Posted on 07/19/2019 3:41:40 PM PDT by Enlightened1
China is building a potent air launched anti-ship cruise missiles along with aircraft to carry those weapons. Meanwhile, the once-dormant Russian bomber force is back—though not in the numbers of the Soviet era. Moreover, with the emergence of new adversary stealth aircraft—some of which have the capability to fly very high and very fast—which are also armed with cruise missiles, the Navy will need the range and speed that the Tomcat offered to fend off those threats. The F/A-18E/F can do the job—but only to an extent.
The United States Navy retired the venerable Grumman F-14 Tomcat in 2006 after more than three decades in service. However, the Tomcat’s demise has left gaps in the carrier air wing that are only now being felt.
With the end of the Cold War and declining budgets, the Navy simply could not afford to keep the incredibly maintenance intensive and unreliable Tomcat on the carrier flight deck. Moreover, with the demise of the Soviet threat, the Tomcat’s primary mission of fleet defense has fallen by the wayside and the venerable jet was increasingly used in the strike role. But while the F-14 proved to be a competent strike aircraft, the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet was superior in most respects to the aging Tomcat as a strike fighter in the post-Cold War era. Particularly, the Super Hornet was far more reliable and cost effective—and with its much more modern avionics, it was mostly a more capable aircraft. However, there are still some gaps that the Super Hornet could not fill.
While the Super Hornet with its exceptional Raytheon AN/APG-79 active electronically scanned array radar, Harris AN/ALQ-214 Integrated Defensive Electronic Countermeasures (IDECM) Block IV system...
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalinterest.org ...
The F-18 Super Hornets appear to be a huge upgrade from the original F-18s, but I wonder how come the F-14 could not upgrade its mission?
OK, so for people not in the know when it comes to the military, is there a jet we have now to fend off this China threat to replace the F-14 or is there a substantial gap in our defense now as a result of China’s new capabilities?
Thanks
If the reports on the F35s that Israel has are to be believed it is the plane. The Navy is having some problems with the F35B which is the naval version. The Navy is dealing with the need for its aircraft to be able to operate off carriers . The Navy will work the problems out and the fleet will have a first rate aircraft.
F-18 engine swap with a competent crew+- 3 hours.
F-14 engine swap 6 hours. Avionics won’t fix Maintenance v Flight hours.
I’ve witnessed this many times.
That’s F-18 super hornet
The F-18 Super Hornets are the Navy’s choice to replace the older F-18s and Marines are going to the F-35s.
The Navy will have F-35s too.
Thank you.
I knew there were a lot of issues early on but I figured most were rectified by now.
Since you seem in the know (esp with your FR name), do aircraft carriers have guns on them?
And while I’m at it :), when we were kids we would draw destroyers and battleships and put guns EVERYWHERE on the ships.
I ASSUME the guns on them are strategically place and their different firing power is also a consideration in placing them.
If that’s too many questions I understand. Thanks either way.
The F35s have up to 50 hours per flight.
A flyswatter.
Thanks. Another FReeper replied also.
So we’re good?
What matters most is the training, ability, experience and courage of the pilot.
I KNOW.
I should open the article and read what obvious benefits the F-14 had over the F-18 (the must be some or this wouldn’t have been written).
But I WOULDNT understand it, very likely.
Thanks again
I suspect the variable geometry was no longer needed and made it massively more complex. Meaning more to go wrong and harder to maintain and fix.
That part cannot be upgraded as it is the plane design itself.
Again, I suspect.
I’m talking about breakdowns.
Not D&T’s , fueling , weapons loads etc.
You are correct
Supposedly the Sixth Generation fighters will be coming out.
Although I am not sure if they have a pilot anymore?
Not really, here is how the two stack up.
F/A 18 Super Hornet, 390nm combat radius carrying the AIM-120D AMRAAM missile with a max effective range of 86nm.
F-14 Tomcat, 500nm combat radius carrying the AIM-54 Phoenix missile with a max effective range of 100nm.
So in theory, the Tomcat/Phoenix combination could reach out and touch something 124nm farther away from the carrier than the Super Hornet/AMRAAM combination.
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