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End of line for F-14, the world's most recognised aircraft
Bangkok Post 02/15/06
author: Mazen Mahdi
Manama _ The F-14, by far the world's most recognised military aircraft, is in the last leg of its final deployment before being retired. The last 22 F-14s flying in the US Navy will conclude the final deployment in the Gulf in coming days as the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt heads home to Norfolk, Virginia after a six-month cruise.
Over the years, some people have described the F-14, made famous by the 1986 movie Top Gun, starring young heartthrob Tom Cruise, as the Navy's greatest recruiting tool.
Yet the fighter that epitomised the glamourous side of naval aviation is being retired between July and October 2006, after more than 30 years in service as the US Navy prepares to switch to the Boeing F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets during the spring.
Former Naval Forces Central Command and Commander of the Fifth Fleet Vice Admiral David Nichols who had just left his post in the last operational arena of the F-14, commended the aircraft's capability, saying it had been ''a great airplane for the Navy''.
''We bought the F-14 primarily as a fleet defence airplane in the context of the Cold War to defend against a Soviet attack and to provide a defensive umbrella to move our carriers forward to take the fight to the Soviets, if it came to that,'' he said just before leaving his post in Bahrain in November.
He pointed out that the F-14 proved its worth in air-to-air missions in Desert Storm and in subsequent patrols and action in no-fly zone enforcement over Iraq.
He added that it played a key role in Afghanistan and continues to play an important role in supporting troops on the ground in Iraq after they added air-to-ground ordnance capability in the last 10 years.
The F-14s, which cost around US million each, are getting old and expensive to maintain due to older hydraulic and electrical systems that are harder to maintain than newer aircraft. Numerous modifications over the years made improvements seen in various versions of the original F-14A to include the F-14A+, F-14B, F-14C, and F-14D.
''It is going away because of the people, not because of the relevance of the aircraft airframe,'' Tomcatters squadron Commanding Officer Rick Labranche said from onboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt.
Labranche, who in January made his 1,000th arrested landing with an F-14, pointed out that his squadron will be the last to fly the F- 14. ''It is like saying goodbye to a friend,'' he said. ''It is an end of an era.''
Both the Tomcatters and the Black Lions squadron, which switches planes first in April, are deployed onboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt as part of its Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 8 aircraft armada.
They flew over the beach to support coalition ground forces on Oct 6 in Iraq as CVW 8 launched its first combat operations in more than two and a half years, in support of Operation Iraq freedom with more than half of the air wing's personnel participating in flight procedures that involved missions over land and sea.
The two-seat, twin-engine supersonic fighter-bomber with variable- position wings was originally deployed in the early 1970s to provide fleet security by intercepting and destroying enemy aircraft.
Over time it doubled as a fighter escort, tactical air reconnaissance, and air-to-surface strike fighter that could deliver precision hits against ground targets.
Its air-to-surface role further evolved just days before its current deployment began in September, when the aircraft received clearance to drop GBU-38, the 500-pound version of Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), allowing it to take on more air-to-ground missions against Iraqi insurgents.
In December, ahead of the Iraqi elections, both squadrons had their aircraft upgraded with technology to download data to laptop computers that give troops the ability to view their surroundings from the aircraft's point of view.
According to some military experts, the gap created by retiring the F-14s would not be fully filled until the Joint Strike Fighter F- 35 currently being developed by Lockheed Martin enters the service in 2014. The Navy says that the F-35 complements the role of the F-18, but in all likelihood the F-35 will eventually replace the F-18, too.
A number of the decommissioned F-14s have found their way to air museums around the United States, but most are expected to head to desert preservation in Tucson, Arizona at Davis Monthan Airforce Base, site of the Aerospace Maintenance and Recovery Centre (AMARC), better known as the boneyard.
A special non-profit entity called The Tomcat Sunset Committee was recently formed to plan and execute an official farewell ceremony in September for the F-14 Tomcat.
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