05.08.2007 ~ Just in case...
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On Twitter
wtfF0nzie: Valve are releasing a steam client and games for OSX - Mac to considered a tier-1 platform!
Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:43:57
Retired fleet defender turned towelhead threat...?
Confession time. I have to admit that 1986's Top-Gun made a massive impression on me. So much so that it might have lead to almost two decades of plane envy. Not on account of the Cruise getting it on with his teacher before finally settling down with his daughter, or even Meg Ryan... doing whatever she did in that movie. Nope - it was the 'danger-zone' - specifically carrier aviation - that caught and kept my attention (and to a lesser degree, singing badly in bars... but that's a different story...)
The Grumman F-14 Tomcat, a two-seat carrier borne fleet defender was the Navys first line fighter for decades. The 'cat could lob the massive AIM-58 Phoenix missile at you from over 100km away when everything else has to get within 40km before getting a shot off. The weapon system was intended to intercept vast armadas of Soviet bombers before they could endanger carrier groups, forming the outer portion of the vaunted three layered defense doctrine. It was the perfect weapon for a war that never happened.
Its long range weapons simply didn't have a place in a world of low intensity wars where visual identification is prerequisite before engagement, its expensive Phoenix missiles were never blooded by the Navy, having missed both times it was used in anger.
Towards the end of its career, the purebred interceptor donned bomber clothing earning the name of 'Bombcat' with its newfound ability of dropping LGBs designated by other sources. The Tomcat was eventually phased out of US Navy service in 2006, surviving examples being left languish in boneyards.
Life in the old Turkey yet!
Following its trend of turning a righteous but angry eye on middle eastern countries that begin with the letter 'I', the States began to assess the military prowess of Iran. A quick look at issued receipts let the US intelligence community know Iran was in possession of 80 tomcats. With the issue date of said receipts being the early '70s, it would be reasonable for the intel types to assume said fighter were probably not in the best of shape, at best maybe just a handful of examples flying, if any at all. After all, they're friggin ancient!
But wait...
Didn't Serbia demonstrate the 'older stuff' can be surprisingly effective at taking down the latest bits of military kit? Modern stealth aircraft were designed with a view of minimising visibility to radar and infrared systems. The prime air combat example of this black art is the F-22 Raptor, a truly massive aircraft. It also has never been defeated in air-to-air combat trails. Ever! Raptor pilots proudly boast that they've killed multiple enemies without been electronically seen. How does one direct fire at something they can't see?
The lowly F-14 has a interesting addition for a fighter aircraft; a television camera mounted under its nose. This camera is said to be able to pick out fighter sized aircraft up to 40 miles away. The F-22 fits more comfortably into the medium bomber class when it comes to size. One could argue a best-case scenario with a '14 visually picking up a '22 at ranges between 60 and 80 miles, well outside the Raptors engagement radius. Assuming the Iranian F-14s still have working AWG-9 radar and have mothered their phoenix missiles...
Old get broken
In a move that will no doubt be frowned upon by history, the Stateside powers that be have declared war on the F-14 in an effort to ensure its only foreign export customer doesn't have a chance of acquiring much needed spares from their own back (bone) yards. To this end all existing US F-14s will be reduced to scrap metal, pulled apart by government contractors and sold for scrap. Stick mounted 'cats will get gutted leaving just their outer shell, but everything goes!
No Iranian scrap dealers were available for comment at time of writing.