why did they put the f-14 tomcats out of service?

Question

i mean i know they are old planes but why get rid one of the greatest fighters ever created

Answer 1

for the same reason we aren't flying a bunch of P-51s and F-4s. The Tomcat was a great aircraft in it's day, but the prototype was built in the 60s and then built in the 70s. OLD technology. Big, heavy, fuel inefficient. Changing missions and a desire to get more for the money drove the change. Plus, you can't use the new technologies...and get even more advanced stuff in the future UNLESS you move forward and use newer technology stuff. Besides, our opponents have as good as or better aircraft now, do we really want to fly against superior opponents? Personally, fair fights are for playgrounds..give me a huge advantage EVERY day!!

Answer 2

The navy was forced to make cuts and the tomcat was seen as too expensive to keep and used up too much deck space that could go to the multi talented F-18. You can just about park three F-18's in one F-14 spot. It was also recognized that the cost of upgrading the F-14 was too expensive for little gain and the money instead went to the super hornet program and the F-35 program instead. All things have there day and F-14's has passed. I love these planes as much as the next guy but eventually all military gear gets obsolete and so it is with the F-14. However it should remembered that no fighter has made such an impression on the public imagination as the F-14 all you need do is watch some japanese anime and you will see F-14's all over the place.

Answer 3

Hi, this is a great question! As an aviation fanatic, let me give you some of the reasons I pieced together during my various research projects:

-1: F-14 HAS NO MORE PURPOSE: the Tomcat was built with one and only one purpose in mind at the end of the Cold War; Intercept, engage and defeat an imaginary secret Soviet fighter / bomber with stunning flight handling, never seen before top speed and ultra high altitude, before it could strike US positions... well, that's what our guess was at the time.

Thus no costs were spared in order for the F-14 to reach Mach 2.5+, carry the most advanced weaponry and "save the day"... against that imaginary Russian monster.

The "Supposed Soviet aircraft" were later revealed to be respectively the Mig 29 Fulcrum and to a lesser extent the Sukhoi 27 Flanker... but we quickly found out in the 90's that our forecast had greatly over estimated their actual capabilities, making the F 14 some kind of useless "freak" that finally was very costly and difficult to operate (remember that you need a pilot and a radar operator, plus the utterly insane sweeping wing system that is super fragile and complex to maintain) for not much purpose...

-2: THE F-14 IS NOT MULTIMISSION: now this is a major handicap. The F14 is an "Air Superiority" aircraft (it does not attack ground targets) and is thus totally obsolete for today's use when you need to have Multi Mission (both Air attack and Ground targets) capabilities in one mission: for instance, your attack group can have the following orders: "Destroy ennemy radars AND engage hostile aircrafts as Targets of Opportunity". In this regard, the F16, F18 and soon the F22 are much more versatile and adapted.

-3: THE THREAT IS SOMEWHERE ELSE: We've learnt it the hard way, the "I've got a bigger plane than you so I am the winner" is the most stupid of military strategies. Today and Tomorrow, there will never be a "Super Mega Uber enemy aircraft that will destroy our cities with a secret laser beam"... there will be very well organized, small groups of militia perfectly infiltrated in our nations, computer savvy and ready to die for their cause that will cause enormous damage through sabotage, guerrilla warfare, secret recruiting in our prisons, fear mongering and assassination of targeted individuals... nothing you can counter with a Mach 2.5 capable super fighter aircraft.

I hope this gives you some hints to answer your question!

(If you want to see a beautiful F14 up close, go to San Diego on the USS Midway -now a museum-, it costs $15-30 and you can go on the flight deck and even touch the aircraft or take a photo like you are Tom Cruise!)

Answer 4

All of the reasons above plus... The military tried to adapt the role of the Tomcat to extend it's service life. First, it was the only aircraft large enough and capable of deploying the huge "Phoenix" long range missile. When the Phoenix technology was superceded by the smaller "cruise missiles", the Tomcat lost it's "raison d'terre" again. They then tried to adapt the Tomcat as an air-to-ground weapon, the "Bombcat", but other aircraft were able to accomplish the mission better and cheaper.

Answer 5

You're all wrong. In the documentary "Top Gun", Maverick and Goose were the best team to fly the Tomcat. Since Goose was tragically killed in a training excercise, the government decided to cut the service life short on the legendary jet because there were no longer any qualified teams to fly it. Maverick had to turn to acting to make ends meet, and took the stage name "Tom Cruise". He eventually got involved with some wacky religion, and married some chick half his age afther he knocked her up. How sad is it that fighter pilots sometimes have a hard time transitioning to civilian life.

Answer 6

while the F-14 is a good aircraft and design, it's age is the greatest factor, along parts availability, cost, and other factors, like the types of aircraft in the air today that can far outfly and out-perform it. It's currently over 25 years old and the technology in place today has unfortunately turned it into a dinosaur. My biggest concern today, is that the US government is turning these aircraft over to an outside company that will be able to sell these aircraft, and parts of them, to outside sources that are no longer friendly to the US, that are still flying these aircraft today

Answer 7

The aircraft is an old design with old technology, but they kept updating the aircraft with new avionic's. After sometime they decided on a cheaper aircraft with easier maintanance and able to fly with just one pilot but be able to do the same job, along came the F-18 Super Hornet.

Answer 8

Costs a lot to maintain and to make way for newer planes

Answer 9

Been replaced by new planes, costly to run, made in the 60's.
It is kinda sad, that was my favorite jet.

Answer 10

The cup holders couldn't handle the large slurpees from 7/11, that, and there was no good spot to attach the cell phone.