they'll bake in the sun until a final decision to scrap is reached.

Answer 7

I suppose it depends on how well the retired planes were cared for and how badly they were needed. I would think that the US would have to be in severe dire straits to bring the plane back to active duty if it were retired, considering that newer more advanced jets have better avionics and abilities.

Answer 8

The US keeps a fleet of mothballed aircraft in desert area. The planes are stripped down and covered with a sealant. If the US ever needs to re-activate these planes, they'll peel off the protectant, bolt-on all the equipment and off it goes.

The desert area is outside Tucson, AZ. It is called AMARC, more information here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerospace_Maintenance_and_Regeneration_Center

Answer 9

Yes. It is possible. The SR-71 Blackbird has been recalled to active duty several times as well as the U2 spy plane.

These are reconosance aircraft though. So, not sure on the fighter/bomber thing.

Answer 10

It can be "moth balled" and kept ready, but that is an expensive proposition. The USAF preserved its SR-71 fleet and did bring back 3 of them from retirement.

The USAF has used a lot of surplus aircraft as target drones, another great use of outdated aircraft.