User Panel
Posted: 3/12/2017 11:30:58 PM EDT
In Three....Two...One...
Forget the F-35: Why America's Military Misses the F-14 Tomcat http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/forget-the-f-35-why-americas-military-misses-the-f-14-tomcat-19347?page=show The Legendary F-14 Tomcat: The Plane America and Iran Both Love http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/the-legendary-f-14-tomcat-the-plane-america-iran-both-love-18052?page=show |
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I've never understood why the F-14 got so much attention when the F-15 did far more damage to the enemy. I suppose if Top Gun had been an Air Force movie things might be different
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What is the deal with all these national interest dot org articles being posted here lately?
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The F15 had the Iron Eagle movies good movies just not top gun quality
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This is probably a dumb question but why don't they create another rendition of the F-14, like F-14E, but with newer engines and electronics? There would be way less R&D to create it from start to finish. Or is that like putting a brand-new Ferrari engine in a Dodge Caravan mini-van from the 80s.
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This is probably a dumb question but why don't they create another rendition of the F-14, like F-14E, but with newer engines and electronics? There would be way less R&D to create it from start to finish. Or is that like putting a brand-new Ferrari engine in a Dodge Caravan mini-van from the 80s. View Quote As much as I love the F14 and consider it the most beautiful plane ever built, it was a pig for maintenance, was not really a dog fighter, and in its age offered less and less to make it valuable to keep around. Cost to keep it in the air was getting too high. Perhaps KA3B will be along to slap me around for being wrong on some points. |
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This is probably a dumb question but why don't they create another rendition of the F-14, like F-14E, but with newer engines and electronics? There would be way less R&D to create it from start to finish. Or is that like putting a brand-new Ferrari engine in a Dodge Caravan mini-van from the 80s. View Quote They did eventually give it F110 engines to replace the TF30s. The F-14D had some upgrades to the radar but I don't know how extensive they were. |
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Having to pull the AWG9 radar transmitter in and out of that bitch was NOT fun.
~185 pounds and the size of a medium suitcase positioned about 7 feet up, and it was always two of us scrawny fucks trying to lift one overhead and into the bay. Not much weight for two people if you think about it, but for a teenager that didn't know how to use leverage or lifting techniques, it was a bitch and not a fond memory. |
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The entire Air Wing composition needs to be rethought.
The Cold War era air wings had excellent versatility. I imagine with tech being what it is today that an Air Wing could specialize once again but with half the variety of air frames. (Three different airframes can do the job of yesteryear's six airframes sort of thing) |
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F18's and F35's are not good replacements for an air superiority fighter or an all weather attack plane (A6 intruder)
If it ever comes to war in the South China Sea, we will be hamstrung |
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As much as I love the F14 and consider it the most beautiful plane ever built, it was a pig for maintenance, was not really a dog fighter, and in its age offered less and less to make it valuable to keep around. Cost to keep it in the air was getting too high. Perhaps KA3B will be along to slap me around for being wrong on some points. View Quote Plus I think they've already crunched most of them. I'd like to think they've at least stripped them of any serviceable parts, like LANTIRN pods, engines, etc. But it's the gov't, so they probably just chopped it up and tossed it in a dumpster. |
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IIRC, the F-14 was decommissioned because the airframes essential wingbox that facilitates swing wing had expired in flight lifetime. It's a very complex system to maintain the wings.
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F18's and F35's are not good replacements for an air superiority fighter or an all weather attack plane (A6 intruder) If it ever comes to war in the South China Sea, we will be hamstrung View Quote If we go to war with China, their aircraft are the least of our problems. Even if you believe the zipper suits, that Chinese shit planes are scary, we spent $62 Billion on the F22 for air superiority, and are about to spend a bunch more to update it already. Then we spent a trillion dollars on the F35 as a stealth strike aircraft. This was all done mostly in the name of China. If that money doesn't buy you the capability to defeat China...There's no amount of money or additional systems that our corrupt procurement could produce that will. China spends about $150 Billion a year on defense in total. We spent about 7 years of their entire defense budget on two stealth planes. |
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Lots of maintainers would disagree. Cost per flight hour on the Tomcat became too much. Antiquated cockpit and flight controls....dead meat in today's environment.
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Anyone who thinks the F-14 should've stuck around any longer should see what maintenance on those things had become. They needed to go unless someone was going to buy new ones.
