Article 9176 of rec.aviation.military:
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From: jfb@usgp1.ih.att.com (Joe Baugher)
Subject: New Fighter Series--Grumman F-14 Tomcat (4 of 14)
Message-ID: <D155w2.G2H@ssbunews.ih.att.com>
Summary:  F-14A in service with US Navy
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Organization: AT&T
Date: Wed, 21 Dec 1994 03:33:38 GMT
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The first F-14A was finally ready for rollout in late 1970.  Taxi 
trials of the first F-14A Tomcat (BuNo 157980) began at Calverton on 
December 14, 1970.  On December 21, project test pilot William (Bob) 
Millar and company chief test pilot Robert Smythe made the first 
flight, which was a short hop with the wings kept in the fully-forward 
position.  This flight was uneventful.  

Disaster struck on the second test flight on December 30.  During this 
flight, the aircraft suffered a primary hydraulic system failure and 
began to trail smoke.  Millar and Smythe immediately turned the plane 
back to the Calverton field, and used the emergency nitrogen bottle to 
blow down the landing gear in preparation for an emergency landing.  
However, just before reaching the end of the runway, the secondary 
hydraulic system also failed and both crewmen were forced to eject.  
Both Millar and Smythe survived with only minor injuries, but the 
aircraft was destroyed.  

The second Tomcat (157981) went aloft for the first time on May 24, 
1971, piloted by Robert Smythe.  

Twenty Tomcats were built in the initial run for flight trials.  
Tomcat #2 (157981) was assigned the job of the exploration of the 
low-speed flight regime and also was to carry out the stall/spin 
trials.  It had its wings locked in the 20-degree (fully-open) 
position and the air intakes locked in the fully-open configuration.  
Tomcat #3 (157982) was to explore the outer reaches of the performance 
envelope and flew trials with steadily increasing loads and speeds.  
Tomcats Nos. 4, 5, and 6 (157983, 157984, and 157985) went to NAS 
Point Mugu, California for weapons system integration work.  No. 7 
(157986) later became the test ship for the F-14B with F401 engines.  
Nos. 9 and 11 (157988 and 157991) went to Point Mugu for radar 
evaluation and auxiliary weapons trials, respectively.  

Tomcat #10 (157989) was delivered to the Naval Air Test Center at 
Patuxent River, Maryland for structural trials and carrier 
compatibility work.  On June 30, 1972, it crashed into the water while 
preparing for an airshow at Patuxent, killing test pilot Bob Millar, 
who had survived the crash of the first F-14.  It was replaced on 
carrier-compatibility tests by No. 17.  No. 12 replaced the lost No.  
1 on high speed flight trials.  Completing the trials fleet were No.  
8 (aerodynamic trials and production configuration), No. 13 (anechoic 
chamber work for compatibility of the electromagnetic systems), No. 14 
(maintenance and reliability work), No. 20 (climatic trials at Point 
Mugu), and Nos. 15, 16, 18, and 19 (initial pilot conversion).  

157984, Tomcat #5 assigned to Point Mugu for armament trials, had the 
rather dubious honor of shooting itself down on June 20, 1973.  A 
AIM-7E-2 Sparrow missile pitched up moments after being launched, 
striking the Tomcat.  The crew ejected safely.  

Block 70 (beginning with 159978) introduced the production standard 
wing glove fairing with shorter outboard wing fences on the top.  

The beaver tail and air brake were modified from BuNo 159241 onward 
(the first Block 75 Tomcat).  Earlier aircraft had their beaver tails 
cut down (with dielectric fairings removed) to a similar shape.  The 
last Block 85 aircraft (159588) introduced the new AN/ARC-159 UHF 
radio in place of the AN/ARC-51A.  

From 159825 (the first Block 90), a small angle of attack probe was 
added to the tip of the nose radome.  High angle of attack performance 
was also improved by the provision for automated maneuvering flaps.  

From Block 100 onward, a slip clutch and coupler installation was 
added to the flap/slat system, fuel system changes were made, AN/AWG-9 
reliability improvements were incorporated, and numerous 
anti-corrosion measures such as seals, baffles, and drain holes were 
introduced.  

The last aircraft of Block 110 (BuNo 161168) introduced AN/ALQ-126 
antenna to the beaver tail and above and below the wing gloves.  

10 early Block 60/65 F-14As (BuNos 158613/158618, 158620, 158624, and 
158626/158637) were refurbished and modified to Block 130 standards 
for service with VF-201 and VF-202 at NAS Dallas.  

