F-14 Tomcat operational history
[3] It saw considerable action in the Mediterranean Sea and Persian Gulf and was used as a strike platform in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq until its final deployment with the United States in 2006.
During the height of the Cold War, a pair of Bear D aircraft would fly from the Kola peninsula to Cuba every week resulting in frequent intercepts as they passed along the Eastern coast of the United States.
Operations Northern Wedding and Ocean Safari typically brought at least one U.S. Navy carrier into the Greenland–Iceland–United Kingdom (GIUK) gap during the exercise prompting considerable monitoring by Soviet surface ships, submarines, and aircraft.
[8][9][10] Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance Pod System (TARPS) missions were used to identify artillery batteries firing on the peacekeeping force and provided target intelligence for naval gunfire support offshore.
From 24 July to 14 August 1983, F-14s assigned to USS Dwight D. Eisenhower were involved in Operation Arid Farmer, the code-name for U.S. military assistance to Sudan, Egypt and the government of Hissène Habré of Chad during the Chadian-Libyan conflict.
[21] F-14As from VF-102 came under fire from Libyan SA-5 surface-to-air missiles over the Gulf of Sidra during Freedom of Navigation exercises as part of Operation Attain Document on 24 March 1986.
On 15 April 1986, F-14s from VF-33, VF-102, VF-74 and VF-103 participated in Operation El Dorado Canyon, providing fighter cover for a series of air strikes against targets within Libya.
In April 1983, two F-14As from VF-102, operating from USS America, were fired on by Somali anti-aircraft units with an SA-2 Guideline while on a photo-reconnaissance mission over the port of Berbera in the Gulf of Aden.
[10] From 8 to 10 October 1985, F-14s from USS Saratoga participated in operations involving the hijacked Italian cruise liner, MS Achille Lauro.
The 737's exact takeoff time, route and altitude were unknown;[28] so the plan involved crisscrossing the airliners's expected flight path over the Mediterranean Sea with an E-2C identifying contacts for the F-14s to perform positive identification on.
With the implied threat of a shoot-down, the 737's pilot chose to land at the NATO base in Sigonella, Sicily, where the airliner was quickly surrounded by U.S. and Italian security personnel.
[32][33][34] U.S. spokesmen downplayed the incident, possibly to avoid public and Congressional backlash in the United States to the then-recent operations in the Persian Gulf.
Six months later, F-14s from Enterprise provided fighter cover and escort for U.S. naval vessels and strike aircraft involved in Operation Praying Mantis in April 1988.
[36] Tomcats performed combat air patrols in protection of U.S. carrier battle groups and coalition forces deploying to Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Shield.
[7] The Dwight D. Eisenhower and Independence battle groups, both of which had four F-14 squadrons between them, were the only U.S. assets capable of immediately responding to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and deterring any incursions into Saudi Arabia in August 1990.
[38] Tomcats provided escort protection for attack aircraft, long range defense of ships, combat air patrols and performed tactical reconnaissance missions with TARPS.
[42][43][44] Navy fighters were not able to solve the strict rules of engagement (ROE) using most of their on-board sensors and relied on outside clearance such as U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentries to receive permission to fire.
[43][45] One event used to support this notion occurred on 24 January 1991, when a U.S. Air force E-3 Sentry did not inform U.S. naval units of a pair of Iraqi Mirage F-1EQs that flew into the Persian Gulf.
[46] Another explanation for why the F-14s did not intercept the Mirage F-1s stems from some of the procedural and technical difficulties U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy assets had in passing tactical information to each other.
[50] In addition to the air-to-air duties, Tomcats supported the coalition's need for battle damage assessments (BDA) and locating Scud missile launch sites by performing tactical reconnaissance missions utilizing TARPS.
[58] On 19 December, the last day of the operation, USS Carl Vinson arrived in the Persian Gulf and VF-213 joined the air strikes, taking the F-14D into combat for the first time.
VF-41 dropped the last bombs of the war on a dummy SA-9 surface-to-air missile launcher inside the Kosovo border near the peace-signing site on 9 June 1999.
By September 1980, the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) managed to make an increasing number of airframes operational, despite immense problems due to repeated purges of its officers.
Despite the U.S embargo following the Islamic Revolution,[75][76] Iran was able to acquire parts for its Tomcats; these came via the Iran-Contra arms deal, collusion with Israel and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
To counter, Iraqi Mirage F1-EQs flew low-altitude profiles, popping up briefly to illuminate and launch missiles against the F-14s; several Tomcats were lost in this manner.
IRIAF Tomcats often escorted tankers supporting strike packages heading into Iraq, scanning over the border with their radars and intercepting inbound Iraqi aircraft.
In particular, Cooper cites an Iranian claim of F-14s having up to 159 kills, and that in one incident, four Iraqi aircraft were shot down with one AIM-54 (The missile's warhead exploded between them and severely damaged them).
[73] Cooper claims the AIM-54s were used only sporadically during the start of the war, most likely because of a shortage of qualified radar intercept officers, and then more frequently in 1981 and 1982—until the lack of thermal batteries suspended the missiles' use in 1986.
[85] Another notable Iranian pilot was Major Rahnavard, who on 16 February 1982 is reputed to have shot down four Iraqi fighter jets in two separate encounters over Kharg Island.
[85] In the fall of 2015, a video surfaced of Iranian F-14s escorting Russian Tu-95 Bear bombers as they performed air strikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
