FLIGHT
International,
7 January
1971
29
Duty carried out: two Jet Provost T.5s returning
to RAF Linton-on-Ouse, Yorks (No / Flying
Training School), after a student formation
training sortie
F-14 amd t h e Ui
ALTHOUGH THE FIRST Grumman
F-14
Tomcat came to grief on its second
test Might through hydraulics system
failure on December 30, both pilots
ejecting safely, there is no doubt that
the US Navy will get out of this programme the air superiority fighter it
needs.
Some idea of Naval thinking on this
project and its background has been
given in an article in Grumman
Horizons by Capt L. S. "Scotty"
Lamoreaux, USN, F-14 Project Coordinator, Office of the Chief of Naval
Operations, and a former USN F-4
Phantom operational pilot. He writes:
"Today, the F-4 Phantom is our
country's top fighter. Designed as a
Navy intercepter some 15 years ago,
it has been used in multiple roles by
the Navy, Marines and Air Force. But
although it still retains some performance growth potential, the F-4 will not
have the manoeuvrability to fight the
new lighters the Russians have developed during the past decade.
"The Russians acquired their jet
technology from the Germans. By
1950-51, they had built a fleet of MiG15s—the fighters used by the Chinese
Communists during the Korean conflict. More recent Soviet developments,
identified as lighter threats, include
the MiG-21 Fishbed, exported to
satellite countries, with manoeuvrability
slightly better than our F-4; Su-11
Flagon, all-weather, long-range, advanced fire-control system, a deadly
air-to-air capability; and the MiG-23
Foxbat, a new high - performance
fighter with speeds and altitudes
exceeding the Phantom's. In addition,
air-to surface missiles carried by
Blinder and Badger bombers can be
lavy
launched from stand-off ranges of up
to 150 miles. Soviet warships and
shore installations are equipped with
both surface-to-surface and surface-toair missiles, an ever-present threat to
our ships and aircraft.
"We won the air war in Vietnam
with the F-4 Phantom and the F-8
Crusader—mainly due to the skill of
our pilots. Today, advances in Soviet
technology are rapidly closing the gap
with more capable aircraft. The time
has come to provide our- Air- Wings
with a fighter- designed from scratch
for air superiority.
"This new fighter-—the F-14—is
under way. It is an air-superiority
weapoir system designed around a
combat weapon load of four- Sparrows,
the air-to-air missile currently used on
the F-4. Multiple weapons flexibility
permits use of Phoenix and Sidewinder missiles, plus an internal M-61
20mm cannon. The F-14 is being built
to meet enemy fighters anywhere, as
well as bomber and missile threats
to the attack carrier striking force,
from the mid-1970s into the 1980s.
"As in the early days of the F-4, mis-
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leading information has been publicised within and without the Navy
concerning the F-14 programme. To
set the record straight, we will describe
the F-14 and how we will use it.
"To ensure tighter- deployment in a
minimum of time, the F-14A will use
the flight-proven TF50-P-412 engines
and a new version of the already developed AWG-9 weapons control system. The programme provides growth
factors in speed, range and advanced
avionics—with no increase in weight
—to guarantee air superiority in the
years to come.
"The F-14 is all fighter-. Multimission capability has not been permitted to dilute the original concept
or degrade the performance required
to out-ily and out-light any aircraft
Royal Air Force Jaguar pilot and glider pilots:
Sqn Ldr Neil R. Hayward, operational requirements liaison officer at Warton (below left),
first RAF pilot to fly the S.06 prototype at BAC
Preston; and below, 17-year-old Craft Apprentice Ambrose Breen of RAF Halton,
winner of the RAF Gliding and Soaring
Association "novice of tfie year" award, with
Air Cdre G. J. C. Paul (centre), founder of
the RAF GSA, and Fit Lt John Williamson,
1970 Sport and Standard Class champion