The original Tomcat contract signed in 1969 covered 12 prototypes and 
options for 429 production aircraft at an agreed-upon fixed price.  
The fixed-price contract was an innovation of the McNamara years at 
the Defense Department.  However, a wave of high inflation hit the 
economies of the US and most Western nations during the early 1970s, 
and the price terms of the original contract soon became unworkable 
and Grumman started losing money on each plane it delivered to the 
Navy.  In March of 1971, the company asked the Navy to re-negotiate 
the contract.  Initially, the Navy refused, but Grumman angrily 
retorted that the company could not continue much longer to deliver 
Tomcats at the promised price without going out of business.  In March 
of 1973 it reached a compromise with the Navy under which the first 
134 production aircraft would be delivered under the original fixed 
price, with the price of the follow-on Tomcats being re-negotiated 
with the Navy.  The Navy agreed to provide Grumman with a $200 million 
loan to keep the company going until the re-negotiated prices became 
effective.  

This loan agreement stirred up controversy in the press, with Grumman 
being accused (somewhat unjustly) of turning around and investing the 
Navy loan it had just received in short-term government securities for 
a quick profit.  In August of 1974, Congress voted to terminate the 
Grumman loan as a result of the controversy.  However, by this time 
Grumman had a new customer for the Tomcat, the Shah of Iran.  The 
Iranian state Bank Melli provided a $75 million loan to Grumman, and 
armed with this backing Grumman approached a consortium of US banks 
and was able to get a loan for the remaining $125 million, ensuring 
that the Tomcat program could continue.  

Three early F-14As were delivered in the autumn of 1972 to VX-4 at NAS 
Point Mugu, California for operational evaluation.  The replacement 
squadron VF-124 at NAS Miramar received its first Tomcats in June of 
1972.  The job of VF-124 was to train Tomcat crews for duty with 
operational carrier-based squadrons.  The first two operational Tomcat 
squadrons were VF-1 "Wolfpack" and VF-2 "Bounty Hunters", both based 
at NAS Miramar.  These units deployed aboard the USS *Enterprise* 
(CVN-65) in mid-1974.  

The first East Coast squadron to become operational with the Tomcat 
was VF-14 "Tophatters", joined shortly thereafter by VF-32 
"Swordsmen".  These units put to sea in June of 1975 aboard the USS 
*John F.  Kennedy* (CVA-67) 

Over the next nine years, almost all Navy deployable fighter squadrons 
exchanged their Phantoms for Tomcats.  The last to do so were VF-21 
and VF-154, which traded in their F-4Ns for F-14As in September of 
1983.  Two new squadrons, VF-191 and VF-194, were formed with F-14As 
in 1986, but were both disbanded in April 1988 when budget cuts led to 
a reduction in force.  

F-14As began replacing F-4S Phantoms in the reserves in October of 
1984.  Tomcats currently equip four Reserve Fighter Squadrons, VF-201 
and VF-202 at NAS Dallas and VF-301 and VF-302 at NAS Miramar.  

As compared with the best existing USN fighters, the Tomcat offered a 
21 percent increase in acceleration and sustained g-force, 20 percent 
increase in rate of climb, 27 percent increase in maneuvering 
capability, and a 40 percent improvement in turning radius.  At a high 
throttle setting, the Tomcat can hold a steady angle of attack of 
about 77 degrees.  Maximum design speed of the Tomcat is Mach 2.4, but 
the Navy sets a limit of about Mach 2.25 for service aircrew.  The 
aircraft can execute an 180-degree 6.5-g turn of 1800 feet radius in 
10 seconds without loss of speed.  The Tomcat can hold 6.5 g at Mach 
2.2, and can accelerate from loiter to Mach 1.8 in 75 seconds.  Armed 
with four Phoenix, two Sparrows, two Sidewinders, and two external 
fuel tanks, the Tomcat can loiter on combat air patrol for 90 minutes 
280 km from the carrier, or for an hour at a range of 470 km from the 
carrier.  Tactical radius with the same load on a deck-launched 
interception mission is 317 km with a Mach 1.3 flyout.  

