F-14 Tomcat Makes last carrier flight

[Magoo]

So the Tomcat to many is like the Harley Davidson motorcycle or better said, a 70s Firebird (I know that's a favorite of a certain Aussie senior F-111 type I have crossed paths with over the years)

Ahh yes, I know KOZ well, and he still has the car too!

Cheers

Magoo

 

[heyjoe]

Ahh yes, I know KOZ well, and he still has the car too!

Cheers

Magoo

That would be him. Has he retired by now?

 

[Magoo]

That would be him. Has he retired by now?

That's a negative - has one star and soon to get a second. Doing very well.

Cheers

 

[akinkhoo]

they have to kill the F14 because keeping them means letting the spare part maker stay in business = iran can get spare part to maintain it's F14. it is believe that iran will soon run out of spare part to keep the plane in the air...

 

[madison22]

convert your favorite mp3 to mobile ringtone

Admin: madisson22 has been permanently banned for spamming.

 

[heyjoe]

Thanks

That's a negative - has one star and soon to get a second. Doing very well.

Cheers

Thanks muchly! HJ

 

[t68]

hi guys

pardon my ignorance but what is spaming no 25.

sorry just a linehual fuel driver not a computer geek


regards tom

 

[Todjaeger]

hi guys

pardon my ignorance but what is spaming no 25.

sorry just a linehual fuel driver not a computer geek


regards tom

Spamming refers to :spam the "mystery" luncheon meat...

In a computer context, it is unsolicited advertising posts and/or email.

In the case of Post #25, look at the title listed below...

convert your favorite mp3 to mobile ringtone

...then ask youself, what does that title have to do with the thread topic
"F-14 Tomcat Makes last carrier flight"

Basically, they have nothing to do with one another and was fftopic. What the title gives away is that the poster was trying to give/sell a service to convert an audio file (MP3) to a format playable as a cell phone ring tone and therefore violates the DT anti-:spam. Which in turn led to madison22 being :ban

Hope this helps.

-Cheers

 

[t68]

hi guys

thanks todjaeger that clears it up about my limted knowlodge of computers
but sad to see the mighty tomcat go by the wayside
i read the fourm all the time you get some very good info from it )

regards tom

 

[10ringr]

One thing the USN could have done is keep a squadron of Tomcats for the Aggressors unit in Nevada. Those birds are very similar to SU27 Flankers and MIG31 Foxhound and could have been useful for F18 and F15 pilots (or even F22). Russia is gradually becoming more assertive and it can't be totally excluded that one day USAF and USN will have to chase top of the line Russian jets again...

cheers

Don't worry guys, just like the SR71A BlackBird who we could be saying many of the same things about (sentiments). The F14's are going into War Reserve and how many times have we officially taken the BlackBirds back out for "one last mission". I am bothered by this decision and agree with much that has been said about how we are going from the best we can make to the best we can afford but remember the F/A 18 is now a Super Hornet and is not the same bird it was in 1978 or so and the fact is is that we have to balance reliability and maintenance hours with performance and we have a potent combination at the moment. Though I'll be much, much happier when we get the F35. In fact the 12 or so LHA/LHD's will be like having another dozen aircraft carriers! That's exciting! Hutch

 

[Todjaeger]

Don't worry guys, just like the SR71A BlackBird who we could be saying many of the same things about (sentiments). The F14's are going into War Reserve and how many times have we officially taken the BlackBirds back out for "one last mission". I am bothered by this decision and agree with much that has been said about how we are going from the best we can make to the best we can afford but remember the F/A 18 is now a Super Hornet and is not the same bird it was in 1978 or so and the fact is is that we have to balance reliability and maintenance hours with performance and we have a potent combination at the moment. Though I'll be much, much happier when we get the F35. In fact the 12 or so LHA/LHD's will be like having another dozen aircraft carriers! That's exciting! Hutch

Somehow I doubt that the F-14's would ever get pulled out of the reserve/boneyard. Aside from the high maintenance requirement (30+ hrs maintenance per flight hour? :unknown ) IIRC there were also compatability issues with new and upcoming munitions and missiles. Don't have the details, but I believe the avionics on the Tomcats couldn't work with things like the AMRAAM. Presumably the cost to gut and replace the avionics was considered excessive relative to the total numbers flight hours remaining.

Also unlike the SR-71, there are other aircraft in or soon entering Navy inventory capable of performing the roles the Tomcat filled. With the SR-71, the closest replacement was the U-2 which I believe is even older...

-Cheers

 

[10ringr]

Somehow I doubt that the F-14's would ever get pulled out of the reserve/boneyard. Aside from the high maintenance requirement (30+ hrs maintenance per flight hour? :unknown ) IIRC there were also compatability issues with new and upcoming munitions and missiles. Don't have the details, but I believe the avionics on the Tomcats couldn't work with things like the AMRAAM. Presumably the cost to gut and replace the avionics was considered excessive relative to the total numbers flight hours remaining.

Also unlike the SR-71, there are other aircraft in or soon entering Navy inventory capable of performing the roles the Tomcat filled. With the SR-71, the closest replacement was the U-2 which I believe is even older...

-Cheers

Well, they used the SR71A Blackbirds many times and many years after it was retired. Not only that but the F14 had extensive upgrades and as they are still more then capable who knows. I believe the U2 preceded the Blackbird. Hutch

 

[Waylander]

They don't put them into a depot.

It is not as if they just retired the Tomcats.
They are shredding them to pieces in Tulsa to prevent the black market with Tomcat spare parts from running even now that the Iranians are the only Tomcat users.

 

[10ringr]

They don't put them into a depot.

