F 14 TOMCAT AIR COMBAT MANEUVERING HOW TO
F 14 TOMCAT AIR COMBAT MANEUVERING UPGRADE
F 14 TOMCAT AIR COMBAT MANEUVERING FREE

Grumman's proposal for the Block IV upgrade to the Tomcat D would have produced effectively a naval F-15E++, a more effective strike and fighter aircraft than the Super Hornet (remember, you've got to compare the Tomcat of the early '90s with the contemporary Super Hornet, not the SH as it is today). Regarding the Super Hornet and advanced Tomcats complementing each other, that wasn't too likely. So take an advanced version of the Hornet that Navy had rejected (in favor of the A-6F) in the '80s and mix it with the work done or Hornet 2000, and you have the Super Hornet. AF opposed too much improvement to the F-15 lest it threaten ATF funding, so the only potential yet 'safe' program that could keep them going was a massive expansion of the F/A-18. The AV-8B was not going to be q big enough program to keep them going. So it was felt that it was more valuable to keep the former operational than the latter. Grumman, OTOH was a company with good engineering but basically a specialty manufacturer of naval aircraft. Airliners, F-15s, the Hornet and especially the C-17. MDD produced a number of products valuable to DoD and the civilian world. It was known that there were not going to be enough programs in the '90s and beyond to support all the existing manufacturers. Bush Senior was a strong proponent of this. Third is the specter of industrial policy, and I personally belong to the faction that says this was the major factor. Grumman, unfortunately at the higher levels wasn't and was arrogant, which tended to put customers off and kept them form effectively marketing their message until it was too late (I have personal experience with this).

F 14 TOMCAT AIR COMBAT MANEUVERING HOW TO

Plus, MDDD new how to sell to the military and was superb at schmoozing. Also, the Hornet lobby in Navair was the most effective group promoting their baby in naval aviation history. Third, Congress like the Hornet partly because they believed they had invented it.

Again, I have no primary sources on this. I don't know this for a fact, but I have seen a few articles that indicated that if Bush the Elder had been reelected, 1/3 of all the upcoming planned cuts for DoD ('peace dividend') were going to come out of Naval Aviation. Second, Dick Cheney just didn't seem to like Naval Aviation that much. Of course 'officially' that was not USAF's position, but that doesn't change the fact that the neither was the paper disavowed.

F 14 TOMCAT AIR COMBAT MANEUVERING FREE

A major paper signed out by two high ranking Generals argued that more B-2s should be funded by retiring carriers as necessary to free up the funds needed to buy more B-2s. They thought that medium- long range missions came under their 'roles and missions'. AF repeatedly lobbied for reductions in the carrier fleet and increases for themselves arguing that land airpower could do it all. BTW, I'm not trying to reopen the Tomcat vs Hornet War.that would go on forever and it's moot anyway.įirst, the rivalry between USAF and USN was very intense then. This is just my personal opinion, but I think there were a number of factors in play here. The ALQ-165 would have two transmitters in the 21 as opposed to one in the D.

The Attack 21 could perform a strike mission carrying eight Mk83 bombs and two AIM-9s and flying a cruise profile followed by a 100nm approach at 420knots for half the 100 and then 480kts for the other half and then drop payload and perform five 360deg max G turns and then reverse the profile for home while landing with enough fuel for a 20min sea level loiter and 5% initial fuel leftover. In the April 29 issue cited above 21 would increase chaff/packets from 60 in the D to 135 without further increases from using AIM-9 launchers. Payload and range for the 21 are 8 of the Hughes/Raytheon version of AAAM, and 15 of the GD version according to Defense Daily May 18, 1989. In the Apissue however it says the aircraft zero weight is 2,000 pounds more than the D and internal fuel is 2,200 pounds more. 21 would carry 2,500 pounds additional fuel internally. The aircraft empty weight would increase by 1,000 pounds. Ok, in the issue of Aviation Week the Tomcat 21 takeoff gross weight would increase from 72,900 in the D to 76,000 in the 21.

F 14 tomcat air combat maneuvering