The weak point of the Tomcat was in its engines, which were initially 
a pair of TF30-P-412 axial flow turbofans, rated at 12,350 lb.s.t.  
dry and 20,900 lb.s.t with afterburning.  This engine was essentially 
similar to the TF30-P-12 that had been used for the F-111B.  With this 
engine, the F-14A was decidedly underpowered.  On several occasions, 
fan blades had broken free from the shaft, damaging the surrounding 
airframe structure and systems and causing the loss of the aircraft.  
Very early in the flight test programs there were problems encountered 
with engine stalls at high angles of attack.  These stalls would 
usually take place when coming either in or out of afterburner or at 
low power settings when at high angles of attack.  These engine 
problems were exceedingly vexing and resulted in the loss of several 
aircraft.  

Beginning with production block 65, the improved TF30-P-412A engine 
was fitted.  During block 95, which appeared in January of 1977, the 
P-414 version of the TF30 became available.  It incorporated 
modifications intended to prevent turbine blade cracking and to 
contain any blade failures that did occur.  New compressor blades were 
made from a revised titanium alloy.  The engine contained steel cases 
wrapped around the first three fan stages as a containment precaution 
in the event of blades being thrown by the turbine.  This engine was 
first installed in BuNo 160396 (not the first aircraft in the block 95 
batch, as had been originally planned).  Existing Tomcats were 
retrofitted with the P-414, and the last TF30-P-412 powered F-14A was 
finally out of service in the summer of 1979.  

The problems with the compressor stalls proved much more difficult to 
cure, and were not really solved until 1984 when a new and improved 
variant of the TF30 engine became available.  The TF30 turbofan was an 
extremely fussy engine, and had to be treated with great care by the 
pilot if compressor stalls were to be avoided.  Compressor stalls 
could occur at any altitude/airspeed combination, but most often they 
happened at high altitudes and low speeds, when lighting or unlighting 
the afterburners, or after firing the missiles.  Sometimes the engine 
would immediately recover by itself, but more often than not the stall 
would "hang", and the engine rpm would begin to decrease and the 
turbine inlet temperature would start to rise.  If not corrected 
immediately, the aircraft would begin to yaw rapidly back and forth 
and the aircraft could go into an uncontrollable spin from which the 
only escape was generally for the crew to eject.  

If a low-speed compressor stall took place, the first move for the 
pilot was to quickly eliminate any g-loading on the aircraft to reduce 
the risk of an uncontrollable spin, then to retard the throttles to 
idle in order to reduce the asymmetric thrust, and then to turn the 
stalled engine completely off, extinguishing the combustor flame and 
reducing the turbine blade temperature so that the engine--now 
deprived of its normal airflow--could not overheat and be permanently 
damaged or perhaps even catch fire.  If the stall took place at 
supersonic speed, the recovery procedure was similar, with the 
exception that it was not necessary to turn the engines completely off 
since at supersonic speeds the airflow through the engine is 
sufficient to cool the turbine.  Once the stall is cleared, a windmill 
engine restart can be attempted if sufficient speed, altitude, and 
hydraulic pressure are available.  Alternatively, a spool-down 
airstart can be carried out as soon as the turbine inlet temperature 
has cooled to acceptable levels.  If none of these measures worked, 
the only alternative would be for the crew to eject.  Of course, if 
any of this happened during the stress of combat, the crew would be 
dead meat.  

An improved engine, the TF30-P-414A, became available in early 1981.  
It involved minor changes for improved reliability and durability, and 
was intended to eliminate restrictions on how the pilot used engine 
power, allowing Navy crews to fly their Tomcats through extreme angles 
of attack and maneuver without having to worry about compressor 
stalls.  The first -414A engines were installed in the F-14A in 1984.  

Even with the improved -414A engine, It was found that excessive yaw 
can blank off the outboard engine intake, leading to an engine 
flameout.  At some airspeed/power setting combinations this can lead 
to a violent departure, which can lead into a non-recoverable flat 
spin if the appropriate recovery actions are not taken within a couple 
of seconds.  Unlike many other interceptor aircraft, the Tomcat is not 
completely optimized for high-speed, high-altitude flight.  

The Tomcat can be quite a handful during carrier landings.  Unlike the 
F-4 Phantom, the F-14 aircraft is not stable nor smooth during the 
glideslope while coming in for a landing.  It has relatively high 
pitch inertia and tends to float.  Its high residual thrust enforces 
the use of relative low engine throttle settings during the approach, 
resulting in poor engine response which makes recovery difficult if 
something goes wrong.  The poor lateral control makes precise heading 
control difficult.  