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View Quote I thought this was all fake... The F14 was great in its day, but, it was never meant to go head-to-head against the newer class of Russian and Chinese fighters. They all came out with more advanced models as well. This is as close to the F24 tomcat that you are going to see near the water. F24 Tomcat Boat |
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If we go to war with China, their aircraft are the least of our problems. Even if you believe the zipper suits, that Chinese shit planes are scary, we spent $62 Billion on the F22 for air superiority, and are about to spend a bunch more to update it already. Then we spent a trillion dollars on the F35 as a stealth strike aircraft. This was all done mostly in the name of China. If that money doesn't buy you the capability to defeat China...There's no amount of money or additional systems that our corrupt procurement could produce that will. China spends about $150 Billion a year on defense in total. We spent about 7 years of their entire defense budget on two stealth planes. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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F18's and F35's are not good replacements for an air superiority fighter or an all weather attack plane (A6 intruder) If it ever comes to war in the South China Sea, we will be hamstrung If we go to war with China, their aircraft are the least of our problems. Even if you believe the zipper suits, that Chinese shit planes are scary, we spent $62 Billion on the F22 for air superiority, and are about to spend a bunch more to update it already. Then we spent a trillion dollars on the F35 as a stealth strike aircraft. This was all done mostly in the name of China. If that money doesn't buy you the capability to defeat China...There's no amount of money or additional systems that our corrupt procurement could produce that will. China spends about $150 Billion a year on defense in total. We spent about 7 years of their entire defense budget on two stealth planes. The F-35 A B and C are three different planes with some parts commonalities. |
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4 planes. The F-35 A B and C are three different planes with some parts commonalities. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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F18's and F35's are not good replacements for an air superiority fighter or an all weather attack plane (A6 intruder) If it ever comes to war in the South China Sea, we will be hamstrung If we go to war with China, their aircraft are the least of our problems. Even if you believe the zipper suits, that Chinese shit planes are scary, we spent $62 Billion on the F22 for air superiority, and are about to spend a bunch more to update it already. Then we spent a trillion dollars on the F35 as a stealth strike aircraft. This was all done mostly in the name of China. If that money doesn't buy you the capability to defeat China...There's no amount of money or additional systems that our corrupt procurement could produce that will. China spends about $150 Billion a year on defense in total. We spent about 7 years of their entire defense budget on two stealth planes. The F-35 A B and C are three different planes with some parts commonalities. What a bargain, three for a trillion! |
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All but 5 or 6 Tomcats have been chopped up and scrapped, and those were just saved to go on sticks.
Was working in the Boneyard last year and got to see them, sad sight to see for this ex-squid. |
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As a guy that worked on 'em, they sucked. They were a maintenance nightmare. Give me the hated Hornets any day of the week.
"Top Gun" movie fanbois miss them. Guys that worked on 'em don't. |
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Tag for later to read, but the Tomcat was by far the worst of the teen series as an actual combat aircraft.
It is best thought of as the last interceptor. In an age when the Carrier has only 4 squadrons... it's more trouble than it's worth. Put an attack squadron back on a carrier... a VS squad... and a tanker detachment... and I'll rethink my position. |
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Try return to base or black eagle. It's a ROK movie but pretty damn entertaining.
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This is probably a dumb question but why don't they create another rendition of the F-14, like F-14E, but with newer engines and electronics? There would be way less R&D to create it from start to finish. Or is that like putting a brand-new Ferrari engine in a Dodge Caravan mini-van from the 80s. View Quote Because the F14 airframe was a maintenance nightmare. It's avionics were phenomenal (for it's generation), and it had new engines. |
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The entire Air Wing composition needs to be rethought. The Cold War era air wings had excellent versatility. I imagine with tech being what it is today that an Air Wing could specialize once again but with half the variety of air frames. (Three different airframes can do the job of yesteryear's six airframes sort of thing) View Quote YOu are behind the times. The USAF tried the Composite Wing Idea. Not so good. It is a logistics nightmare dealing with various parts and fixing a F15 is not the same as fixing a F16 and both are different from the F22. We don't mix blocks of aircraft at a base if we can help it. |
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I guess "Iron Falcon" sounded too lame. Almost like an 80's hair metal fag band. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Iron eagle was F-16 I guess "Iron Falcon" sounded too lame. Almost like an 80's hair metal fag band. In those films the F16s were referred to as Vipers. |
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Tag for later to read, but the Tomcat was by far the worst of the teen series as an actual combat aircraft. It is best thought of as the last interceptor. In an age when the Carrier has only 4 squadrons... it's more trouble than it's worth. Put an attack squadron back on a carrier... a VS squad... and a tanker detachment... and I'll rethink my position. View Quote Yep. We never replaced the long range attack of the A-6 Intruders and the tanking the KA-6Ds provided. Never replaced the S-3 Vikings capabilities. We have less planes on deck now total |
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You can't have a F-14 thread without some Final Countdown!
F-14 Tomcat Scenes from "The Final Countdown" HD Part3 Tomcat vs Zero And viewed with theme music! The Final Countdown 1980 theme John Scott Other than Top Gun I bet The Final Countdown was the first time the general public ever got a good look at the F-14.....I was impressed.....Sexy Beast. |
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In those films the F16s were referred to as Vipers. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Iron eagle was F-16 I guess "Iron Falcon" sounded too lame. Almost like an 80's hair metal fag band. In those films the F16s were referred to as Vipers. The F-16's official name is "Fighting Falcon", but "Viper" was commonly used by its pilots and crews back in the 80s, due to a perceived resemblance to a viper snake as well as the Battlestar Galactica Colonial Viper starfighter. |
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