It is not as if they just retired the Tomcats.
They are shredding them to pieces in Tulsa to prevent the black market with Tomcat spare parts from running even now that the Iranians are the only Tomcat users.

Tulsa? Really, do you have any sources that we could check out? Hutch

 

[Waylander]

I don't find the article were Tulsa is mentioned but here is an article where (besides others) the F-14 is mentioned.

Pentagon Junking Millions in Gear
Associated Press | July 23, 2007


WASHINGTON - Millions of dollars' worth of gear, including combat boots, helmets, vests and aircraft parts, is being junked by the Pentagon rather than stored or sold as surplus to suppliers who sometimes sell it back to the military.

Of roughly $1.8 billion worth of equipment the Defense Department downgraded to scrap from January through June, at least $330 million worth came from categories of gear the Pentagon most frequently buys back from surplus dealers, according to the National Association of Aircraft & Communication Suppliers. Those include parts for aircraft, weapons and communications systems, the group said.

The association, a lobbying group for surplus dealers, is worried the military's recent decision to shred retired F-14 "Tomcat" fighter jets is the start of a broader effort to destroy Pentagon leftovers that surplus dealers once bought routinely. Iran is aggressively seeking F-14 components for its own aging Tomcat fleet.

In a new lobbying campaign, association members and other surplus buyers are urging Congress to force the Pentagon to do a better job separating sensitive surplus from items considered safe to sell, rather than lumping both types of surplus together and destroying them.


Video: Pentagon Junks Usable Surplus

The association's allegations of Pentagon waste during the war is hitting a nerve with some lawmakers.

Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz., wrote to Lt. Gen. Robert Dail, director of the Defense Logistics Agency, asking whether surplus equipment is being scrapped, including new items such as Camelbak backpack-style hydration packs.

"I have received reports that usable items such as sleeping bags and gloves, and auto parts such as mufflers, are being scrapped because DRMS has stated that it is unable to identify them," Shadegg wrote in the letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press. The DRMS is the Pentagon's Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service.

Shadegg said he also is concerned about the loss of government revenue from surplus sales and about harm to small businesses in the surplus industry.

The DRMS sells military surplus through an Arizona-based contractor, Government Liquidation. In fiscal 2005, the Defense Department earned $57 million from surplus sales.

A spokeswoman for the Defense Logistics Agency, Dawn Dearden, said the military is only destroying surplus it no longer needs. The Pentagon is aware of the surplus dealers' concerns, she said.

The agency has reviewed its rules for handling surplus but hasn't decided whether to make changes, she said.

The trade group said it supports tougher government screening of surplus buyers to help prevent military gear from getting into the wrong hands.

"I believe they're using the F-14 as sort of an umbrella to get everything through under national security, to say it needs to be done," said Ed Wilk, owner of Dixie Air Parts in San Antonio and an association member. "They're destroying boots, binoculars, aircraft parts, engine parts, airframe parts."

"They do not have enough room to keep everything and they don't want to pay the overhead of keeping all this inventory," Wilk said.

The trade group isn't protesting the Pentagon's recent decision to destroy old F-14 jets because it understands the sensitivity over the U.S. relationship with Iran, said Peter Beaulieu, the group's president and vice president of Associated Aircraft Manufacturing and Sales in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

However, the group said some F-14 parts that also could be used on other U.S. military aircraft and commercial planes should be preserved and sold to surplus dealers.

Beaulieu said surplus dealers sometimes resell scrap aircraft parts back to the military. It can be faster for military bases to repurchase parts on the surplus market than to get them from within the military or new from manufacturers, he said.

From November 2003 to May 2004, the Pentagon awarded nearly 400 urgent contracts to the trade association's members for replacement parts for aircraft flying in Iraq and Afghanistan, including fighter jets, combat helicopters and transport planes, the group said.

"We're their ultimate warehousing source," Beaulieu said.

Items the Pentagon downgrades to scrap are demolished by the military, or if sold as surplus, only to buyers who promise to destroy them. The surplus association doesn't know how many downgraded items are useful. But it said it commonly finds useful and even new gear among surplus designated as scrap.

The $1.8 billion in equipment the Pentagon scrapped during the first six months of 2007 represents the amount the Pentagon originally paid for the items. The resale value can amount to pennies on the dollar but still would be worth millions of dollars.

Errors in the Pentagon's surplus sorting and recordkeeping have drawn criticism for years from Congress.

The Pentagon decided to destroy its retired F-14s after The Associated Press reported in January that weaknesses in surplus sale security had allowed middlemen for Iran, China and other countries to acquire sensitive U.S. military technology including parts for Tomcats and other aircraft and missile components. Iran is the only country trying to maintain Tomcats.

U.S. efforts to track down illegal brokers of F-14 parts continue. On Thursday, Jilani Humayun of Lynbrook, N.Y., was arrested by federal agents on charges that between January 2004 and May 2006, he illegally exported F-14 and F-5 jet parts and Chinook helicopter parts to Malaysia, a common pass-through point for contraband military goods.

Prosecutors wouldn't say whether any of the parts came from Pentagon surplus sales, though the complaint suggests at least some did, quoting one of Humayun's suppliers as telling him parts were military surplus and subject to export controls.

 

[10ringr]

I don't find the article were Tulsa is mentioned but here is an article where (besides others) the F-14 is mentioned.

I see what your talking about. Though it's painful scrapping the remaining parts makes sense in light of the fact that people are always trying to sell our military out to the highest dollar. I'd hate to see Iran get those F14 squared away because of some loop hole. I guess if they're going to go, then go. Kinda like that hot girlfriend, it hurts to bad to hold on! Hutch