Why was F-14 Tomcat discontinued?

Why was F-14 Tomcat discontinued?

The United States Navy retired the venerable Grumman F-14 Tomcat in 2006 after more than three decades in service. With the end of the Cold War and declining budgets, the Navy simply could not afford to keep the incredibly maintenance intensive and unreliable Tomcat on the carrier flight deck.

Who still uses the F-14 Tomcat?

The Grumman F-14 Tomcat has served with the United States Navy and the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) It operated aboard U.S. aircraft carriers from 1974 to 2006 and remains in service with Iran. In-depth knowledge of its service with Iran is relatively limited.

What did the F-14 Replace?

The F-14 first flew on 21 December 1970 and made its first deployment in 1974 with the U.S. Navy aboard USS Enterprise (CVN-65), replacing the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II.

Is the f18 better than the f14?

The F-14 is also equipped with more weapons that the F-18 is. On top of this, the F-14 is much faster than the F-18, as well as being able to pull more g’s in total (mostly negative g’s, although this was restricted later on in the F-14’s service life). The F-14 also has a higher service ceiling.

Was the F-14 any good?

The F-14 Tomcat was among the most capable fighters in the sky back in 1979. With a top speed in excess of Mach 2.4 and a rate of climb of around 45,000 feet per minute, the F-14 would leave even America’s current top-of-the-line F-35 in the dust if they were to drag race.

What made the f14 so good?

Originally designed to keep Russian bombers away from the battle group by employing Phoenix missiles at very long range, by the time the Tomcat was retired in 2006 it was capable of missions as far-ranging as forward air control, reconnaissance, close air support, and precision deep-strike, which made it CENTCOM’s …

Why did US sell f14 to Iran?

But the Iranian king wasn’t entirely happy with his acquisition. In late 1975, the shah complained to the U.S. embassy in Tehran that Grumman had paid agents in Iran $24 million to facilitate the F-14 sale. The shah considered the payments bribes — and wanted Grumman to take the money back.