F-14A Tomcat

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The F-14A entered US Navy service in 1974 to defend carrier groups from long range bombers. Its wings sweep automatically from forward to fully back as speed rises, giving lift for slow carrier approaches and low drag at high speed, and its AWG-9 radar could track twenty four targets while guiding AIM-54 Phoenix missiles out past a hundred miles. The A model was let down by its TF30 engines, which were prone to compressor stalls if the throttles were handled roughly at high angle of attack. On MCS the Tomcat is a long range hunter. It opens engagements far outside visual range and is happiest killing before anyone sees it. Dragged into a close turning fight it is large, heavy and needs careful throttle discipline, though the swing wings do let it turn better than its size suggests. Recommended for patient pilots who fight with the radar first.