Grumman F-14D Super Tomcat

Grumman F-14D Super Tomcat. . , The F-14 Tomcat was the U.S. Navy's first line fighter from 1972 to 2006. It is perhaps the most widely recognized of all Navy fighters thanks to its starring role in the 1986 film Top Gun., The Tomcat has distinctive variable-sweep wings. In full forward position, the wings provided the lift needed for slow-speed flight, essential for landing on an aircraft carrier. In swept-back position, the wings blended into the aircraft and gave the Tomcat a dart-like silhouette for supersonic flight., The Tomcat was specifically designed to carry the AIM-54 Phoenix missile. Powerful onboard targeting systems allowed a single Tomcat to simultaneously fire up to six Phoenix missiles at six different targets, at ranges exceeding 100 miles. Navy Tomcats flew combat missions during the Gulf War and missions over Iraq and Afghanistan from 2001 until the aircraft's retirement in 2006.,

AIM-54 Phoenix , Weight: 1,000 pounds (450 kg) , Top Speed: 3,000 miles per hour (4,828 kph) , Range: 120 miles (193 km)

, The only other nation to use the Tomcat was Iran. The aircraft were supplied prior to the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Accurate statistics are not available, but the Iranian military claims that Tomcats were highly successful in combat against Iraqi forces during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988). Iranian Tomcats were known to be engaged in war against the Islamic State (formerly known as ISIS or ISIL) as recently as November 2015., The aircraft on display was the seventh Tomcat built by Grumman. It served as the prototype for all improvements to the series.,

Length: 62 feet 9 inches (19.1 m) , Wingspan: 64 feet (19 m) , Height: 16 feet (4.8 m) , Empty Weight: 43,735 pounds (19,838 kg) , Max Weight: 74,350 pounds (33,725 kg) , Top Speed: 1,544 miles per hour (2,485 kph) , Ceiling: 55,000 feet (16,764 m) , Crew: Two, pilot and radar intercept officer , Armament: M61 Vulcan 20mm, six-barrel Gatling cannon with 675 rounds, four AIM-7 Sparrow and four AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, six AIM-54 Phoenix air-to-air missiles, Mk-80 series Iron bombs, and precision-guided and laser-guided munitions.

, [Captions:] , A U.S. Navy Tomcat keeps a watchful eye on a Soviet Tupolev Tu-95 Bear, a maritime patrol bomber, in April 1983. This was a common occurrence at the height of the Cold War (1947-1991)., A Tomcat in a banking turn reveals a full complement of six AIM-54 Phoenix missiles.