F-14A?

[Satarosa]

We will eventually have an Iranian F-14A, yes. But also a USN version with the TCS.

 

Cool

[Satarosa]

F-14A

 

We're currently undecided as to whether we will do the IR pod..

 

 

I hope we get a verry old F-14A with the IR pod :D

 

With old skin form 1975-78 F-14A SQN

[Satarosa]

Hi HB

 

 

Which version of the F-14A are we going to have?

 

Can you give us details of the aircraft?

 

 

Will you have a lot of time to get it?

[stuart666]

If they model the IR pod as unserviceable, Id be happy with that. After all, even the Iranians dont seem to have used it, and they somehow managed to reverse engineer damn near everything else.

 

 

Interesting thing, Im working on the Tamiya 1-32 scale model, and that only had the IR pod modelled. I guess they must have done the moulds a LONG time ago.

[stuart666]

Incidentally, is there any chance of getting the Hawk missile for the Iranian F14? I accept it would be a lot of work, but if the following is any guide, they actually seem to have used it, and it wasnt 'for show' as many critics believe.

 

 

Rest of the video is well worth watching too. Thats 2 pilots who scored 2 kills in the USN/Libyan engagements, and an Iranian who shot down 2 migs with one Phoenix missile.....

[Satarosa]

THIS IS A F-14A !!

 

[Satarosa]

Happy with just the ALQ-100

[Satarosa]

Physical differences between F-14A and F-14B

 

I hope we have this fo the F-14A..

 

 

F-14A Exterior and cockpit versus B:

 

1 ) Lack of antennas

 

 

2 ) Rounded corners on nacelles

 

 

3 ) Exhausts nozzles (PW TF30's)

 

 

4 ) ALQ-100 or IR seeker (chinpods)

 

 

5 ) RWR ALR-45

 

 

6 ) Gun gas purging vents: Pre AFC731 on the F-14A

 

 

7 ) DLC: "old" 4 spoiler DLC on the F-14A

 

 

8 ) Old skins of seventies F-14A squadrons

 

 

9 ) Weapons: No LANTIRN, NO GBU Bombs

"Initially, the Tomcat could carry only conventional "dumb" bombs, and had no precision-guided munition capability. It was not compatible with guided weapons such as the AGM-84 Harpoon, the SLAM, the AGM-65 Maverick, the Walleye, or the AGM-88 HARM. It initially could not even carry or deliver laser-guided bombs. However, the ability to deliver laser-guided bombs such as the GBU-10, GBU-12, GBU-16, and GBU-24 was added in 1994, although the Tomcat initially had to rely on other aircraft to designate the targets. The first GBU-16 laser guide bombs were dropped from a Tomcat of VF-103 on May 2, 1994. The Tomcat first dropped such bombs in anger when two F-14s of VF-41 attacked targets in Serbia with GBU-16s on September 5, 1995, with F/A-18s painting the target with AN/AAS-38A Nite Hawk laser designators.

The Tomcat lacked any type of FLIR and laser designator which would make it possible to operate at night and to deliver laser-guided bombs autonomously. The Martin-Marietta LANTIRN (Low Altitude Navigation and targeting Infra-Red for Night) pod was selected to provide this capacity for the Tomcat. The LANTIRN pod is attached to the starboard wing glove pylon. The aircraft was equipped with a GPS antenna, and the antenna was linked to a Litton GPS/IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) that was incorporated into the LANTIRN pod. This allows the pod to find targets without the need for a radar fix. The system was first tested on an F-14B drawn from VF-103 in February of 1995. The F-14B testbed first flew with LANTIRN on March 21, 1995. The first LANTIRN pod was delivered in June of 1996. The first operational cruise with LANTIRN-equipped Tomcats took place that very month"

 

 

10) Weapons: No AIM-54C

"The AIM-54C is the only improved model that was ever produced. It used digital electronics in the place of the analog electronics of the AIM-54A. This model had better abilities to shoot down low and high-altitude antiship missiles. This model took over from the AIM-54A beginning in 1986

 

THIS IS MY DREAM ;-D

 

Edited May 2, 2019 by Satarosa

[Nooch]

The F-14A was later upgraded just like the F-14B was, and stayed in service up until the '00s. A famous squadron who remained on the F-14A up until the end is the VF-211 "Checkmates".

