Grumman F-14D Super Tomcat - End of a Legendary Era

Real.

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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

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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

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I would rather they give the AIM-54C(ECCM/SEALED) instead of the AIM-54C to the F-14D.

Historically, the F-14D + AIM-54C (ECCM/SEALED) have been allowed this loadout, which was not possible with the A and B models due to coolant issues.
f-14-3b

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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.

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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.

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Man I hope the f14D comes to game in next update or the one after that

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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.

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I got a question about the an/awg 9 radar band being I band and not X band I thought it was x band?

I band it is part of X band.
image
I band it is NATO code, when X band - IEEE code.

Oh okay thanks

The range at which one can detect a 22 with IRST or the range for the F-22’s planned IRST?

I would assume around 60-80 miles. That’s if the F-22 wasn’t using the IR reflective coat. The F-22s is estimated around 250-305.

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The F-14D (and B by proxy) can supercruise.
Screenshot 2025-05-10 at 11.41.57 PM

Someone should test these acceleration times. This is great info.
Screenshot 2025-05-10 at 11.42.33 PM

That time-to-climb is crazy. That’s matching the F-15E and EFT. And that’s with a payload!

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Wow the tomcat was incredible. Makes me wonder what other teen series are actually capable of. I mean they are still around for a reason

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What source did you use to find those figures?

Screenshot 2025-05-11 at 9.20.07 AM

Thanks. Since it’s an encyclopedia, which often oversimplifies things, I’m taking it with a grain of salt and questioning its accuracy and credibility. The book was published in 1998, so it’s likely that not much information about the F-14D was available at the time.

Here’s the background of the authors and editor:

Since two of them served in the US Air Force and one worked with the US Naval Institute, they may have some credibility, as they could have had access to highly sensitive or classified information.

Here’s the acknowledgement regarding how they obtained such data:

It definitely sounds trustworthy. However, the authors did not provide sources to back up the data on the F-14D, so we can’t be certain of its accuracy.

Nevertheless, it’s interesting, thanks for sharing. I’m curious to hear what others think about this.

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“The only completely new weapon adopted by the F-14D was the AIM-120 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile)” - Grumman F-14 Tomcat (Crowood Aviation) | David Baker


It seems like the more sources I find on the F-14D the more stuff I find about either it’s radar, the AMRAAM compatibility, or Engines.