In 1980, a Tactical Air Reconnaissance Pod System (TARPS) was 
introduced.  This was a reconnaissance pod that could be attached to 
the underside of the Tomcat on the left rear Phoenix missile station 
between the engines.  This pod was designed for low- to 
medium-altitude reconnaissance and carried a KS-87 frame camera 
(vertical or forward oblique), a KA-99 panoramic camera giving horizon 
to horizon coverage, and an AAD-5 infrared line scanner.  The TARPS 
pod also carries an AN/ASQ-172 data display system The pod is 
controlled from stations installed in the rear cockpit.  It imposes 
very little penalty on aircraft performance or flight characteristics 
and does not interfere with the carriage or launch of the missiles.  
However, TARPS-capable Tomcats must be specially wired in order to 
carry the pod.  This system was first deployed in the second half of 
1981, with VF-84 aboard the Nimitz and with VF-122 aboard the 
Constellation.  With the retirement of the last RF-8G Crusaders in the 
spring of 1982, TARPS- equipped Tomcats became the Navy's primary 
tactical reconnaissance system.  

One of the tasks assigned to TARPS-equipped F-14As was the photograph 
Soviet long-rang surveillance aircraft, documenting and cataloging the 
different types of equipment carried by these aircraft.  It is 
possible that TARPS- equipped F-14As were used in Central America to 
spy on the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua.  

The Tomcat initially carried APR-25 and APR-27 radar warning 
receivers.  These have largely been replaced by the Magnavox ALR-50 
which is designed to warn crews of SAM launches.  A major upgrade 
updated this equipment to deal with the SA-6 *Gainful* missile and its 
associated *Straight Flush* radar, which were initially so successful 
against Israeli aircraft during the *Yom Kippur* War.  The Tomcat is 
equipped with the Goodyear ALE-39 chaff and flare dispensing system, 
which has replaced the ALE-29 originally carried.  The Tomcat 
initially entered service with the Sanders Associates ALQ-100 noise 
deception jammer, but this was later replaced with the Sanders 
AN/ALQ-126A.  

The Tomcat was in service just in time to see the closing stages of 
the Vietnam war in 1975.  It flew top cover during Operation *Frequent 
Wind*, the evacuation of US personnel from Saigon in April of 1975 
just before that city fell to the North.  The North Vietnamese air 
force did not interfere with the operation, but one Tomcat was 
slightly damaged by antiaircraft fire.  

On September 14, 1976, during a cruise off the Orkney Islands, Tomcat 
BuNo 159588 went out of control while taxiing and rolled off the deck 
of the USS *John F. Kennedy* and fell into the sea.  The crew safely 
ejected before the Tomcat went over the edge, but the plane ended up 
intact on the ocean floor.  Fearful that the Soviets might recover the 
Tomcat and learn valuable secrets (especially about the Phoenix 
missile), the Navy mounted a recovery operation designed to fish the 
aircraft out of the water.  After about two months, the lost Tomcat 
was finally hauled back to the surface.  

In August of 1981, the USS *Forrestal* and _Nimitz* entered the Gulf 
of Sidra in the southern Mediterranean to carry out routine training 
exercises.  The Libyan government claimed the entire Gulf of Sidra as 
its own territorial waters, a claim which the US government did not 
accept and chose to contest.  Libyan aircraft were sent out to monitor 
the operation.  On August 19, two Libyan Su 22 Fitter J fighters were 
shot down by a pair of VF-41 Tomcats after one the Fitters fired a 
missile at the American fighters.  Both kills were with AIM-9L 
Sidewinder missiles.  This was the first air battle between 
variable-geometry fighters 

In late 1983, Tomcats from the USS *Eisenhower* and *Independence* 
flew numerous missions over Lebanon in support of Marines stationed 
there.  TARPS-equipped Tomcats flew reconnaissance missions while 
other F-14s flew top cover.  The Tomcats were fired on by 
surface-to-air missiles on several occasions, but none were hit.  Open 
conflict between Tomcats and Syrian fighters was avoided.  

In April of 1983, two Tomcats operating from the carrier USS *America* 
were fired upon by Somali troops while flying over the port of Berbera 
on the Gulf of Aden.  These planes were on a prearranged mission, but 
the Somali forces apparently mistook the Tomcats for Ethiopian 
attackers.  No Tomcats were hit.  

In combat operations in Operation *Urgent Fury*, the invasion of 
Grenada in October of 1983, TARPS-equipped Tomcats provided 
intelligence on troop movements and gun emplacements for invading 
Marines and Army Rangers.  

