If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
"End of an era: USN's Tomcats make their final approach before decommissioning"
JANE'S NAVY INTERNATIONAL - MARCH 01, 2006
End of an era: USN's Tomcats make their final approach before decommissioning The US Navy is set to decommission its F-14 Tomcats this month. Robert Hewson takes a look at some of their final deployments and the force's transition to the Super Hornet It is end of an era in US naval aviation as the withdrawal of its last Grumman F-14 Tomcats draws near. Only two F-14 squadrons survive in US Navy (USN) service today. Both are flying as part of Carrier Air Wing 8 (CVW-8) aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), deployed to the Persian Gulf for operations over Iraq. On 7 February 2006, CVW-8 flew its last scheduled mission in support of Operation 'Iraqi Freedom' and began preparations to head home for Norfolk, Virginia. Once back at NAS Oceana the Tomcats will be progressively decommissioned and disappear forever from US service. During the four months that they were on station, the VF-31 'Tomcatters' and VF-213 'Blacklions' flew F-14D 'Bombcats' on close air-support taskings - a world away from the fleet-defence mission the aircraft was built for. Instead of engaging Soviet Tu-22 'Backfires' with massed launches of the extremely long-range Phoenix air-to-air missiles, the last Tomcats carry LANTIRN targeting pods and Joint Direct Attack Munitions, to conduct airborne forward air-control missions hundreds of miles inland. Gulf missions When the Roosevelt arrived in the Gulf it brought more combat aircraft to the region than the entire US Air Force (USAF) presence there. Twenty-two Tomcats - 11 per squadron - went to war alongside CVW-8's two F/A-18C Hornet units (VFA-15 and VFA-87). The carrier came on station on 5 October 2005, and its jets flew (almost) daily combat missions on a 24-hour cycle. During the deployment a small handful of between six and eight Hornets and Prowlers were sent ashore to Al Asad air base. The rest of the Air Wing's operations were flown from the ship, with the greatest area of interest being northern Iraq. For the crews this meant a continuum of six- or seven-hour missions, tasked mostly in support of the US Army and marines. However, as one F-14 crew member noted: "We end up bombing for the marines more because they seem to end up where the action is." Routinely, the Tomcat squadrons are launching 12 to 16 sorties a day. The overall sortie rate was not a high one, but the duration of missions was at least twice as long as usual. A VF-213 pilot described the typical day: "After we launch we tank en route to the target area. We get on station and then we tank again. We return to station and then we tank again before heading back to the ship. We spend about four hours in the AOR [area of responsibility], with an hour or an hour-and-a-half transition each way. We might send a section of jets to Mosul and a section to Baghdad or wherever they are needed. They stay there until replaced by the next set of jets from the ship." CVW-8 does no organic tanking for its strike aircraft. The carrier's tanker-configured S-3 Vikings are used as recovery tankers only. Like the Tomcats, the Vikings have come to the end of the road, at least with CVW-8. The next time the Air Wing goes to sea the S-3s will have been retired. Air Wing 8 did not deliver the same level of ordnance demanded during the peak of fighting in Iraq but, between them, its four squadrons attacked about one target a day throughout the deployment. The F-14Ds were cleared to carry the GBU-38 JDAM in September 2005 and this quickly became the preferred weapon for virtually all missions. One F-14D pilot noted: "Why would you use a GBU-12 [Paveway II laser-guided bomb] if you have a GBU-38? If you have the target co-ordinates, use it. You know the bomb will go straight there and it has a steeper impact angle than the GBU-12 so it is more effective." Collateral damage One serious issue faced by the Air Wing, and all air forces in the region, is the realisation that standard 500 lb weapons, once thought of as very small bombs, are now too big to be used safely against the target set found in Iraq, or Afghanistan. One experienced USN combat aviator described the situation in Iraq today as one where, "we are being asked to hit that group of guys over there but try not to hit the other bunch of people beside them". The collateral damage risk from a 500 lb bomb in an urban or semi-urban environment is becoming unacceptable and the USN has a particular dilemma because it is not part of the small diameter bomb (SDB) programme - a 250 lb-class precision weapon to be fielded by the USAF later this year. Typically, the Tomcats flew with just two 500 lb bombs. To carry any more the aircraft have to be fitted with the ventral weapons pannier. This configuration is never used today, because it adds another 1,800 lb to the F-14 and presents great difficulties with landing weight for recovery aboard the carrier. Ground strafing The F-14Ds are also armed with a 20 mm M61 Vulcan cannon and, extraordinarily, these guns were used for ground strafing on two occasions by VF-213 (and also by F/A-18Cs). The pilot for one of these attacks talked about the mission, flown against insurgents in Husbayah, during November's Operation 'Steel Curtain'. "We dropped both our bombs on parts of a housing complex but some guys with RPGs made it out and ran to another section. We were asked to hang on by the JTAC [Joint Terminal Attack Controller, a forward air controller] on the ground and we told him we had 500 rounds in the gun. We did two runs - roll in from 10,000 ft, shoot at 4,000 ft and pull out at 2,500 ft." The after-action report filed by the US Marines who had been under fire noted that the target building was completely destroyed by the gunfire. Super Hornets When CVW-8 returns to the US in March the Tomcats will give way to Super Hornets. VF-31 will transition to the F/A-18E and VF-213 will transition to the F/A-18F. A VF-31 pilot summed up his feelings about handing in his Tomcat: "Our F-14Ds are working better than ever now. The F/A-18E/F is an aircraft with several known issues but it will be great when it is finished. I am confident that our brand-new E/Fs will be just as capable as our F-14s." |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
GPS approach question | Matt Whiting | Instrument Flight Rules | 30 | August 29th 08 03:54 AM |
Procedure Turn | Bravo8500 | Instrument Flight Rules | 65 | April 22nd 04 03:27 AM |
USAF = US Amphetamine Fools | RT | Military Aviation | 104 | September 25th 03 03:17 PM |