Naval F-15

[renrich]

As the Tomcat aged, it became a maintenance nightmare. A lot of that was caused by overaged electronics and electrical circuits. A new manufactured Tomcat would have presumerably have solved a lot of that problem. The Tomcat proposed as an alternate to the F/A 18 was much faster, longer ranged, had zero WOD capability, could launch without afterburner with full load and would have been, IMO, a much more capable air to air fighter. It would have incorporated all the latest electronic and infrared gizmos and would already have had the two crewman which the Super Hornet has. The only place the Hornet has an advantage is in it's smaller radar signature. Another big advantage is that the Tomcat's performance was not degraded, (as the Hornet's is) by ordnance carried, (because the Tomcat carries the ordnance conformally, in the tunnel.) The best Vmax I have seen for the Hornet is 1.8 Mach. The Tomcat was a 2.4 Mach airplane.

 

[davebender]

As I understand it the main reason the F-14 was retired early was due to unusually high operating costs. However I don't know why the F-14 was more expensive to maintain then other aircraft like the F-15 and F-4.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

As I understand it the main reason the F-14 was retired early was due to unusually high operating costs. However I don't know why the F-14 was more expensive to maintain then other aircraft like the F-15 and F-4.

When I was in the naval reserves I worked with guys who were in F-14 squadrons. According to at least two of them the F-14 was not maintainer friendly and spare parts were sometimes hard to come by. Many of the former fighter guys in my squadron preferred the F/A-18.

 

[renrich]

Opinions are everyone's prerogative. The guy I knew that flew the A6 against the Mig21 was a veteran pilot in the attack community on the USN, flew in Viet nam and eventually was the skipper of a CV. He believed also that the Defense Department made a mistake in choosing the F/A18 over the new F14.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

He believed also that the Defense Department made a mistake in choosing the F/A18 over the new F14.

Easy for him to say, he didn't have to fix the damn thing when it broke!

 

[syscom3]

So now what is the fleet doctrine to defend against cruise missles?

An F14D with upgraded Phoenix system working in conjunction with the newest versions of the Aegis system would be quite formidable.

 

[Matt308]

F-18E/F with AESA. Fleet defence with Aegis/Standard missiles and CIWS.

 

[BombTaxi]

Phoenix wasn't intended to intercept other missiles - it was intended to bring down the launch aircraft before the missiles were ever fired. In the era that the Missileer concept was being developed, the technology to engage missiles with guns or with other missiles was not well advanced, so the solution was to destroy the launch aircraft at long range. So an F-14 100 miles out from the carrier group would use Phoenix to reach out another 100 miles and take down a Tu-16 before it ever got close enough to make an attack.

 

[syscom3]

Phoenix wasn't intended to intercept other missiles - it was intended to bring down the launch aircraft before the missiles were ever fired. In the era that the Missileer concept was being developed, the technology to engage missiles with guns or with other missiles was not well advanced, so the solution was to destroy the launch aircraft at long range. So an F-14 100 miles out from the carrier group would use Phoenix to reach out another 100 miles and take down a Tu-16 before it ever got close enough to make an attack.

The Phoenix was more than capable of taking out cruise missles.

 

[evangilder]

Actually, the AIM-54C was designed counter all aerial threats, including cruise missiles.

 

[BombTaxi]

I'll stand corrected then

 

[renrich]

FB, I believe that what he was thinking about was that he could launch at a significantly longer range and without as much regard for wind over the deck. Got to protect his bird farm. LOL

 

[Colin1]

...including cruise missiles.

Eric
that's a hell of a big lump to hit a cruise missile with. At what point would it be too late to interdict with the AIM-54? If the cruise is on the home straight and is taking left and right turns at hedge-top height, how did the chase missile deal with

a. the clutter, and
b. the jinking?

 

[evangilder]

I don't know the technical detail of the missile, Colin, but I am guessing since it was a fleet protection weapon, there wouldn't be a lot of jinking or clutter over open water.

 

[syscom3]

The Phoenix used a dive down attack. It could attack from a variety of positions, but the preferred was to launch it, it flies up high, dives down on the target and its fairly easy to track from there.