F-14 Tomcat: History, Performance & Discussion

you could have just wrote that in the reply you sent me tho

and he is claiming that the F-14D is able to increase its radar range through DL

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Hes confusing width with lenght.

well i dont think that since he specifies a range in a later comment

so from what i can get the F-14 can just breaks the laws of Physics by using DL

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Yeah, no It doesnt increase the range.

I think he is just confused on how data link works

AN/AWG-9 - Wikipedia.

The AN/APG-71 radar on the F-14D was digitally redesigned from the older AWG-9, giving it greater range and signal processing. While the radar itself could detect targets out to 460 miles, the mechanical antenna limited usable tracking to about 230 miles. However, thanks to the F-14D’s advanced datalink and the APG-71’s digital architecture, two aircraft could network their radar feeds—allowing one jet to transmit long-range radar data to another. This enabled the system to bypass individual antenna limits and operate closer to its true range potential. Unlike standard datalink, this setup leveraged the APG-71’s digital signal processing to interpret and act on external radar returns in real time. Unlike a fighter receiving targeting data from an AWACS, which provides general situational awareness or track data, the F-14D’s system allowed direct sharing of raw data between aircraft. his was more integrated than standard datalink, which typically doesn’t support full radar functionality or control. This is a F-14D only ability.

I know who didn’t pass Physics in highschool…

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Nobody is confused. Apparently, you guys can’t comprehend what I’m telling you. It’s not even that foreign of a concept.

So what is your source for this bit? None of that appears in the Wikipedia article (and what is in the Wikipedia article doesn’t appear to be cited to anything).

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well if wikipedia is an accepted source now it should be really easy to get 2 extra amraams on the Ef

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The wikipedia article doesnt state anything about how the DL works, though it does specify the fact that the AWG-9 is limited by the antenna size rather than power but thats about it. The AWG-9 is bottlenecked by the antenna to a range of 230 nautical miles.

The only way an F-14 would see a target past that distance would be if another F-14 was closer to the target (within the radar range) and shared the information via DL with the other.

If two F-14s are flying formation and theres a target 300 miles out, neither one would be able to see it with or without Datalink.

I also cannot find any information of a similar capability to what you mentioned on things such as Link 4 (the F-14 Datalink).

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Is this against afterburning or non-afterburning targets? The data for the OLS-35 is for non-afterburning target

Could be that radar on last flight before maintenance or something

I’m explaining how the ability works. Without the manual, we only have pilot testimony and publicly available information.

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So 1 tomcat was farther ahead and relayed it back right?

I don’t know if you’re just refusing the listen or you simply arent trying to understand. This is not normal datalink.

Think of it like this. The AWG-9 has an untapped potential that it can’t reach due to its antenna, so its maximum range is 230 miles. The APG-71 has the same problem, but has upgrades to put its problem into the perspective of code. Using datalink, Hughes combined the antennas of both radars to tap into the full potential of the system. This is possible because the system was always capable of this performance. Nothing new is being added performance-wise. It’s not normal datalink because both radars are already capable. They’re not doing something they couldn’t do systemically before. It’s not like AWACS - Fighter Datalink where it plots stuff onto the displays and shows stuff out of reach to the receiving aircraft. It’s not showing stuff 800km out.

Honestly I don’t know why this is so hard to comprehend. It explains it perfectly fine in that one sentence alone if you take the time to process what it says.

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No.

How the hell did they combine the signals of the radars in the 80’s/90’s when it was designed? That’s stupidly complicated when you really think about it

And don’t you think other stuff would have this if it was seriously that effective?

they already had this type stuff on the AEGIS radar systems in 1973

So it’s some death star beam type stuff?
And could you please elaborate

data link between ships was already a thing with AEGIS combat systems by the time f14d came about one ship can monitor the radars of all the ships in the carrier strike group and guide munitions even if the ship that launched the missile is sunk