What kind of fighter is this? Experts, experts enter! !

Among the fighters of the US Navy, the F- 14 Tomcat fighter, nicknamed Tomcat, is the most popular model among military fans, and this type of fighter is popular among military fans. In addition to the cool and beautiful appearance of the Tomcat, strong combat effectiveness is another key point. For example, the immortal bird missile mounted on the F- 14 Tomcat fighter is a representative weapon to completely realize the strategic famous sentence of "winning the battle thousands of miles away".

F- 14 wonderful photos of Tomcat fighter (16 photos)

Mainly used for attack and destruction.

Now let's go back to the end of 1970. The first F- 14 prototype manufactured by Grumman Company was tested for the first time by william miller, the planned pilot, and Robert Smythe, the chief pilot of Grumman Company. The test flight lasted only a short time, and the variable wing remained fully open. But the second test flight was not so lucky. Because the main hydraulic system of the prototype failed, William and Robert immediately turned around and flew to the runway with black smoke. And use the emergency pneumatic device to lower the main landing gear and prepare for forced landing. As a result, not far from the end of the runway, the second backup hydraulic system of this prototype also failed. Two pilots had to eject to escape and the plane was completely destroyed. Subsequently, 19 prototypes leave the factory, and the seventh one will become the prototype of F- 14B. The 10 prototype sent to Maryland was with Wei.

F- 14(6 sheets)

Lian mutually assured destruction.

According to the contract signed in 1969, the US Navy ordered 429 F- 14A production machines from Grumman. These mass-produced machines are sold at fixed prices, which means that Grumman must absorb additional costs, such as inflation itself. But in the early 1970s, the bad economic situation led Grumman to invest money every time it handed over a plane. By March of July1year, Grumman Company could no longer bear this loss and asked the US Navy to reorder the contract. It was not until 1973 that Grumman reached a new contract with the US Navy. Starting from 135 mass production machine, a new bargaining method was adopted. In addition, the US Navy lent Grumman 200 million dollars to turn things around until the renegotiation was successful.

However, the loan was criticized, so in 1974, the US Congress voted not to lend to Grumman. Fortunately, the Pahlavi government of Iran also wanted to buy F- 14, so the Iranian bank lent Grumman 75 million dollars. The Bank of America Group also lent a joint loan of US$ 6,543.8+0.25 billion to Grumman for turnover. The mass production plan of Tomcat machine can continue.

In the autumn of 1972, VX-4 Combat Test and Evaluation Squadron in NAS Point, Gumu received the first three F- 14A fighters. This squadron is responsible for the formulation of tactics and the establishment of teaching mode. In June of the same year, VF- 124 Squadron of Myrama Naval Base began to change into F- 14A fighters. The main job of this squadron is to train qualified pilots of carrier-based aircraft squadron. The first two squadrons to complete combat readiness were VF- 1 and VF-2 squadron, both of which were at Myrama Naval Base. 1in the middle of 974, these two squadrons were transferred to CVN-65 uss enterprise.

F- 14 flight team emblem

Compared with the old F-4 ghost machine, the performance of F- 14A is greatly improved. Under the condition of high thrust, F- 14A can maintain a high angle of attack of 77 degrees for a period of time. However, the US Navy restricts pilots from flying fighter jets to Mach 2.25, and male cats can make 6.5g movements at this high speed. It takes 75 seconds to accelerate from standstill to Mach 1.8. The F- 14A has four undead missiles, two sparrow missiles and two rattlesnake missiles, and can conduct 90-minute combat air patrol at a distance of 280 kilometers from the aircraft carrier, or perform duty at a distance of 470 kilometers from the aircraft carrier 1 hour. Under the same mount, F- 14A can intercept as far as the carrier 3 17 km at the speed of 1.3 Mach.

Editing this F- 14A service event 1975, the male cat just caught up with the last scene of the Vietnam War, that is, the fall of Saigon. The North Vietnamese Air Force did not dare to interfere with the Tomcat fighter on duty, and only used anti-aircraft guns to shoot.

