The F-14 Tomcat has for over 50 years held the title of the world’s heaviest fighter jet, and through the Chilly Warfare was broadly thought-about the foremost plane for air to air fight fielded by any nation. Deployed by the U.S. Navy from 1974, and bought by the Iranian Air Power simply two years later, the F-14’s excessive price and excessive upkeep wants even in comparison with different Chilly Warfare heavyweights just like the F-15 meant that it noticed few gross sales abroad. The sensitivity of its applied sciences meant that it was not provided to the massive majority of American export shoppers, with the F-5E and F-16 being the usual export fighters within the Nineteen Seventies and 80s. Quite a few nations did take into account the F-14, most notably Japan, Saudi Arabia and Israel, though for quite a few causes all ultimately chosen the F-15 in its stead which was less expensive each to function and to amass and simpler to keep up however was very considerably much less succesful in past visible vary fight.
Selections on acquisitions of U.S. allies have been fairly often influenced by the necessities of the U.S. Army for joint operations, and with the F-15 forming the spine of the U.S. Air Power’s air superiority fleet Japan and Saudi Arabia each got here beneath strain to decide on the Eagle for interoperability causes, together with to make sure that the U.S. Air Power would be capable of use their amenities within the occasion of a significant conflict. For Israel the nation’s small measurement and extra restricted finances made the F-15 a extra appropriate selection since engagements have been more likely to happen at nearer ranges and the Israeli Air Power had a a lot smaller territory to manage. The U.S. Air Nationwide Guard notably additionally thought-about the F-14, concluding that it was probably the most appropriate fighter for its wants, however in the end opted for the F-15 as a consequence of its decrease price and the comparatively restricted menace from Soviet intercontinental vary bombers on the time.
The F-14’s AN/AWG-9 radar offered a a lot higher diploma of situational consciousness than any rival fight plane, aside from the Soviet MiG-31, which used the world’s first electronically scanned array radar for air to air fight. The Tomcat’s most notable different characteristic was its entry to AIM-54 air to air missiles, nevertheless, which have been the one ones within the Chilly Warfare with ‘hearth and neglect’ capabilities offered by lively relatively than semi-active radar steerage. The missiles had a staggering 190km engagement vary, in comparison with simply 70km for the AIM-7 utilized by the F-15 and 130km for the R-27 utilized by trendy Soviet fighters such because the Su-27. The missiles carried warheads massive sufficient to destroy whole formations of plane as demonstrated by the Iranian Air Power towards Iraqi MiG-23s. The F-14’s capabilities notably drew the eye of the British Royal Air Power (RAF), when the nation was struggling to fund an air defences variant of the Twister variable swept wing fighter as prices continued to mount. The Twister was a lighter and far much less succesful fighter, however was distinguished by a comparatively highly effective sensor suite comparable in vary to that of the F-15 though nonetheless far inferior to that of the Tomcat. A British acquisition would haven’t been unprecedented, with the nation beforehand having come closet to buying F-111 strike fighters and having acquired F-4 Phantoms for its service teams.
Within the Nineteen Seventies the RAF’s fighter fleet fell to beneath 100 serviceable plane, with the service subsequently contemplating the American F-14, F-15 and light-weight F-16 to type new models. The RAF reportedly discovered the F-16’s capabilities, particularly its quick vary, comparatively weak radar and low weapons payload, to be inadequate, whereas the F-14 was favoured over the F-15 as a consequence of its superior means to take care of digital warfare countermeasures. The excessive price of the F-14, nevertheless, in the end prevented the sale though inquiries have been made into buying Tomcats second hand both from the U.S. Navy or from the Imperial Iranian Air Power. The outbreak of the Iran-Iraq Warfare in 1980 eradicated the potential of acquisitions from Iran, whereas progress with the Twister program made it beneficial to buy a domestically developed fighter even when its capabilities fell very far quick.
The Twister program would pay dividends within the type of worthwhile exports to Saudi Arabia, whereas additionally boosting the British defence business, which was seen to greater than compensate for the F-14’s efficiency benefits. As well as the Tomcat, even when bought second hand, nonetheless had large operational prices and upkeep wants nicely above these of the Twister which can have led the RAF to understand the home fighter as being more economical. Thus whereas the F-15 retained the title of by far probably the most succesful fighter fielded by a Western air power through the Chilly Warfare, this title might have probably gone to the F-14 had it been acquired by the RAF. Tornadoes would see restricted air to air fight through the Gulf Warfare in 1991, when one was engaged and shot down by an Iraqi MiG-29, however had capabilities extra nicely suited to strike operations. The fighters have been lastly retired by the RAF in 2019.
