Hi,
A friend of mine just told me that the classic fighter jet used by the US Navy, the F-14 Tom Cat was retired in 2006? Really, I just can't believe him. Is that really true?
Any fighter pilots out there? Can anyone please tell me why the greatest of them all, the F-14 Tom Cat is off service? What were it's problems or drawbacks?
2007-02-08 06:19:36 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Military
nah, now they got the super tomcat. Did you hear they are going to make one. Look it up. The new one is better.
source-aviation book
2007-02-08 06:42:21 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Sept 21,2006 the F-14 was retired. The problem was budget cuts. The F-18 was doing most of the F-14's jobs so they decided it would be cheaper and free up more carrier deck space if the Tom cat was retired. The F-14 is a big fighter and you can park about three F-18's in the same space used by a F-14. The other reason was age and the cost of upgrades for a plane over 30 years old. Thus the Cat is no more except in Iran. I wish this wasn't true but it is.
2007-02-08 07:17:25 · answer #2 · answered by brian L 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Tom Cat had problems from the start. Being under-engined for one. Remember the scene in Top Gun where they had a double engine flame out and they had to eject and the one guy was killed? Double engine flame outs in Tom Cats were not that uncommon. Later models had better engines but it never really got an engine worthy of the air frame.
It was an old design and carrier landings are about as rough as you can get on an air frame. The USAF by contrast babies its planes with nice gentle landings on long runways.
The Navy did have a Stealth Fighter (a real fighter vs the USAF F117 which was actually a bomber) on the drawing boards but the program got cancelled on 8 JAN 91 due to massive cost over runs. The design looked a lot like a small flying wing.
When that plane was cancelled, the Navy was way behind on getting new planes. The highly upgraded F18s did a lot to help but they had nothing to really replace the F14. Today, without the F14 and without an equally capable air superiority fighter, the Navy is flying by the seat of its pants and relying heavily on USAF air coverage.
2007-02-08 20:16:41 · answer #3 · answered by forgivebutdonotforget911 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The F-14 is over 35 years old. There is only so much you can do to "modernize" it. Time to move on. The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is replacing it.
But don't fret too much. It is still used in the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force.
2007-02-08 06:50:37 · answer #4 · answered by Mutt 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes to the previous poster....and i heard it was because of the high accident(failure) rate. I too was/is a fan of the F-14!
One of my all time favorite movies is Top Gun...and NOT because of Tom Cruise. My hubby use to take still photos of some of the shots during that movie..and print them out for me.
2007-02-08 06:33:16 · answer #5 · answered by TexasRose 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It was obsolete. It was over 30 years old and the new fighters are much more manuverable and equiped with Star Trek type electronics.
2007-02-08 12:48:56 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It was a sad day in avaition history when the Tomcat retired. Plus the fact that the company that made it--Grumman--went out of business.
2007-02-08 06:35:29 · answer #7 · answered by gman992 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
High maintenance costs, older design and electronics, high cost to continue upgrading. Its time was up, sorry I loved watching em fly.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-14_Tomcat
uziell check the link, the super tomcat is OLD and out of service.
2007-02-08 06:24:35 · answer #8 · answered by John B 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