The successor to the Phantom in the Fleet defense role, the
F-14 reached squadron service just as combat was winding down
over North Vietnam in 1973. Due to recent battle experience,
the Tomcat design featured not only a formidable array of
missles, but a 20mm cannon for dogfights. Built to employ the
long-range AIM-54 Phoenix air-to-air missle, the new fighter
could simultaneously engage multiple targets. Using powerful
Pratt and Whitney TF30 turbofans and variable geometry sweep
wings, the F-14 was both fast and highly maneuverable.
First seeing combat in 1982 by downing a pair of Libyan
fighters, the F-14 also saw action in the 1991 Gulf War and
against terrorist targets in Afghanistan and Iraq. Though
the Midway's catapult and arresting gear could handle the
Tomcat, the fighter's overall size prohibited using the F-14
in squadron strength. Now supplanted by the F/A-18 Hornet,
the Tomcat made its final western Pacific deployment in 2004.
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