Essay, Research Paper: F-14 Tomcat

The F-14 Tomcat is the main defender of the U.S. fleet. With
its high speed and ultra-long- range weapons, the F-14 can
operate hundreds of miles away from its carrier base. The
Tomcat AWG-9 radar can engage six targets at once and its
Phoenix missiles can kill hostile bombers 90 miles away, before
they can launch their attacks. The Tomcat is one of the world's
true "Top Guns!"
A Tomcat aircrew are an elite within an elite. Pilot and
backseat Naval Flight Officer act as a carefully coordinated team
to wring the best from the awesome combination of
performance, sophistication and firepower at their command.
The Tomcat has been one of the great superfighters of the
world since its first squadron took to the skies in 1972. It packs a
massive punch, performs superbly and is the warplane of choice
for many aspiring military pilots. Nothing is more likely to worry
an enemy than to know Tomcats are on his track. And yet this
tremendous fighting machine can operate from a 350-foot strip
of aircraft carrier deck, in all weather and around the clock
working with E-2C Hawkeye radar planes and using air-to-air
refueling, a squadron of Tomcats can sanitize the airspace 400
miles out from the carrier battle. This ensures that no hostile
aircraft will threaten the warships below. Even sea-skimming
missiles the can be killed by Tomcats using their Phoenix and
AMRAAM missiles.
The fact is that Tomcats and their aircrews have to be
good--they are protecting a 10-warship, $15-billion battle group
manned by 10,000 sailors projecting as much firepower as the
United Kingdom's entire armed forces.
There are many things that make the Grumman F-14 a
unique and amazing plane. First of all, there's an age-old
problem with fighter planes that the F-14 has conquered.
Different speeds and different maneuvers call for wings of
different shapes, and no plane can have wings of different
shapes, right? Wrong! The Tomcat has "variable sweep wings."
This means that the wings move to whatever position is best for
flight and maneuvering. They can stretch out and away from the
plane for take-off and landing, or they can sweep back and
inward for supersonic flight. During flight the wings adjust
auto-maticauy for best performance.
Each engine of the F-14 weighs 3,900 pounds and provides
up to 28,000 pounds of thrust. The F-14B engine (a modified F-14)
is lighter, and provides an additional 16,000 pounds of thrust.
The F-14 also has one of the world's most advanced and
powerful weapon systems. The system can track 24 targets
simultaneously, at a distance of up to 195 miles, and can attack
targets with its Phoenix, Sparrow, or Sidewinder missiles. The
F-14 was designed with so much firepower in hopes that it would
not see much combat- because no enemy would be crazy
enough to mess with it!
In conclusion, the F-14 is the most popular fighter plane
because it has what it takes to survive. It does air-to-air combat,
bombings, and dogfights and anything else you can think of!


Author: Rocco Deller