JANE'S NAVY INTERNATIONAL - MARCH 01, 2006

End of an era: USN's Tomcats make their final approach before
decommissioning

The US Navy is set to decommission its F-14 Tomcats this month. Robert
Hewson takes a look at some of their final deployments and the force's
transition to the Super Hornet

It is end of an era in US naval aviation as the withdrawal of its last
Grumman F-14 Tomcats draws near.

Only two F-14 squadrons survive in US Navy (USN) service today. Both
are flying as part of Carrier Air Wing 8 (CVW-8) aboard the USS
Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), deployed to the Persian Gulf for
operations over Iraq. On 7 February 2006, CVW-8 flew its last scheduled
mission in support of Operation 'Iraqi Freedom' and began preparations
to head home for Norfolk, Virginia. Once back at NAS Oceana the Tomcats
will be progressively decommissioned and disappear forever from US
service.

During the four months that they were on station, the VF-31
'Tomcatters' and VF-213 'Blacklions' flew F-14D 'Bombcats' on close
air-support taskings - a world away from the fleet-defence mission the
aircraft was built for. Instead of engaging Soviet Tu-22 'Backfires'
with massed launches of the extremely long-range Phoenix air-to-air
missiles, the last Tomcats carry LANTIRN targeting pods and Joint
Direct Attack Munitions, to conduct airborne forward air-control
missions hundreds of miles inland.

Gulf missions

When the Roosevelt arrived in the Gulf it brought more combat aircraft
to the region than the entire US Air Force (USAF) presence there.
Twenty-two Tomcats - 11 per squadron - went to war alongside CVW-8's
two F/A-18C Hornet units (VFA-15 and VFA-87). The carrier came on
station on 5 October 2005, and its jets flew (almost) daily combat
missions on a 24-hour cycle.

During the deployment a small handful of between six and eight Hornets
and Prowlers were sent ashore to Al Asad air base. The rest of the Air
Wing's operations were flown from the ship, with the greatest area of
interest being northern Iraq. For the crews this meant a continuum of
six- or seven-hour missions, tasked mostly in support of the US Army
and marines. However, as one F-14 crew member noted: "We end up bombing
for the marines more because they seem to end up where the action is."

Routinely, the Tomcat squadrons are launching 12 to 16 sorties a day.
The overall sortie rate was not a high one, but the duration of
missions was at least twice as long as usual. A VF-213 pilot described
the typical day: "After we launch we tank en route to the target area.
We get on station and then we tank again. We return to station and then
we tank again before heading back to the ship. We spend about four
hours in the AOR [area of responsibility], with an hour or an
hour-and-a-half transition each way. We might send a section of jets to
Mosul and a section to Baghdad or wherever they are needed. They stay
there until replaced by the next set of jets from the ship." CVW-8 does
no organic tanking for its strike aircraft. The carrier's
tanker-configured S-3 Vikings are used as recovery tankers only.

Like the Tomcats, the Vikings have come to the end of the road, at
least with CVW-8. The next time the Air Wing goes to sea the S-3s will
have been retired.

Air Wing 8 did not deliver the same level of ordnance demanded during
the peak of fighting in Iraq but, between them, its four squadrons
attacked about one target a day throughout the deployment. The F-14Ds
were cleared to carry the GBU-38 JDAM in September 2005 and this
quickly became the preferred weapon for virtually all missions. One
F-14D pilot noted: "Why would you use a GBU-12 [Paveway II laser-guided
bomb] if you have a GBU-38? If you have the target co-ordinates, use
it. You know the bomb will go straight there and it has a steeper
impact angle than the GBU-12 so it is more effective."

Collateral damage

One serious issue faced by the Air Wing, and all air forces in the
region, is the realisation that standard 500 lb weapons, once thought
of as very small bombs, are now too big to be used safely against the
target set found in Iraq, or Afghanistan. One experienced USN combat
aviator described the situation in Iraq today as one where, "we are
being asked to hit that group of guys over there but try not to hit the
other bunch of people beside them". The collateral damage risk from a
500 lb bomb in an urban or semi-urban environment is becoming
unacceptable and the USN has a particular dilemma because it is not
part of the small diameter bomb (SDB) programme - a 250 lb-class
precision weapon to be fielded by the USAF later this year.

Typically, the Tomcats flew with just two 500 lb bombs. To carry any
more the aircraft have to be fitted with the ventral weapons pannier.
This configuration is never used today, because it adds another 1,800
lb to the F-14 and presents great difficulties with landing weight for
recovery aboard the carrier.

Ground strafing

The F-14Ds are also armed with a 20 mm M61 Vulcan cannon and,
extraordinarily, these guns were used for ground strafing on two
occasions by VF-213 (and also by F/A-18Cs).

The pilot for one of these attacks talked about the mission, flown
against insurgents in Husbayah, during November's Operation 'Steel
Curtain'. "We dropped both our bombs on parts of a housing complex but
some guys with RPGs made it out and ran to another section. We were
asked to hang on by the JTAC [Joint Terminal Attack Controller, a
forward air controller] on the ground and we told him we had 500 rounds
in the gun. We did two runs - roll in from 10,000 ft, shoot at 4,000 ft
and pull out at 2,500 ft." The after-action report filed by the US
Marines who had been under fire noted that the target building was
completely destroyed by the gunfire.

Super Hornets

When CVW-8 returns to the US in March the Tomcats will give way to
Super Hornets. VF-31 will transition to the F/A-18E and VF-213 will
transition to the F/A-18F. A VF-31 pilot summed up his feelings about
handing in his Tomcat: "Our F-14Ds are working better than ever now.
The F/A-18E/F is an aircraft with several known issues but it will be
great when it is finished. I am confident that our brand-new E/Fs will
be just as capable as our F-14s."