F-14 being retired?

I heard the other day that the USN is going to get rid of their F-14's. I know they're becoming very old, but this came as quite a suprise to me. Does anybody have any more info on this?

The AIM-54 Phoenix has already been withdrawn from service. Most Tomcat squadrons have already transitioned to the Super Bug, and more are pending within the coming year. F-14s are no longer in use at NSAWC (aka, Top Gun and Strike U). Tomcat retirement is slated on paper as 2008, but some reports are saying it won't make 2006. VF-101 "The Grim Reapers" which is the last Tomcat RAG (Replacement Air Group), read that, Tomcat training squadron will still retain its Tomcats for at least another year, so if you are at or near one of the lucky scheduled bases, you will get to see one final Tomcat demo flight. I would think that the upcoming BRAC in February will help expedite the Tomcat's fate, but this is just me speculating. Don't quote me on it. But hey, never fret, because the Special Edition DVD of Top Gun has just been released, so you can see the F-14 in action whenever you wish.

Beers and MiGs were made to be pounded!

Man, that's too bad, 'cause no one came close to doing it's job better. Sure that sucker was a little on the big side and I've been told it was like trying to fly in a school bus... Hey TC you got that list of bases somewhere, or is that just a rumor?

I'm from Illinois and went to the Chicago Air and Water show this past summer. There was a Tomcat doin' its thing over the lake (MAN IS THAT THING LOUD, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY, JET NOISE THE SOUND OF FREEDOM!) The anouncer there said that this was the last year an F-14 would be at the show.


Hey TC, I got Top Gun on tape but maybe I should ask Santa for the DVD

Hey Yellow, I don't have the list as of yet. From what I've seen, the demo teams, save the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels, have not yet released their schedules. I've tried both Viper and both Eagle teams, and none of theirs has been released. I haven't tried VF-101's site yet, but their schedule should be released soon. I hope they fly somewhere in Florida, so I can get one last look at the Tomcat, well, other than buying the DVD of Top Gun You're right Grunt. When they light the pipes on those GE 110s, it'll rattle the fillings out of your teeth! I love it!

Beers and MiGs were made to be pounded!

Is it just me, or were the last 'great' Navy Fighters the F-8 and F-4? I don't know about anyone else, but the Tomcat doesn't impress me much at all, I see it as just a Gigantic Flyswatter. True Embodiment of Bigger Faster Higher Farther... It only has 4 Air To Air Kills in USN Service(Who knows about Iran, but I'm SURE some were lost). But then again, the MiG-31 Doesn't impress me either. F-14 is (was?) a maintenence hog, and carrier defense just isn't required anymore... Aegis and hell, even the carrier itself can handle most threats thrown at the battlegroup. I guess only a MASSIVE attack would do anything. I'm talking, Su-33s in the double digits with X-41s(I know It can't carry them, but if the Navy had the money, they could), with Tu-22s in the double digits with X-21s...

I've never seen top gun either. Maybe that has something to do with it. ::Shrugs::

Dammerung, after seeing the Tomcat at Nellis, I have to admit that it might be time to put it out to pasture. I hear they're maintenance hogs, but darn it, they're cool !!! I've been going to Miramar (where Top Gun was filmed) every year since I was nine months old (1977) and I always wanted to fly Tomcats. Sorry to say, I'll probably never get the chance, but let's just say that growing up with them at the airshow and flying over my house every day has made me love that jet. Go see Top Gun and try to picture yourself as a nine year old kid watching his favorite jet up on the big screen! I think you might understand a bit better .
One more reason for the Tomcat's demise is the retirement of the Phoenix missile. It's the only jet that can carry it and the Phoenix was the Tomcat's only really good (I know there's arguement on this point) BVR missile - it never carried the AMRAAM. So now the Tomcat is stuck with just the Sidewinder and the Sparrow . I talked with a Tomcat / SH driver at Miramar who told me that without the Phoenix, the Tomcat got its clock cleaned by a group of Vipers and Eagles in a recent exercise .
I'll be sad to see it go (two of them at max burner is great at an airshow !), but I think it's time.

What they should have done was build the Tomcat 21. The Navy equivilant of the F-15E. I think they were even going to be modified for a lower radar signiture like the Super Hornet.

