Editing Grumman F-14 Tomcat (section)

===Production termination===
In the early 1980s, the Navy anticipated that an Advanced Carrier-Borne Multirole Fighter (VFMX) would eventually be the long term high-end replacement for the F-14 and A-6, although this program was short-lived and was succeeded by separate efforts for fleet air defense and deep strike/attack; the latter would become the ATA program under which the A-12 Avenger II was being developed.<ref>{{cite report |last1=Parker Jr. |first1=James F |last2=Christensen |first2=Diane G. |last3=Mutimer |first3=George R. |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA177469.pdf |title=Life Support and Protection Requirements for the Head/Neck Region of Navy Aircrewmen |date=December 1986 |publisher=Office of Naval Research |page=7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Larrimer |first=Bruce I. |title=Think Obliquely: Robert T. Jones, the Oblique Wing, NASA's AD-1 Demonstrator, and Its Legacy |url=https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/ThinkingObliquely-ebook.pdf |publisher=National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) |location= |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-62683-005-9 |page=144}}</ref> In 1988, the service announced that it would procure a derivative of the Air Force's [[Advanced Tactical Fighter]] (ATF), named the Navy Advanced Tactical Fighter (NATF) that would eventually have been a [[Lockheed YF-22#NATF-22|navalized variant]] of the [[Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor|F-22]], as the long term F-14 replacement.<ref>{{cite report |url=https://www.gao.gov/assets/nsiad-90-54.pdf |title=Report to the Chairman, Committee on Armed Services, House of Representatives: Navy's Participation in Air Force's Advanced Tactical Fighter Program |publisher=United States Government Accounting Office |date=March 1990}}</ref> However, the collapse of the Soviet Union resulted in declining defense budgets and also in a steep increase in the unit cost of the ATF and NATF due to reduced production rates. With tightening budgets, the Navy chose to focus on its top aviation priority, the A-12, and canceled the NATF in 1991, believing that the F-14D with upgrades would be viable for fleet air defense until 2015. However, the A-12 was cancelled shortly afterwards due to cost overruns and technical problems. As a result, the Navy launched a new attack aircraft program, the Advanced-Attack (A-X), while the F-14 with LANTIRN and ground attack upgrades would provide some interim capabilities, with Grumman proposing even more F-14 upgrades in the 1990s.<ref name="NATF to JSF">{{cite book |last1=Aronstein |first1=David |last2=Hirschberg |first2=Michael |title=Advanced Tactical Fighter to F-22 Raptor: Origins of the 21st Century Air Dominance Fighter |publisher=American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics |location=Arlington, Virginia |year=1998 |page=240 |isbn=978-1-56347-282-4}}</ref>

Although the F-14D was to be the definitive version of the Tomcat, not all fleet units received the D variant. In 1989, Secretary of Defense [[Dick Cheney]] refused to approve the purchase of any more F-14D model aircraft, stopping production after 37 F-14Ds had been built, although 18 more were produced by conversion of F-14As, giving a total of 55 F-14Ds.<ref name="wapj19p138">Lake 1994, p. 138</ref> An upgrade to the F-14D's computer software to allow AIM-120 AMRAAM missile capability was planned but was later terminated to free up funding for LANTIRN integration.<ref name="Warplanes"/> While upgrades kept the F-14 competitive with other teen series fighters, Cheney stated that the F-14 was 1960s technology. Despite an appeal from the Secretary of the Navy for at least 132 F-14Ds and some aggressive proposals from Grumman for a replacement,<ref name=Jenkins_p48>Jenkins 1997, p. 30.</ref> Cheney planned to replace the F-14 with a fighter that was not manufactured by Grumman. According to Cheney, the F-14 was a "jobs program", and when the F-14 was canceled, an estimated 80,000 jobs of Grumman employees, subcontractors, or support personnel were affected.<ref>Saul, Stephanie. "Cheney Aims Barrage at F-14D Calls keeping jet a jobs program." ''Newsday'' Washington Bureau, 24 August 1989, p. 6.</ref> The Navy would end up procuring the [[Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet|F/A-18E/F Super Hornet]] as the interim strike fighter for the A-X, which had become A/F-X (Advanced Attack/Fighter) due to added fighter capabilities although A/F-X itself would be canceled in the 1993 Bottom-Up Review. Cheney's cancellation of the F-14D was controversial and contributed heavily to Grumman's decline and resulting acquisition by [[Northrop Corporation]] to form [[Northrop Grumman]].<ref name="NATF to JSF"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://libn.com/2000/07/28/maybe-vp-cheney-can-explain-grumman/ |title=Maybe VP Cheney can explain Grumman |work=Long Island Business News |date=28 July 2000}}</ref>