Editing Grumman F-14 Tomcat (section)

===Armament===
[[File:F-14 carrying AMRAAM.jpg|thumb|F-14 Tomcat carrying an [[AIM-120 AMRAAM]] during a 1982 test]]

The F-14 was designed to combat highly maneuverable aircraft as well as the Soviet anti-ship cruise missile and [[bomber]] ([[Tupolev Tu-16]], [[Tupolev Tu-22]], [[Tupolev Tu-22M]]) threats.<ref name="Spang_VF10"/> The Tomcat was to be a platform for the AIM-54 Phoenix, but unlike the canceled F-111B, it could also engage medium- and short-range threats with other weapons.<ref name="Spang_Background"/><ref name="Spang_VF10"/> The F-14 is an [[air superiority fighter]], not just a long-range interceptor aircraft.<ref name="Spang_VF10"/> Over {{convert|6700|kg|abbr=on}} of stores can be carried for combat missions on several [[hardpoint]]s under the fuselage and under the wing gloves. Commonly, this means a maximum of four Phoenixes or Sparrows on the belly stations, two Phoenixes/Sparrows on the wing hardpoints, and two Sidewinders on the wing glove hardpoints.{{citation needed|date=September 2011}} The F-14 is also fitted with an internal 20&nbsp;mm M61 Vulcan rotary cannon. The Tomcat could also support MK-80 - MK-84 GBUs on its hardpoints. While in this configuration it was known to pilots as a "Bombcat".{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}

Operationally, the capability to hold up to six Phoenix missiles was never used, although early testing was conducted; there was never a threat requirement to engage six hostile targets simultaneously and the load was too heavy to safely recover aboard an aircraft carrier in the event that the missiles were not fired. During the height of Cold War operations in the late 1970s and 1980s, the typical weapon loadout on carrier-deployed F-14s was usually two AIM-54 Phoenixes, augmented by two AIM-9 Sidewinders, three AIM-7 Sparrows, a full loadout of [[20 mm caliber|20 mm]] ammunition and two drop tanks.{{citation needed|date=September 2011}} The Phoenix missile was used twice in combat by the U.S. Navy, both over Iraq in 1999,<ref>Rausa, Zeno. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20090405151051/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3834/is_199907/ai_n8861814/pg_4/ Vinson/CVW-11 "Vinson/CVW-11 report."]}} ''Wings of Gold'', Summer 1999. Retrieved: 8 December 2009.</ref><ref>Holmes 2005, pp. 16, 17.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=852 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061002103651/http://www.defenselink.mil/Transcripts/Transcript.aspx?TranscriptID=852 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 October 2006 |title=Briefing |publisher=defenselink.mil |date=5 January 1999 |access-date=8 December 2009}}</ref> but the missiles did not score any kills.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}} According to retired RIO Dave Baranek, the first two launch failures, on January 5, 1999, occurred when two F-14D Super Tomcats, carrying AIM-54Cs, fired two Phoenix missiles at a pair of MiG-23 jets. The missiles' rocket motors did not ignite because they were improperly armed prior to launch from the carrier.<ref>Cooper, Tom, In The Claws of the Tomcat, Helion & Company, 2021, p.63</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Launching the Phoenix and dogfighting against the F-15: Q & A with F-14 Tomcat RIO Dave "Bio" Baranek Part 2|url=https://theaviationgeekclub.com/launching-the-phoenix-and-dogfighting-against-the-f-15-q-a-with-f-14-tomcat-rio-dave-bio-baranek-part-2/ |date=3 March 2021 |access-date=9 August 2023}}</ref> However, as two F/A-18s chased the two MiG-23s, one MiG-23 ran out of fuel and crashed, killing the pilot.  The US Navy did not claim a kill, but Captain James T. Knight, commander of CVW-11, said "Screw him...a kill is a kill."<ref>Cooper, Tom, In The Claws of the Tomcat, Helion & Company, 2021, p.64</ref> On 14 September 1999, an F-14D assigned to CVW-2 aboard the [[aircraft carrier]] {{USS|Constellation|CV-64|6}} fired an AIM-54C missile at a MiG-23 at very long range.  The MiG-23 quickly turned and fled, and was able to outrun the missile.  Lieutenant Commander Coby "Coach" Loessberg, the Super Tomcat's pilot, commented afterward that had the Tomcat been closer to the center of the envelope, at optimal speed and altitude, a kill would have been more likely.<ref>Cooper, Tom, In The Claws of the Tomcat, Helion & Company, 2021, pp. 64-5</ref>

[[File:Irani F-14 Tomcats carrying AIM-54 Phoenixs.jpg|thumb|Two Iranian Tomcats equipped with multiple missiles, {{Circa|1986}}, in the midst of a project to adapt [[I-Hawk]] surface-to-air missiles for F-14s<ref name=Ward />]]
Iran made use of the Phoenix system, claiming [[List of Iranian aerial victories during the Iran–Iraq war|dozens of kills]] with it during the 1980–1988 [[Iran–Iraq War]]. Due to the shortage of air-to-air missiles as a result of sanctions, Iran tried to use other missiles on the Tomcat.  It attempted to integrate the Russian [[R-27 (air-to-air missile)|R-27R]] "Alamo" BVR missile, but was apparently unsuccessful.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Taghvaee|first=Babak|date=23 August 2018|title=New Claws for the Persian Cats|url=https://www.key.aero/article/new-claws-persian-cats|access-date=30 December 2020|website=Key.Aero|quote=Integration of AIM-9J and AIM-7E-2 with the Tomcat’s weapons system was a temporary solution for Iran and because of that, the deputy of Industrial Research and SSJ started working in the 1990s on plans for integrating the Russian Vympel R-27R medium-range semi-active radar homing AAM with the AWG-9 radar. The project was eventually abandoned because of insurmountable technical issues. There was a similar project to integrate the short-range Vympel R-73E with the F-14’s ire control system but this didn’t work because of the lack of an infrared search and track (IRST) system on Iran's Tomcats. The missile's performance when used in conjunction with an F-14 was much inferior to that achieved when it was launched from a MiG-29. Launching the R-73E without input from an IRST reduced the missile’s range to less than what Tomcat’s could achieve with their ageing AIM-9Js.|archive-date=31 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201231034005/https://www.key.aero/article/new-claws-persian-cats|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1985, Iran started Project Sky Hawk, attempting to adapt [[I-Hawk]] surface-to-air missiles, which Iran had in its inventory, for F-14s. The modified missiles were successfully tested in 1986 and one or two were used in combat, but the project was abandoned due to guidance problems.<ref name=Ward>{{cite book |last1=Ward |first1=Steven R. |title=Immortal, Updated Edition: A Military History of Iran and Its Armed Forces |date=2014 |publisher=Georgetown University Press |isbn=9781626160323 |page=272 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MOuVAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA272 |language=en |access-date=7 November 2020 |archive-date=13 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313163850/https://books.google.com/books?id=MOuVAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA272 |url-status=live}}</ref>