The Tomcat was instrumental in capturing the Palestinian terrorists 
who had hijacked the Italian cruise liner *Achille Lauro* and had 
murdered an American tourist.  The hijackers had found refuge in 
Egypt, where arrangements had been made to fly them to sanctuary in 
Libya aboard an Egyptair Boeing 737 airliner.  On October 19, 1985, 
seven Tomcats from VF-74 and VF-103 flying from the USS *Saratoga* 
(CV-60) intercepted the airliner and forced it to land at Sigonella in 
Italy.  Unfortunately, the intervention of Italian guards prevented 
Delta Force commandos from snatching the terrorists away to American 
soil for trial, but the terrorists were prosecuted in Italy.  

During operations in the Gulf of Sidra on March 24-26, 1986, numerous 
strikes were carried out by Navy carrier-based aircraft against Libyan 
targets, with Tomcats flying top cover, keeping Libyan fighters at bay 
and dodging SAMs.  

Operation *El Dorado Canyon* took place against Libya on April 15, 
1986, with USAF F-111Fs attacking Tripoli while Navy strike aircraft 
went after Benghazi.  The latter raid was top-covered by F-14s.  

On January 4, 1989, two F-14As (BuNos 159437 and 159610) from VF-32 
flying off the *John F. Kennedy* (CV-67) shot down a pair of Libyan 
MiG-23 Floggers.  This action was the source of much controversy, 
since the Libyan fighters did not this time actually fire on the 
Tomcats.  However, the maneuvering pattern of the MiGs in which they 
repeatedly turned their noses toward the Tomcats even after the F-14s 
deliberately turned away several times was deemed to be indicative of 
hostile intent, and the Tomcats were given clearance to fire.  Both 
MiG pilots ejected safely, but the Libyan Air Force was unable to 
recover them.  The TCS provided valuable documentation of the 
incident, and video tape images of the MiGs demonstrated that they 
were indeed armed.  

There were some Sidewinder firings by Tomcats flown by VF-21 operating 
aboard the USS *Independence* (CV-62) during the 1988-1989 reflagged 
tanker escort operations in the Persian Gulf.  At one point, there was 
an engagement between two VF-21 Tomcats and a pair of Iranian F-4s, 
with Sparrow and Sidewinder missiles actually being fired.  However, 
these launches were all well out of parameters, and scored no kills.  
So far as is known, USN and Iranian F-14s never challenged each other.  

During Operation *Desert Storm* of January 1991, Tomcats flew mostly 
top cover operations in protection of the fleet's carriers and in the 
escort of strike packages, and did not participate in very much 
air-to-air combat.  The Tomcats are credited with only one kill, which 
came on February 6 when a pair of F-14s of VF-1 shot down a Mil Mi-8 
Hip helicopter with AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles.  One F-14 Tomcat of 
VF-103 was lost in action on January 21 when it was shot down by
an Iraqi SA-2 surface-to-air missile.  This marked the first US Navy
combat loss of an F-14.  Fortunately, the crew ejected safely, with
one crewman being picked up by helicopter and the other being taken 
prisoner.  

The last F-14A (162711) was delivered to the Navy on March 31, 1987.  
After that time, the plans were for production was to shift over to 
the more advanced F-14D version.  However, Tomcat production was 
abruptly halted in February of 1991 in an economy move.  Originally, 
plans called for the conversion of 400 F-14As to F-14D standards.  
However, only 18 F-14As have been converted to F-14D(R) configuration, 
and 32 other have been converted to F-14A Plus (F-14B) configuration.  

NASA had operated two F-14A Tomcats at its Dryden Research Facility at 
Edwards AFB.  BuNo 157991 arrived at Dryden on August 8, 1979, and was 
used in an investigation of flight at low altitude and high angles of 
attack under asymmetric thrust flight conditions.  This plane was 
returned to the Navy on September of 1985.  BuNo 158613 was delivered 
to Dryden on April 8, 1974 and was assigned the NASA number of 834.  
It was used for a variable-sweep flight transition experiment.  It was 
returned to the Navy in September of 1987.  

