The aircraft is crewed by a Pilot and a Radar Intercept Officer who share the tasks of navigation,
target acquisition, ECM and weapons usage. The Tomcat was operated by the United States
Navy and the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force only. The name “Tomcat” is said to come from the
call-sign used by Vice Admiral Thomas Connolly which conformed to the USN tradition of giving
Grumman aircraft feline names.

Libya declared the Gulf of Sidra as territorial waters but the US disputed this and in 1981 Libya
lost two jet fighters. On January 4, 1989 there was a second Gulf of Sidra incident when two
Libyan MiG-23s headed towards the USS Kennedy battle group. F-14s from VF-32 “Swordsmen”
turned toward the MiGs as a warning. As the opposing forces advanced the F-14s broke off
several times to tell the MiGs they didn’t want to engage but the two MiG-23s continued and were
destroyed.

Specifications for the Grumman Aerospace F-14 Tomcat

Role - Carrier-based multi-role strike fighter

First Flight – F-14A 1970, F-14B (F-14A+) 1986, F-14D 1990

Last Production Year – F-14D July 20, 1992

Number All Variants Produced – 710

Crew - 2 (pilot and radar intercept officer).

Type        F-14A        F-14B (F-14A+)        F-14D

Dimensions

Length                       62 ft 8 inches           62 ft 8 inches           62 ft 8 inches
Wingspan (Swept)        38 ft 2.5 inches        38 ft 2.5 inches        38 ft 2.5 inches
Wingspan (Unswept)     64 ft 1.5 inches        64 ft 1.5 inches        64 ft 1.5 inches
Height        16 ft        16 ft        16ft

Performance
Powerplants
F-14A 2 x P&W TF-30-P414A      F-14B 2 x GE F-110-GE-400    F-14D    2 x GE F-110-GE-400
Maximum Thrust
F-14A 34,154 lbs      F-14B 56,400 lbs       F-14D 56,400 lbs
Maximum Speed
F-14A 1,544 mph (Mach 2.38)     F-14B 1,544 mph (Mach 2.38)     F-14D 1,544 mph (Mach 2.38)
Ceiling
F-14A 50,000+ ft        F-14B 53,000+ ft        F-14D 53,000+ ft
Range
F-14A 1,730 nm         F-14B   2,050 nm        F-14D 2,050 nm

Weight
Empty
F-14A 40,104 pounds        F-14B 41,780 pounds       F-14D   43,735 pounds
Maximum
F-14A 72,000 pounds        F-14B 74,349 pounds        F-14D 74,349 pounds

Armament
1 x MK-61A1 Vulcan 20mm cannon

Maximum Weight – 13,000 lbs. Of Combined Ordnance
Air-Air Missiles
6 AIM-7 Sparrows
4 AIM-9 Sidewinder
6 AIM-54 Phoenix

Air-To-Ground
MK-82 (500 lbs.)
4 MK-83 (1,000 lbs.)
4 MK-84 (2,000 lbs.)
MK-20 cluster bombs
4 GBU-10 LGB
GBU-12 MK-82 LGB
4 GBU-16 MK-83 LGB
4 GBU-24 MK-84 LGB

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