Ok, Bad news guys...I found out that VF-101 (the home of the F-14 demo team) has been decommed, so there will be no more F-14 demo flights. VF-103 "The Jolly Rogers" flew their final Tomcat missions last month as they returned to NAS Oceana from their final F-14 deployment. The patch they wore said it all: Jolly Rogers "Last Time...Baby!" Wish I could've seen them fly one more time...

Beers and MiGs (and my hopes for another Tomcat performance) were made to be pounded!

Definitely sorry to hear that! I'm not normally a patch collector, but the Jolly Rogers have always been one of my favorite squadrons (I love the skull & crossbones) and I wish I could get one of those! I actually have the VF-! Wolfpack's farewell patch. Loved that tailflash, too! I'm just glad I got to see it fly one last time!

I'm glad I was one of the fans in the crowd to see VF-101's last demo flights. I actually Maverick'd myself out for it, wore my G-1, my aviators and got a few photos with VF-101's Skipper's bird. Sure she was at the end of the flightline but she was well worth the long walk. I've said it before and I'll say again, that bird is just so Sexy, I'd marry it. Too bad they didn't bring their Coffee Mess guy... I was willing to blow a week's spending cash on patches, shirts and hats...
I also brought my DV cam and used the footage to make a music video to Quiet Riot's "Cum on feel the Noise."

The last Tomcat class to attend TOPGUN was in September of '03.The Pacific Fleet has already done away with the F-14, as VF-31 finished the last WESTPAC cruise last year. The last Tomcat cruise will be in 2006, when VF-213 and VF-31 deploy to the Med/Gulf with CVW-8 on the USS Teddy Roosevelt.

I'm also a VF-103 fan, and I just recently got a VF-103 patch stitched to my G-1 along with the Classic tomcat patch on the left sleeve, a Triangular F-14 patch on the right
and a velcro patch for my VF-103 nametag that I had embroidered.
(BTW to see Jolly Rogers Tomcats in action see "The final countdown")

I would have bought "Farewell" patches but I'm the type of guy who won't aknowledge the Tomcat's end like that. That way she'll live forever.

BTW the Tomcat 21 was designed to outdo the ATF (now F-22) in avionics, engine power and manuverability. The Lantirn pod already gave it strike capabilities par with the F-15E... and it didn't require new build aircraft, just a retrofit that was made available to the A, B and D.
but thanks to Dick Cheney (when he was SECDEF), all funding for Future F-14 projects were cancelled...

ram816 wrote: The Lantirn pod already gave it strike capabilities par with the F-15E...

Not exactly. The Tomcat only carries the AN/AAQ-14 targeting pod, not the AN/AAQ-13 navigation pod so, it can not fly as low as the Strike Eagle. In an uncontested environment like Irag or Afghanistan, this is not an issue but, if the jets had to "sneak" their way in, the F-15 would be the more capable platform.

Well, the advent of First-strike systems such as Cruise missiles and Stealth attacks, the idea of "sneaking in" is usually almost gone. The only threats that the first strike force deals with are SAMs and Flak. Which brings me to the reason the Navy only got 3 air-to-air kills in '91 and why there's no MiGs for anyone over Iraq today.
US Air defense supression has pretty much evolved to the point that Air-to-Air engagements involving US aircraft in modern conflicts are becoming almost nonexistent. The last kills that any US aircraft got were over Eastern Europe in the Late 90s.
The "Line of death" style intercept that was a part of life for OSW guys was usually the only time anyone would even see Iraqi MiGs. Then when we went in for OIF, we pretty much blew away the air force before they even got off the ground.
When VF-2's F-14Ds led CVW-2's aircraft into Baghdad as the first NON-stealth strike force over Baghdad. The biggest threats were the Air Defenses on the ground. (which earned a DFC for the aircrew in the lead Tomcat)

And as to why the F-14 only got 1 Hind in '91... the AWG-9.
Iraqi pilots, having seen a handful of aircraft lost to Iranian F-14s, weren't looking forward to being taken out by AIM-54s, which they'd been lucky to not fall victim to from Iran's Tomcats. So any time RWR lit up from a great distance, they just bugged out.

For you Tomcat fans....a couple of pics from the folks at JetPhotos.net. The final demo flight by the Grim Reapers

Skip this one and see above.