Air Force by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. The Navy was directed to participate in the Tactical Fighter Experimental (TFX) program with the U.S. The Navy was still looking for a long-range defensive aircraft, but one with higher performance than the Missileer. Studies into this concept led to the Douglas F6D Missileer project of 1959, but this large subsonic aircraft appeared to have little ability to defend itself once it fired its missiles, and the project was cancelled in December 1961. They outlined the idea of a Fleet Air Defense (FAD) aircraft with a more powerful radar and longer range missiles than the F-4 Phantom II to intercept both enemy bombers and missiles at very long range. Navy sought a long-range, high-endurance interceptor to defend its carrier battle groups against long-range anti-ship missiles launched from the jet bombers and submarines of the Soviet Union.

The F-111B was designed to fulfill the carrier-based interceptor role, but had weight and performance problems, and was not suited to the types of aerial combat that were predominant over Vietnam.īeginning in the late 1950s, the U.S.

As of 2022, the F-14 remains in service with Iran's air force, though in low numbers of combat-ready aircraft due to a lack of spare parts. Iran claimed their F-14s shot down at least 160 Iraqi aircraft during the war (only 55 of these confirmed, according to historian Tom Cooper), while 16 Tomcats were lost, including seven losses to accidents. Having been exported to Iran under the Pahlavi dynasty in 1976, F-14s were used as land-based interceptors by the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force during the Iran–Iraq War. Several retired F-14s have been put on display across the US. Navy on 22 September 2006, supplanted by the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. The Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night ( LANTIRN) pod system was added in the 1990s and the Tomcat began performing precision ground-attack missions. Navy's primary maritime air superiority fighter, fleet defense interceptor, and tactical aerial reconnaissance platform into the 2000s. Navy aboard USS Enterprise (CVN-65), replacing the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. The F-14 first flew on 21 December 1970 and made its first deployment in 1974 with the U.S. A large and well-equipped fighter, the F-14 was the first of the American Teen Series fighters, which were designed incorporating air combat experience against MiG fighters during the Vietnam War. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experimental (VFX) program after the collapse of the General Dynamics-Grumman F-111B project. The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. In service with the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force

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