In the defense circles, still a debated topic is the retired time of the F-14 Tomcat, which may have been circling in the skies decades before its apparent successor, the F-22 Raptor.
However, the pilot, from credible information, was able to make a velocity that surpassed Mach 2.3 during the flight test, which undoubtedly surpasses the capability that the F-22 Raptor flaunts. Some people think that the U.S. Navy may have retired it too early, but the discussion over the idea is still hotly contested.
Developed to meet the demand for an all-weather, long-range, high-endurance interceptor, the F-14 Tomcat became the backbone of the U.S. Navy. The aircraft was fitted with advanced radar, long-range missiles, and countermeasures.
Huge maintenance costs made the F-14 hangar an expensive place, and the aircraft was retired in 2006. When the Air Force contemplates the retirement of the F-22, some think that lessons might be learned if this is compared to the early retirement of the Tomcat.
The F-22 Raptor, all high speed, all bells and whistles was not the first in a line of US fighters to reach Mach 2.0, though it was that more recent leader among them. The F-14 Tomcat, developed decades prior, could claim to reach Mach 2.3, a speed equal to that of the new kid on the block, the Raptor.
Following the close of World War II, the US Navy committed to a long-term program of developing a long-range, high-endurance interceptor that could defend against incoming Soviet attacks on the carrier battle groups. This culminated in the aircraft design for the Fleet Air Defense that would come to be known as the F-14 Tomcat. Equipped to carry long-range AWG-9 radar and AIM-54 Phoenix missiles, the F-14 was another giant step ahead of its predecessors.
It also sported eight hardpoints, which could be used for carrying ordnance, along with a General Electric Vulcan M61A-1mm gun, along 675 rounds of ammunition.
The F-14 Tomcat had installed BAE Systems Integrated Defense Solutions and Lockheed Martin AN/ALE-39 chaff, flare, and decoy dispensers and incorporated a Raytheon radar warning system and BAES Systems Information and Electronic Warfare Systems jammer.
Little did anyone know, however, that all that was to change with the collapse of the Soviet Union, which then made it somewhat difficult to justify the very high maintenance costs incurred by the F-14.
Popular Mechanics observed, “If there wasn’t a ‘high-tech’ adversarial air force that the F-14 was created to counter in the post-Cold War era, there wasn’t as pressing a need for the Tomcat.”
The greatest argument for retiring the Tomcat was that it required 30-60 hours of maintenance for every hour it spent in the air. Yet, by the late 1990s, the Navy had refitted many of its Tomcats with the new LANTIRN system. The service was phased out completely by 2006.
The retirement of the Tomcats meant that carriers did not maintain a high-speed air-to-air capability. The F/A-18 Hornet was introduced nearly a decade after the Tomcat, but it has been updated through several upgrades.
The F/A-18 Block III Super Hornet is still in production and flown. Had the Tomcat also been upgraded over the years, its time in service could have lasted much longer.
The Air Force is trying to retire most of its remaining Raptor fleet now, to make budget room for extra F-35s and the incoming Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program.
Many analysts object to that, considering the F-22 still outpaces the F-35 in so-called close air combat situations and would be an asset in potential conflicts between Washington and Beijing. The service could consider the consequences of the retirement of Tomcat too soon as it will drive out other F-22 fighter jets.