The following Navy squadrons have operated the F-14A:  

VF-1 "Wolfpack"
	Received first F-14As on July 1, 1973.
	Only F-14 unit to gain a victory during Desert Storm.
	Conversion to F-14D cancelled.
	Disestablished on October 1, 1993.
VF-2 "Bounty Hunters"
 	Received first F-14As in July 1973.
	Converted to F-14D 1991-1993.
VF-11 "Red Rippers"
	Transitioned to F-14A in 1980.
	Transitioned to F-14D in 1991-92.
VF-14 "Top Hatters" 
	Transitioned to F-14A in 1974-75
VF-21 "Freelancers"
	Transitioned to F-14A in 1983-84.
	Scheduled for disestablishment in FY 1996, perhaps
	converting to F/A-18s.
VF-24 "Fighting Renegades"
	Converted to F-14A in November 1975.
	Transitioned to F-14A* in spring/summer 1989.
	Transitioned back to F-14A in June 1992.
	Scheduled for disestablishment in FY 1996.
 VF-31 "Tomcatters"
	Conversion to F-14A in 1980-81.
	Transitioned to F-14D in early 1992.
VF-32 "Swordsmen"
	Converted to F-14A in early 1974.	
VF-33 "Starfighters"
	Converted to F-14A 1980-82.
	Disbanded October 1, 1993.
VF-41 "Black Aces"
	Converted to F-14A in 1976.
VF-51 "Screaming Eagles"
	Converted to F-14A in 1978.
VF-74 "Bedevilers"
	Converted to F-14A in 1983.
	Converted to F-14A+ in 1990
	Disestablished April 1994
VF-84 "Jolly Rogers"
	Converted to F-14A in 1975-77.
	Some reports suggest that this unit will disband in mid-1995.
VF-101 "Grim Reapers"
	Converted to F-14A in 1975.
	F-14A+ taken on charge in 1988.
	Until 1994, was East Cost fleet replenishment squadron for
	the Tomcat.  Is only surviving Tomcat training unit and
	now maintains a detachment at Miramar with F-14Ds.
VF-102 "Diamondbacks"
	Transitioned to F-14A in 1981-82.
VF-103 "Sluggers"
	Transitioned to F-14A in 1983.
	Transitioned to F-14A+ in 1990.
VF-111 "Sundowners"
	Converted to F-14A in 1978.
	Plans for conversion to F-14D cancelled December 1991.
	Scheduled for disestablishment in March of 1995	
VF-114 "Aardvarks"
	Transitioned to F-14A 1975-77.
	Disestablished April 1993.
VF-124 "Gunfighters"
	
"Gunfighters", VF-142 "Ghostriders", VF-143 "Pukin' Dogs", VF-154 
"Black Knights", VF-191 "Satan's Kittens", VF-194 "Red Lightnings", 
VF-201 "Hunters", VF-202 "Superheats", VF-211 "Fighting Checkmates", 
VF-213 "Black Lions", VF-301 "Devil's Disciples", VF-302 "Stallions", 
VX-4 "Evaluators" 

Even today, the F-14A Tomcat is still a potent fighter.  Against 
aircraft such as the F-4 or the MiG-23 "Flogger" the F-14A would have 
few problems in maintaining air-to-air superiority, but its rate and 
radius of turn, thrust-to-weight ratio, and high-angle of attack 
capabilities would leave it at a serious disadvantage against later 
aircraft such as the F-15, F-16, F/A-18, MiG-29 Fulcrum, or Su-27 
Flanker.  Nevertheless, its BVR kill capacity is still unmatched.  

Serial numbers of F-14A Tomcat:

157980			Grumman F-14A-1-GR Tomcat
				w/o 12/30/1970
157981			Grumman F-14A-5-GR Tomcat
157982			Grumman F-14A-10-GR Tomcat
157983			Grumman F-14A-15-GR Tomcat
157984			Grumman F-14A-20-GR Tomcat
157985			Grumman F-14A-25-GR Tomcat
157986			Grumman F-14A-30-GR Tomcat
      				modified as F-14B and then as F-14A(Plus).
157987			Grumman F-14A-35-GR Tomcat
157988			Grumman F-14A-40-GR Tomcat
157989			Grumman F-14A-45-GR Tomcat
157990			Grumman F-14A-50-GR Tomcat
157991			Grumman F-14A-55-GR Tomcat
158612/158619		Grumman F-14A-60-GR Tomcat
				158614 modified for TARPS pod.
				158613/158618 later modified to Block
				130 standards.
158620/158637		Grumman F-14A-65-GR Tomcat
				158620,158637 modified for TARPS pod.
				158620,158624,158626/158637 later modified
				to Block 130 standards.
158978/159006		Grumman F-14A-70-GR Tomcat
159007/159025		Grumman F-14A-75-GR Tomcat
159421/159429		Grumman F-14A-75-GR Tomcat
159430/159468		Grumman F-14A-80-GR Tomcat
159588/159637		Grumman F-14A-85-GR Tomcat
				159591,159606,159612 modified for TARPS pod.
				159610(DR-1),159613(DR-4),159600(DR-5),
				159629(DR-7),159628(DR-8),159619(DR-9),
				159592(DR-10),159595(DR-12),159603(DR-14),
				159635(DR-15),159633(DR-16),159618(DR-17),
				159630(DR-18) converted to F-14D(R).
159825/159874		Grumman F-14A-90-GR Tomcat
160299/160378		Grumman F-14A Tomcat - for Iran under serial numbers
			 	3-863/3-892 and 3-6001/3-6050.  Last one not 
				delivered.
160379/160414		Grumman F-14A-95-GR Tomcat
160652/160696		Grumman F-14A-100-GR Tomcat
				160696 modified for TARPS pod
160887/160930		Grumman F-14A-105-GR Tomcat
				160910, 160911,160914,160915,160920,
				160925,160926,160930 were TARPS capable
161133/161168		Grumman F-14A-110-GR Tomcat 
				161134, 161135,161137,161140,161141,
                                161146,161147,161150,161152,161155,
				161156,161158,161159,161161,161162,
				161164,161168 were TARPS capable
				161159(DR-1),161158(DR-3),161166(DR-6),
				161133(DR-11),161154(DR-13) were converted
				to F-14D(R).
161270/161299		Grumman F-14A-115-GR Tomcat 
				161270,161271,161272,161273,161275,161276,
				161277,161280,161281,161282,161285 were
				TARPS capable.
				161287(KB-5) converted to F-14A(Plus), later
				redesignated F-14B.
161416/161445		Grumman F-14A-120-GR Tomcat 
				161424(KB-1),161426(KB-2),161429(KB-3),
				161418(KB-4),161428(KB-6),161433(KB-7),
				161417(KB-8),161419(KB-9),161440(KB-10),
				161444(KB-11),161427(KB-12),161416(KB-13),
				161442(KB-14),161437(KB-15),161441(KB-16),
				161421(KB-17),161422(KB-18),161425(KB-19),
				161430(KB-22),161432(KB-24),161434(KB-25),
				161435(KB-26),161438(KB-27) converted to
				F-14A(Plus), later redesignated F-14B.
161597/161626		Grumman F-14A-125-GR Tomcat 
				161604,161605,161611,161620,161621,161622,
				161624,161626 were TARPS capable.
				16159?(KB-20),161610(KB-21),161608(KB-23),
				161610(KB-30) converted to F-14A(Plus), later
				redesignated F-14B.
				161623 used as F-14D testbed and later
				redesignated NF-14D.
161850/161879		Grumman F-14A-130-GR Tomcat 
				161851(KB-28),161871(KB-29),161870(KB-31),
				161873(KB-32) converted to F-14A(Plus) and
				later redesignated F-14B
				161867 modified as F-14D testbed, later 
				redesignated NF-14D.
				161865 modified as F-14D testbed.
162588/162611		Grumman F-14A-135-GR Tomcat
				162595 modified as F-14D testbed.
162688/162717		Grumman F-14A-140-GR Tomcat
				712/717 cancelled

Sources:

   Grumman Aircraft Since 1919, Rene J. Francillon, Naval Institute
   Press, 1989.

   Grumman F-14 Tomcat, Doug Richardson, Osprey, 1987.

   F-14 Tomcat: Fleet Defender, Robert F. Dorr, World Airpower
   Journal, Vol 7, 1991.
 
   Grumman F-14 Tomcat Variant Briefing, World Airpower Journal,
   Vol. 19, 1994.

   The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft Armament, Bill Gunston
   Orion, 1988.

   The American Fighter, Enzo Angelucci and Peter Bowers, 
   Orion, 1987.

   Encyclopedia of World Military Aircraft, Volume 1, David Donald
   and Jon Lake, AirTime, 1994.

   The World's Great Interceptor Aircraft, Gallery Books, 1989. 

   The Fury of Desert Storm: The Air Campaign, Bert Kinzey, McGraw-Hill,
   1991.


Joe Baugher			  **************************************
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