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April 02, 2003
Old Birds
From ABC News: A F-14 Tomcat strike fighter crashed into the Iraqi desert during a bombing mission early Wednesday after a mechanical failure caused its engines to fail, senior Navy officers said. It now takes 33 hours of maintenance on the carrier for every hour an F-14 spends in the air. We can't buy F/A-18Es and F-35Ns fast enough. Posted By Stephen Green at April 2, 2003 01:01 PM | TrackBackComments
jeez, they should be using those just for air superiority (like we need it). square peg in round hole. Posted by: bad ash at April 2, 2003 01:08 PMIt is remarkable that the aircraft are wearing out as opposed to getting shot down. Posted by: Jeff at April 2, 2003 01:11 PMActually I believe the Tomcat became operational in 75. Though the orriginal design work dates back to the 60s and the attempt to navalize the F-111. Old bird...yea...but it kicks the crap out of any F18....it's called legs, firepower, capability, just plain old kick ass and take names rock and roll. Speed and power kill and the F14 has both. It has been the workhorse in Afghanistan and in Iraq for the Navy. The F18 is a gas guzzling little pig that needs to be tanked after takeoff and several more times to hit the target and come back. Heaven forbid if it has to bingo.. The F14s are just loitering over Iraq and nailing them them with JDAMS. After all it can sit over those targets for hours, if need be, before needing to refuel. It carries more weight and is the best fighter bomber in the US arsenal, bar none (close air support I would prefer the A-10 or the A-6). Plus, it still has the best fighter radar system in the world. Posted by: Joe at April 2, 2003 02:10 PMWhere are you getting 33 hours of maintenance from? It's more like 4 hours according to Navy friends of mine who work on them. F-14s are slower to maneuver than F-18s but the firepower and warfare capabilites are still unmatched in head-to-head comparisons. Posted by: John at April 2, 2003 02:30 PMPost a comment
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