The sweep angle of F- 14A variable swept wing has been completely reduced.

198 1 In August, the battle group composed of USS Forrestal and USS Nimitz entered the eastern Mediterranean. Its task is to protest against the Libyan government's claim that Sidra Bay is its territorial waters. The means of protest is to sail the warship into Chetra Bay. 19, two Su -22 fighters took off against two F- 14A. As a result, F- 14A shot down two Su -22 fighters with AIM-9L omnidirectional rattlesnake missiles. This is also the first air combat between variable-wing aircraft and variable-wing aircraft in the world.

1983, USS Eisenhower and USS Independence, located in the eastern Mediterranean, were ordered to support the landing of the US Marines on the Lebanese coast. Male cats equipped with tactical aerial reconnaissance pod system flew several reconnaissance missions, and the rest were responsible for covering operations. In these missions, I was hit by surface-to-air missiles several times, but I missed them all. On June 5438+ 10 of the same year, the United States launched an emergency furious invasion of the island country of Grenada. Tomcat also sent several reconnaissance missions.

1985 5438+00 In June, seven male cats took off from USS Saratoga to intercept a civil aircraft taking off from Egypt. The plane was hijacked by terrorists who killed American tourists. Finally, the male cat accurately intercepted the plane and forced it to land at the Italian airport.

1in March, 1986, the us navy launched several attacks on Libya, and F- 14 provided air cover. In April, the US Air Force dispatched its fleet of F-11to Britain to bomb Libya, and F- 14 provided air cover again.

19891On October 4th, two F- 14 planes taking off from the American aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy shot down two Libyan MiG -23 fighters. In this conflict, the TV crew of F- 14 clearly photographed that the MIG -23 mounted the missile. This leaves almost no excuse for the US military's preemptive action. As for the two pilots who escaped by ejection, they were not found by Libyan search and rescue personnel.

In addition to the conflict with Libya, the US military also escorted oil tankers in the Persian Gulf in 1988 and 1989. It is said that two male cats fought with Iranian F-4E fighter jets, and F- 14 did launch sparrow and rattlesnake missiles. However, these missiles were warning in nature and were not used correctly, so no Iranian fighters were shot down. In addition, the US Navy and the Iranian Air Force F- 14 have never confronted each other head-on.

F- 199 1 played an air cover role in the Gulf War in June 1. The task of hunting Iraqi fighters was handed over to the F- 15C fleet. On February 6th, two planes F- 14 shot down a Mi -8 helicopter with a rattlesnake missile. This is also the only air combat victory of F- 14 in this war. On the earlier day of June+10/October 2 1 65438, a male cat was shot down by an old SA-2 air defense missile. This is the first and only loss of the Tomcat Fleet of the US Navy in the battle. Of the two ejected pilots, one was rescued by a helicopter and the other became a prisoner of war.

Compared with the fruitful achievements of the F- 15C air superiority fleet of the US Air Force, the F- 14 fleet of the US Navy is simply idle. But in the final analysis, this is not because the performance of F- 14 is not good, or F- 14 did not participate in the escort mission in Iraq. However, in the Iran-Iraq war, Iraqis have long been afraid of this kind of AWG-9 radar with an output power of 10 kW. As soon as the U.S. Navy's F- 14 fleet arrived, all Iraqi fighters fled immediately, not even one left for F- 14. As for the F- 15C of the US Air Force, it is much luckier, because the Iraqis can't distinguish its radar signal, so Iraqi warplanes are shot down by this type of aircraft one after another. As a result, the US attack aircraft personnel joked and asked their superiors to send an electric warfare pod. As long as this pod can send out the radar signal of AWG-9, the Iraqi fighter plane will escape without the real F- 14 escort.

The above are the combat operations that F- 14 serving in the US Navy participated in. A total of F- 14 killed two Su-22s and two MiG-23s. Plus a Mi -8 helicopter. Interestingly, these four jet fighters all belong to the Libyan Air Force, and they are all variable-wing fighters.