This says cleared for public release. It’s a Raytheon document/brochure from 2003-4 that states F-14D (not A or B) as a AIM-9X user.
The Raytheon AIM-9X team is
the world leader in advanced
digital aircraft weapons
integration.This weapon system
design experience includes
the AMRAAM;
the AMRAAM/AIM-9X compatible digital
launcher;
the F-14D,F/A-18E/F,
and F-15 advanced radars;
and F-22 weapon system.We
understand the digital combat
environment and the critical
weapon system parameters
necessary to fight and win in
the pre- and post-merge arena.
Here says things ,too. And explains how it’s done and under what conditions etc.
I’ll try and find something more valid when i get home, i can’t from work.
But, yeah … the missile started to exist when the plane was still active , so it isn’t so outworldy to be able to carry it , maybe not in full potential. We are talking Block I always.
For anyone curious why I say only the F-14D when the document states simply “F-14” it goes for all these planes that one of their variants couldn’t carry AMRAAMs. Plus, the F-14D is the only one with Link 16 Datalink to guide the missile in effectively.
This is not enough to prove that the F-14D can use AIM-9X, because the F-22, which is mentioned together, does not have AIM-9X capability before Inc 3.2B modernization. Also there is no mention on AIM-9X testing for F-14, unlike F/A-18 and F-15.
And the F-14 was not a candidate for AIM-9X integration in 2004.
It makes more sense to interpret this as simply listing efforts on weapons and their subsystems that Raytheon was involved in. This is evidenced by the fact that everything mentioned there (APG-63/70/71/73/77/79, AIM-120, AIM-9X, F-22 weapon system) is either a Raytheon product or has Raytheon involvement.
Also, a post on GlobalSecurity is not a valid source on its own.
Ready for this with AIM-7P’s, AIM-54C’s, and AIM-9M’s. AIM-120’s would be pretty trippy with it, maybe a test-bed F-14D version could come with them instead? Either way +1
It could be nice to have the 2 AIM-54C variants the Mk60 and Mk47 54C
The Mk60 motors are apparently identical in both missiles, if I understand correctly they are a “medium” smoke motor.
The Mk47 comes in Mod.0 on the A, and Mod.1 on the C, apparently with very similar performance but being very smoky on the A and almost entirely smokeless on the C.
To give more of a variety on playstyle, if you want to Phoenix but have different abilities or 120’s for a more general use
Additional Note: F-14B uses the Mk47 and Mk60, whilst the one we have is Mk47 which is very smoky
I agree, but just a bit to add on. It was the Aim-54C+ ECCM/Sealed that allowed the loadout. And any F-14 could use that loadout with the specific version of the Aim-54C. Now if the A or B models actually did, I don’t entirely know. Only the F-14B (U) and F-14D did due to them being the newest variants.
AIM-54C (ECCM/SEALED) can be installed on all Tomcat models given the time of production, but coolant is still needed on the A and B models.
Afaik, F-14B(U) never gets LAU-132 launcher because the upgrade program was primarily limited to JDAM, GPU, Sparrowhawk HUD, and PTID, and didn’t include any retrofits related to AIM-54.
In any case, it was very rare to mount an AIM-54 on anything other than Station 3/6 because of the massive drag.
Just to put this in perspective, if that pilot’s claim that the F-14D IRST can detect from 190+ miles away is true, then the F-14D can single out bomber sized and fighter sized targets from 305km away, slave it to radar, and get a track from that range. That’s almost Cleveland, Ohio to Washington DC. With a radar and IRST system that powerful that really shows how advanced American IRST is. It makes sense that the F-14D could radar lock reduced RCS targets from up to 175km and even the F-22 using the IRST.
And that isn’t some one, off thing the pilot was talking about. The F-22’s rumored IRST ranges are even higher than that.