 

As a consequence, the F-14A actually carried AIM-54C, Lantirn and GBUs, even JDAMs.

 

 

 

Edited May 2, 2019 by Nooch

[Satarosa]

The F-14A was later upgraded just like the F-14B was, and stayed in service up until the '00s. A famous squadron who remained on the F-14A up until the end is the VF-211 "Checkmates".

 

As a consequence, the F-14A actually carried AIM-54C, Lantirn and GBUs, even JDAMs.

 

 

We all know that, but as you could read in my post they are end-of-life changes of the F-14A in 1996! The F-14A was in service in 1974 and served mainly as an interceptor, the GBU + LANTIRN modifications of the F-14A appeared 21 years later to extend its service but does not represent the classic F-14A !

 

 

It's stupid to want an F-14A with the latest modification and update, to have an almost identical airplane to the F-14B (except for the engine of course) :glare:

[stuart666]

Much easier for Heatblur to develop thought. I couldnt blame them if they did that.

[Swordsman422]

The F-14A did not ever carry JDAM.

 

I hope we get an A contemporary with the B we got. Almost all of my favorite A liveries are after 1996. It wouldn't be stupid to dev the jet with the most options and players can use the parts of it they want. It's not stupid to want an A contemporary to the B. People want what they want, and so long as it was within the wheelhouse of the plane, it shouldn't be a problem.

 

The Iranian Block 90 will eventually get modeled as well, and there isn't much different from the US Block 85, so the classic gull grey and white schemes will have something to fit on.

Edited May 2, 2019 by Swordsman422

[Nooch]

The F-14A did not ever carry JDAM.

 

Look right above at the second picture I posted, it's on there. An F-14A with four JDAMs.

 

I hope we get an A contemporary with the B we got. Almost all of my favorite A liveries are after 1996. It wouldn't be stupid to dev the jet with the most options and players can use the parts of it they want. It's not stupid to want an A contemporary to the B. People want what they want, and so long as it was within the wheelhouse of the plane, it shouldn't be a problem.

 

Totally agree.

[Wizard_03]

Look right above at the second picture I posted, it's on there. An F-14A with four JDAMs.

 

They look like MK82s with conical fins, GBU-38s have part of the guidance package in the nose. F-14 needed an upgraded GPS/INS to use JDAMS which was part of the F-14B(U) upgrades the F-14D was built with EGI. AFAIK The A never got it.

[GrizzlyBear83]

This is a JDAM. next to a GBU-12. B and Ds only carried them. The As lacked a digital databus needed for the bomb to interact with the aircraft.

 

[Nooch]

Gotcha, thanks for the precision.

[LanceCriminal86]

Can the A+ airframes that didn't get the full B treatment, ie A2G upgrades and TARPS but not the F-110 like those used by VF-201 be represented somehow? Theirs had TF-30s still when they transitioned to Hornets in '98 but they were doing LGB and TARPS stuff before that.

[sLYFa]

Can the A+ airframes that didn't get the full B treatment, ie A2G upgrades and TARPS but not the F-110 like those used by VF-201 be represented somehow? .

If it doesn't have the GE eingines it's not an A+/B. What you are talking about is a F-14A with LANTIRN integration. VF-154 had these in the late 90's and probably all other squadrons flying the A at that time.

TARPS was a thing way before that in the 80's

[Satarosa]

Chose here your F-14A : https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=240269

[GrizzlyBear83]

Can the A+ airframes that didn't get the full B treatment, ie A2G upgrades and TARPS but not the F-110 like those used by VF-201 be represented somehow? Theirs had TF-30s still when they transitioned to Hornets in '98 but they were doing LGB and TARPS stuff before that.

