so sad to see it sent to the boneyard... and of course, one of my favorite fighter planes along with the F-15...
Full Version: F-14
Upon watching the History Channel, a show called Modern Marvels(here in the states)... i was viewing the "special" program dedicated to the F-14 Tomcat... can it be that yet another bird has been put to rest... which airplane will replace it...?
so sad to see it sent to the boneyard... and of course, one of my favorite fighter planes along with the F-15...
so sad to see it sent to the boneyard... and of course, one of my favorite fighter planes along with the F-15...
I could be wrong about this, but if I remember correctly, the F/A 18s and the F 22s (when they're available) are set to take over pretty much all of the fighter aircraft roles. I think I also remember that there will be limited roles for the F 16s.
I have the magazine called Aircraft illustrated and it has a couple of pages in it all about "The Last Cat Fight". and it tells of the Tomcatter's last ever combat mission. This was in April's edition and you can order back issues.
May I just put in a very small quote from the end of the story in the magazine
May I just put in a very small quote from the end of the story in the magazine
QUOTE
The New Year brought fewer opportunities for Iraq and myriad `Sea dragon' sorties. With the `TR's time on station drawing to a close at the end of the first week of February, a VF-31 Tomcat flown by Lt Bill Frank dropped a single GBU-38 in support of Coalition troops in contact with insurgent forces near Balad on the 7th: "We were called on to drop,and that's what we did. but what's more important is the work of the sailors who made it possible. They have worked so hard during this cruise to make every Tomcat operational.
Fittingly, this solitary JDAM was dropped on what proved to be CVW-8's final mission over Iraq. The last F-14 to land back aboard `TR' was VF-213's ` Lion 204', flown by the air wing's commander, and veteran Tomcat pilot, Capt William Sizemore. The aircraft trapped back aboard the CVN-71 at 00.35hrs on the morning of 8th February 2006, thus bringing to an end a famous chapter in naval aviation history. As if preordained, the tomcat had gone out still `swinging punches'.
Fittingly, this solitary JDAM was dropped on what proved to be CVW-8's final mission over Iraq. The last F-14 to land back aboard `TR' was VF-213's ` Lion 204', flown by the air wing's commander, and veteran Tomcat pilot, Capt William Sizemore. The aircraft trapped back aboard the CVN-71 at 00.35hrs on the morning of 8th February 2006, thus bringing to an end a famous chapter in naval aviation history. As if preordained, the tomcat had gone out still `swinging punches'.
QUOTE(cessnapilot72 @ Nov 2 2006, 03:31 PM) 
I could be wrong about this, but if I remember correctly, the F/A 18s and the F 22s (when they're available) are set to take over pretty much all of the fighter aircraft roles. I think I also remember that there will be limited roles for the F 16s.
The Boeing F/A-18 E and F will replace the aging F-14 Tomcats
Regards,
Smile
QUOTE(Im tha king @ Nov 2 2006, 06:48 PM)
The Boeing F/A-18 E and F will replace the aging F-14 Tomcats
Regards,
Smile
Regards,
Smile
so, i take it there's not going to be very much of an assortment... just F-18(Hornets & Super Hornets),
F-22(Raptors), F-16(Falcons) and that's pretty much it...
On a side note, Why doesn't the U.S. or other countries(besides Russia) invest or develop planes like the Mig-37 or Mig-39(with all the pretty designs((thrust vectoring & canards)...?
appreciate your help...
salud!!
QUOTE(3volador4 @ Nov 2 2006, 11:54 PM)
On a side note, Why doesn't the U.S. or other countries(besides Russia) invest or develop planes like the Mig-37 or Mig-39(with all the pretty designs((thrust vectoring & canards)...?
The F-22 uses thrust vectoring.
F/A-18s and F-35's are taking over for the Navy. F-14's are being retired, so are S-3's and EA-6B's. Basically, there will eventually be entire carrier air wings made up of E-2Cs, C-2As, HH-60s, and different versions of the F/A-18 and F-35. It's a shame, if you look at the simulations the F/A-18 can not and has not EVER beaten a Tomcat in any role they dually play. I wondered why the Navy didn't just have Northrop Grumman gut and redesign/build new Tomcats. The reason being that it was a lost political battle back in the days pre-Hornet. If they were to "rebuild" modern F-14s it would have been cheaper and still a lot better than the F/A-18. But, again politics has taken away an amazing aircraft, and also the capabilities every war-fighter wants in an aircraft that the F/A-18 just doesn't produce.
As far as the Air Force goes, F-15s and F-16s will be around for many more years to come. F-22s are still comming online and not all fighter wings are transitioning to the F-22. I forgot the numbers but the Air Force is retaining a certain number of F-15 and F-16 wings even after the F-22 is fully operational across the board. We are however looking at the retirement of the F-117 and A/O-10 once the F-35 comes online though. All of our bombers will be around for many more years, although I just read in "Air Force" magazine that the Air Force is beginning to look into designing a new, subsonic bomber. I don't remember if it was to be 100% stealth (B-2ish) or just have stealthy features (B-1ish).
As far as the Air Force goes, F-15s and F-16s will be around for many more years to come. F-22s are still comming online and not all fighter wings are transitioning to the F-22. I forgot the numbers but the Air Force is retaining a certain number of F-15 and F-16 wings even after the F-22 is fully operational across the board. We are however looking at the retirement of the F-117 and A/O-10 once the F-35 comes online though. All of our bombers will be around for many more years, although I just read in "Air Force" magazine that the Air Force is beginning to look into designing a new, subsonic bomber. I don't remember if it was to be 100% stealth (B-2ish) or just have stealthy features (B-1ish).
QUOTE(Jumpshot724 @ Nov 5 2006, 04:43 PM)
All of our bombers will be around for many more years, although I just read in "Air Force" magazine that the Air Force is beginning to look into designing a new, subsonic bomber. I don't remember if it was to be 100% stealth (B-2ish) or just have stealthy features (B-1ish).
The F-14's were mainly scrapped because of operation and maintanence costs. The AIr Force is beginning to research a new model of the B-1B, to be called the B-1R.
The B-1R is a proposed replacement for the B-1B fleet.[3] Boeing's director of global strike integration, Rich Parke, was first quoted about the "B-1R" bomber in Air Force Magazine. Parke said the B-1R (R stands for "regional") would be a Lancer with advanced radars, air-to-air missiles, and F-22 engines. Its new top speed — Mach 2.2 — would be purchased at the price of a 20% reduction of the B-1B's combat range. This proposal would involve modifying existing aircraft. The FB-22 and YF-23 are alternative proposals.
Additional enhancements would include network-centric capabilities, air-to-air engagement, active electronically-scanned array radar, improved defensive systems, and opening up existing external hard points for conventional weapons.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1...Boeing_B-1R.jpg
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