Grumman F-14D Tomcat

grabcad

The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, all-weather-capable variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the U.S. Navy's VFX program after the collapse of the General Dynamics-Grumman F-111B project. A large and well-equipped fighter, the F-14 was the first of the American teen series fighters, which were designed incorporating air combat experience against MiG fighters during the Vietnam War.The F-14 first flew on 21 Dec 1970 and made its first deployment in 1974 with the U.S. Navy aboard USS Enterprise, replacing the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. The F-14 served as the U.S. Navy's primary maritime air superiority fighter, fleet defence interceptor, and tactical aerial reconnaissance platform into the 2000s. The AAQ-14 targeting pod was added in the 1990s and the Tomcat began performing precision ground-attack missions.The Tomcat was retired by U.S. Navy on 22 Sep 2006, supplanted by the Boeing F-18E/F Super Hornet. Having been exported to Iran in 1976, F-14s were used as land-based interceptors by the Imperial Iranian Air Force. Following the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force used them during the Iran–Iraq War. Iran claimed their F-14s shot down at least 160 Iraqi aircraft during the war (only 55 of these confirmed), while 16 Tomcats were lost, including seven losses to accidents. As of 2022, the F-14 remains in service with Iran's air force, though in low numbers of combat-ready aircraft due to a lack of spare parts.The final variant of the F-14 was the F-14D Super Tomcat, first delivered in 1991. As with the F-14B, the F-14D was equipped with the F110-GE-400 engines. It also included newer digital avionics systems including a glass cockpit and replaced the AWG-9 with the newer APG-71 radar. Other systems included the Airborne Self Protection Jammer, Joint Tactical Information Distribution System, SJU-17(V) Naval Aircrew Common Ejection Seats, and AAS-42 Infra-Red Search and Track. A total of 37 new aircraft were completed, and 18 F-14A models were upgraded to D-models, designated F-14D(R) for a rebuild. Starting in 2005, some F-14Ds received the ROVER III upgrade.