F-14A Tomcat

i love the f14 tomcat its just the look and style it has
but the f18 is nice too

Originally posted by sweatmonicaIdo
Actually, they still use the F-14A.

No, the last front line squadron recently began to transition to the B version. The A version is too expensive to maintain and is underpowered. You might still see a A version in one of the test and eval squads, but that is about it.

The F-14Bs and F-14Ds are just too expensive to acquire. It' mostly been F-14As.

Sorry, wrong again. The F-14As were either retired or reworked into either the A+ or the D(R) model. The Navy managed to get just over 100 of the D models newly built and the last delivery was made in the late 90's.

Taking everything into consideration, what would the carrier air wing of 2010 look like? And how much better would it be than the air wins of the 1980s and 1990s and early 2000s?

It will be all F/A-18's, F-35s, and CSA's. It might be able to do more than the 80's airwings, but it will definately do it quicker.

still u have to admit the f14a was a fine aircraft

Originally posted by devilwasp
still u have to admit the f14a was a fine aircraft

No, I'll admit that it IS a fine aircraft.

Why the Navy choose the Super Hornet over it I will never understand.

before the GE-f110 engine the f-14A was crap beccause it would choke as high AoA, while after it became one of the best planes of all time.

Originally posted by roniii259
before the GE-f110 engine the f-14A was crap beccause it would choke as high AoA, while after it became one of the best planes of all time.

Lets not forget the other things that the old engines did
-Required AB for take offs with any load at all
-Compressor stalls from steam ingestion
-Violent departure from flight due to flameouts
-Sluggish performance at high altitude.
-Prevented landing with ordnance
-etc.

i wish that they had made the tomcat 21 in stead of the super hornet

This is off-topic but, Coolhand, just noticed your new signature (well, new since the last time I read yours). Despite the recent headlines of abuse in the prisons (believe what you will) I have to say that is a fine quote.

Blunders are an inescapable feature of war, because choice in military affairs lies generally between the bad and the worse.

-Allan Massie

Originally posted by titian
This is off-topic but, Coolhand, just noticed your new signature (well, new since the last time I read yours). Despite the recent headlines of abuse in the prisons (believe what you will) I have to say that is a fine quote.

Blunders are an inescapable feature of war, because choice in military affairs lies generally between the bad and the worse.

-Allan Massie

Thanks, it was hard to find.

I think it does a good job summing the situation up.

I second that, titian. That is a 120% true quote.

War is hell. Simple as that. Americans have just been blessed with being shielded from the realities of war. I am not endorsing it, but bad things will ALWAYS happen in war.

Back to the topic. No apologies required, COOL HAND. Up to last year, F-14As were still being used. I have a model of an F-14A of VF-154 carrying markings from February of 2003. So if F-14As are not used anymore, it's a very new development.

The only major problem with the F-14 has been maintainability. The plane requires substantially more maintenance than any other fixed-wing aircraft in the Navy. It's a very expensive platform as a result, which is why the Navy is so eager to retire it.

I suspect that's one of the big reasons you don't see anyone building variable-geometry wing aircraft anymore. The cost of maintaining them swamps out whatever aerodynamic and performance advantages they offer. The F-111, MiG-23/27, and F-14 are all gone or on the way out the door, there are a lot of people pushing for the retirement of the B-1 and Tornado, and none of the replacements on the drawing boards have swing wings.

It will be replace by a reverse occurance molecular drive UFO type fighter, it will however be redesigned to fit conventional stereotypical aircraft design, the release date will be november of 2011, 2 years before the time shift reoccurance when our time cycle loops and it all starts over

The B-1 is going nowhere. Congress just asked for ones that were put into storage to be brought back to working condition. Also there are no more part for the F-14. The production lines were shut down long ago and the molds destroyed. It did share the same engine with the F-111 but that is also gone. It is just getting too old. The F-35 and F/A-18 E/F with the AIM-120 will pick up the slack.

Originally posted by jetsetter
The F-35 and F/A-18 E/F with the AIM-120 will pick up the slack.

In what way?

The F-14 is faster, longer ranged, carries more, and to top it off has the Phoenix. It is not so much picking up the slack, as dropping the ball.

The Navy is making a mistake by not extending the life of the F-14.

The Phoenix is failing. The last two times ut was fired at long range it missed. Speed is not that important anymore anyways. To reach high mach the F-14 has to use afterburners which takes alot of fuel. The F-35 and F/A-18 W/F travel fast enough at around mach 1.8.

Alrighty, let's take it all into consideration. Give me the standard CVW of 2010.

Originally posted by sweatmonicaIdo
Alrighty, let's take it all into consideration. Give me the standard CVW of 2010.

I'll go out on a limb and say it'll probably look something like this:

14-20 F-18F
12 F-18E
12 F-18C
4 E-2C
4-6 EA-6B or EA-18
4 SH-60R
2 C-2
-----
approx 60-65 total

There may still be some S-3 and ES-3 around as well, but I suspect they'll be retired not long after the F-14. The F-18C will be phased out between 2015 and 2020 and replaced by the F-35C.

Originally posted by aerospaceweb

Originally posted by sweatmonicaIdo
Alrighty, let's take it all into consideration. Give me the standard CVW of 2010.

I'll go out on a limb and say it'll probably look something like this:

14-20 F-18F
12 F-18E
12 F-18C
4 E-2C
4-6 EA-6B or EA-18
4 SH-60R
2 C-2
-----
approx 60-65 total

There may still be some S-3 and ES-3 around as well, but I suspect they'll be retired not long after the F-14. The F-18C will be phased out between 2015 and 2020 and replaced by the F-35C.

F-35 should enter service in 2010 or not? And you forgot the UCAVs (X-46 or X-47).

Originally posted by longbow
F-35 should enter service in 2010 or not? And you forgot the UCAVs (X-46 or X-47).

F-35C is planned for IOC in 2012 but that will probably slip given recent delays in the JSF program. Regardless, the question was about a typical airwing of 2010. Even if the F-35 does manage to reach IOC by then, it certainly won't be available in sufficient numbers to be considered typical.

The same goes for UCAVs. I don't think they'll be available in any significant number until at least 2015. There are a lot of technological hurdles that still need to be overcome. The variants that are being designed for carrier suitability are the X-45C and X-47B, but both are still in the early stages of development.

You have to remember that 2010 isn't all that far away anymore!

[edit on 18-8-2004 by aerospaceweb]

Originally posted by aerospaceweb
There may still be some S-3 and ES-3 around as well, but I suspect they'll be retired not long after the F-14. The F-18C will be phased out between 2015 and 2020 and replaced by the F-35C.

The S-3 will not be flying past 2007.

They are no longer needed, or so the Navy says.

If nothing else they were great for SSC missions.