 

F-14A+, redesignated in 1991 to F-14B. They're one and the same.

 

Post 1996, all squadrons began receiving LANTIRN regardless of airframe.

 

It was thanks to a former A-6 pilot, that was the COMNAVAIRLANT in 1995, that the F-14 survived, he was a staunch supporter of the Tomcat. A Hornet representive wanted the Tomcat dead, better to spend the money on the Hornet he reasoned. Had Lockheed Martin and other contractors been unable to integrate the LANTIRN on time and on the budget, the F-14 would have been axed way earlier than 2006, maybe instead of the A-6, or together with the A-6. It was a very, very close call, and COMNAVAIRLANT would only relent if the Tomcat was given precision strike capability.

 

Basically it was between either AMRAAM capability, or LANTIRN.

 

So the anti-air strike crowd here should be greateful the F-14 got the pod. Dropping only dumb bombs wasn't enough, even if the Tomcat was accurate. It lacked a meaningful future, as Desert Storm proved, unless they got LANTIRN. Curiously enough, VF-1 and VF-2 had completed their strike syllabus one week before leaving the US on the Ranger for the Persian Gulf, but due to improperly manufactured bomb rack components, their F-14s could not participate in air strikes during Desert Storm.

 

But in 1996 the Cat was Back.

 

Source: Tony Holmes, F-14 Bombcat (Air Forces Monthly 2015).

Edited May 3, 2019 by GrizzlyBear83

[stuart666]

The Irony is, that 13 years on, the environment the Tomcat was designed to fight in, is back, with the increased focus on Chinese Long Range Bombers. The only difference is they are now trying to figure out how to make the Hornet fulfill the Tomcat role, and I dont think its going to work. They were even exploring hanging SM2 missiles on a Superhornet to try and create an ersatz Tomcat/Phoenix capability. THAT is going to be fun to watch.

[Swordsman422]

Look right above at the second picture I posted, it's on there. An F-14A with four JDAMs.

 

 

 

No it isn't. Those are Mk. 80-series iron bombs. There are no gliding vanes on the bomb body. These look like Mk. 83s with BSU-33 tailcones.

 

This is a JDAM

 

F-14As lacked the digital databus to process JDAM commands.

[LASooner]

So I happen to catch Top Gun on AMC today and now watching it with a more critical eye noticed that when Maverick is trying to lock up the Mig-28 at the beginning the VDI and the controls under it looked significantly different.

 

 

He's apparently trying to lock it up with a "Mid Compression Bypass" panel, accuracy aside, is this an early A cockpit? Because I couldn't find pictures of this panel anywhere else.

 

I did find this one which is pretty interesting, this one is a prototype right?

 

Edited June 24, 2019 by LASooner

[sLYFa]

He's apparently trying to lock it up with a "Mid Compression Bypass" panel, accuracy aside, is this an early A cockpit? Because I couldn't find pictures of this panel anywhere else.

 

This panel is usually in the RIO pit and only in the F-14A. Its used to the test a valve within the engine compressor duct (don't recall exactly between which stages though) that ejects part of the compressed air into the fan duct, thereby increasing stall margin at the cost of compressor effciency.

Edited June 24, 2019 by sLYFa

[stuart666]

This might be the replica cockpit described by the author of 'Top Gun Day's'. The films art department went all out and measured up a Tomcat cockpit (certainly the rio's pit, and I think the forward cockpit as well) for all the blue sky scenes where maverick and goose are turning and burning. They tried filming many of the scenes in the rear cockpit of an F14, but the results were said to be horrible, so after that they filmed it on the ground.

 

 

It was supposedly a fairly accurate replica, but the guy who made it tapped up a real rio about what all the labels said. You wont see them in the film, but the perfectionist in him wanted it right.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Topgun-Days-Dogfighting-Cheating-Hollywood/dp/1620871033/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=top+gun+days&qid=1561377629&s=gateway&sr=8-1

 

 

 

 

 

I wonder if it survived. It would save them a ton of money for Top Gun 2. :D