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F-14 TOMCAT
Wing span: 64 feet unswept; 38 feet swept
Length: 62 feet 7 inches
Height: 16 feet
Weight: Empty: 40,104 pounds
Maximum take-off: 74,348 pounds
Speed:: Maximum: 1,544 mph
Cruise: 576 mph
Ceiling: More than 56,000 feet
Power plant: Two Pratt and Whitney TF-30-P412A turbofan
engines with afterburners; F-14B and F-14D: F-110-GE-400 augmented
turbofan engines with afterburner
Crew: two
Contractor: Grumman Aerospace
Standard Aircraft Characteristics Chart for an F-14 (includes
3-view drawings)(no longer available, as requested by Naval Air
Systems Command)
Overall, the Navy's Grumman F-14 Tomcat is without equal among
today's Free World fighters. Six long-range AIM-54A Phoenix missiles
can be guided against six separate threat aircraft at long range
by the F-14's AWG-9 weapons control system. For medium-range combat,
Sparrow missiles are carried; Sidewinders and a 20mm are available
for dogfighting. In the latter role, the Tomcat's variable-sweep
wings give the F-14 a combat maneuvering capability that could
not have been achieved with a "standard" fixed planform
wing.
Designed in 1968 to take the place of the controversial F-111B,
then under development for the Navy's carrier fighter inventory,
the F-14A used the P&W TF30 engines and AWG-9 system and carried
the six Phoenix missiles that had been intended for the F-111B.
A completely new fighter system was designed around these with
emphasis on close-in fighting "claws" along with standoff
missile fighting. From its first flight on 21 December 1970, the
F-14A has come through five years of development, evaluation,
squadron training and initial carrier deployments to become the
carrier air wings' most potent fighter. Technical and financial
problems that received a great deal of publicity have been overcome
in achieving this goal.
Originally it was planned that the F-14B with the advanced
P&W F401 would be the major production version. However, performance
of the TF30-P-412 exceeded expectations while development of the
F401 was delayed. One F-14B was flight tested, showing that an
F401-powered Tomcat would be a potential future option.
The Tomcat caps a long line of Grumman Cats. In the hands
of Navy pilot/NFO teams, it provides the carrier task force with
its first-line offense and defense against any enemy air threat
in the tradition of its predecessors. The current inventory includes
F-14As, F-14Bs and F-14Ds.
In addition to its outstanding fighter capabilities, the Tomcat
is now being configured as a potent, adverse weather, medium-range
strike aircraft that is being fielded through cost-effective upgrades
to F-14A/Bs. With the ability to launch Joint Direct Attack Munitions
(JDAM), coupled with an INS/GPS integration and off-the-shelf
electronic countermeasure improvements, the Tomcat will provide
a multi-mission strike/escort capability which will be part of
the inventory until at least 2010.
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10 April 2001
This document and images from the public domain, courtesy of the US Navy Historical Center
.
