The first F-14s were delivered in 1973, and by April 1975, when the evacuation of Saigon took place, F-14s were participating in the final days Operation Frequent Wind. They flew combat air patrols.
F-15: First flew on July 27, 1972, delivered 2 years later
F-16: First flight was on February 2, 1974
Of the original 3 teen series fighters, it’s only about 1 year older than them at the most. In the same breath, I could say the F-15 and F-16 are museum pieces.
F-14 first flew 1970 though, you are comparing them with first flight. and you can say that about early F-15 and F-16 but tbf they are still actively in use, albeit in later versions (and idk if youve heard, but the USAF retired its last air superiority F-15 quite recently)
F-14 used first microprocessor, has a mech scan radar that would rival the Eurofighters, and ultimately can take off from and land on carriers.
Beyond that, would have been compatible with meteor, AMRAAM, and other long range missile projects. It was as useful as the typhoon and was in service 3 decades prior.
Speaking of carrier takeoffs. The idea of a carrier Gripen confounds me. From my understanding, twin engine like tomcat is much more favorable for carrier use.
Single engine saves weight, is the future of carrier fighters afaik. Look at F-35B.
i guess if engines have become much more reliable then you are right. F/A-XX might be twin engine though
idont see euro typhoon active in any conflict.
F-14 with lacking parts held the skys of one on the middle east vast countries for 8 years
The F-14 airframe was also way ahead of it’s time*. Whether through extensive work and dedication or copious amounts of luck (both), it could stand up to newer contemporaries for decades.
*design phase
Bait used to be believable
The F14 they could of been compatible with AMRAAM was the F14D which has a completely different radar based on APG-70
To say that rivals the Eurofighter radar is just a massive cope so big in fact that you come across as just baiting
There is a reason the F14D had a new radar which is that AWG-9 was outdated with mostly analogue components
Arguing that it rivals ECR is quite funny when they are miles apart in terms of performance and build
you baiting here or?..
are you like actually serious?
because this is like as wrong as it gets
AWG-9/APG-70 APG-71 are miles apart from ECR-90? they don’t even play in the same League
AWG-9 and APG-70 are also quite far apart as well
Well in the case of the F14D its APG-71
The AN/APG-71 is arguably on par with the Captor-M. It’s still classified, but we know it was more powerful (even the AWG-9 could burn through advanced ECM due to its sheer power) and had 2x the range without even factoring in the data linked 740km track the 71 could do. It also had a form of “sensor fusion” in the sense that the RWR and Radar communicated to slew the radar to priority targets. Same could be done with its EW/ECM systems.
Note: The APG-71 has better systems to support its track, as the IRST and TCS can also slave to the radar, and those can’t be notched or decoyed. So along with the margin to notch the radar being reduced significantly, the F-14D also has a good IRST with around the same range as the radar to keep it in check the whole way through. That’s plenty for even the strictest RoE.
The Eurofighter also has an IRST and most importantly Sensor fusion
The EF also has far better weapon systems for both BVR and WVR, mainly the meteor and ASRAAM / IRIS-T
I didn’t want to touch on it, but the EFT IRST is garbage. It’s more in line with the even more trash Russian IRSTs. The F-14D’s actually has some power and functionality around it with 190+ mile range.
Purely due to it being newer. Had the US not been complete morons, the ST-21 would’ve developed with the AAAM Aim-152 ACMID. Basically a meteor missile. And for WVR the F-14D already had the Aim-120 and Aim-9X.
Well, thats more about boeing lobby
CAPTOR-M is so heavily classified that I’d be surprised if the public, including you, even know what it can do
we know not that much about it besides it being able to compete with PESA radars and early AESA radars
it achives this by having alot of computing power behind it
it is said that the Capator-M is able to run ground mapping modes and air to air modes interweaved/ at the same time
well good luck with that, it is the same ppl who retired one of the coolest jets for the F-18
the US could also have the ASRAAM but they dicided to make the inferior aim-9x and they are only now starting to catch up to the ASRAAM and IRIS-T with the aim-9x blk 3
the EF is also able of carring all possible Aim-120 variants and they are starting to get AESA radars as well
