Damm, so now they are shredding the F-14s

[Yooformula]

Rather than lose anymore to the black market they are shredding the last of the birds. Sad to see em go out like this but better than Iran actually getting ANY parts of em. phuck em!
they have a vid of them getting cut up too.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SHREDDING_TOMCATS?SITE=MAHYC&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[domokun]

it hurt watch that video :(

[WickedSix]

sad, but the reality of the situation. :stare

[Teufelhunden]

They should save a few fully functional one's and use them as Iranian operative bait. Lets say they leave them out 24/7 on the tarmac of some old air base in Nevada....and just by coincidence, the same air base that US Armed Forces sniper schools do live fire training at. Reach out and touch someone, ya know what I mean. :sniper

[Flight_740]

Are they really that old of technology that they can't be used anymore? I mean not even for if we needed them to wipe out some country that they still throw stones at war?

[Prince Valiant]

It's hard to believe that the F14's have become obsolete...

When I was young, the f14's were, for lack of a better term, "the bomb" for any grade schooler. I used to be into airplanes more than I'm currently into cars...and I rember how much more advanced the f14 was over the then "older" jets.

Jet's like the F4, F8's (my fav at the time because that's what my dad worked with), A4's, A7's etc....

But the F14 was so many lightyears beyond.

Now, the F14 seems to be as behind as many of the old vietnam era fighters were to it a generation before.

But, even then, it's hard to measure up to it's capabilities in climb, speed, payload capacity, range, etc...just now it's not as important.

The amazing thing is, even if we kept the f14's, we'd still would be ahead of much of the world in terms of air power....it's just that with the new stuff, it's not even the same world.

[Waver]

damn vid isnt working for me......

[lasttimearound]

most of the world, but look at the new MiGs, they out perform even our new f22 or the x generation jets. scary to think, but true.

[Flight_740]

Well isnt it funny that they think the new jets are miles ahead of what the F-14's are but yet we are affraid of any other country getting them?

I mean I know we don't want enemies to have them. It's just funny.

[lasttimearound]

its still a weapon though... new or old

[Karps TA]

What's crazy is this quote from cnn.com


The Defense Department intended to destroy spare parts unique to the F-14 but sell thousands of others that could be used on other aircraft. It suspended sales of all Tomcat parts after The Associated Press reported in January that buyers for Iran, China and other countries had exploited gaps in surplus-sale security to acquire sensitive U.S. military gear, including F-14 parts

So our CIA was completely oblivious to how the bad guys were getting these parts, but the AP was able to do it?? WTF?? How inept is our intelligence in this country?

[Teufelhunden]

^^But the information is from a biased source.

[84hurst]

kinda funny watchin the vid. it looked like a couple of animals eatin dinner! :rolf

[MurphysLaw88GT]

That sucks...i would ove to see a handful preserved 100%. hate to see them go. The maintanance per flight hours ratio is up there though

[HITMAN]

most of the world, but look at the new MiGs, they out perform even our new f22 or the x generation jets. scary to think, but true.


In what way do they out perform the Raptor? You mean in some useless Cobra maneuver that has absolutely nothing to do with Air Superiority/Supremacy?

You put 4 Su-37's or MiG-35's against 4 F-22 Raptors in an air-to-air combat situation and you're going to have 4 Russian holes in the ground in short order. Not only is the F-22 fast and maneuverable with the absolute state-of-the-art avionics and radars, but it also incorporates Stealth technology. You can't shoot what you can't see. The F-22 is the best Air Superiority fighter in the world and will be for some time to come. It and the F-35 will most likely be our last manned fighters.

The next generation of fighters we put in the sky will have pilots flying them by remote control and they wont have the design limits that today's manned fighters have. Today's fighter, even ones as good as the Raptor are still limited in scope by how much the pilot can handle. Men have to sleep, eat, eliminate waste and are limited to about 9 "G"s in combat maneuvers. An unmanned fighter being flown by remote control will have no such limits. I pity any manned aircraft pilot that has to come up against the plane the replaces the Raptor. :wow

[USMARINE1108]

Think of it this way: not only are they old technology, but all of them are as old as most recent college graduates. What Naval aircraft go through on a regular basis is very extreme, and the stress on them is great. It's not just parts IN the aircraft that go bad and need to be replaced, parts of the airframe get cracks, twists, stressed, etc. We're going through the same thing right now in the hornet community, the jets are just getting old. Don't get me wrong, they still work great, they just require more maintenance than they used to. It gets to a certain point where it's just not worth it anymore and is more cost effective to upgrade. Just like cars. Not to mention the primary mission of the Tomcat is almost obsolete and is better covered by other aircraft.



But there's nothing like watching a Tomcat fly a few hundred feet off the water right off the side of the ship, pull up and do a wing over. :headbang

[fireguyrick]

I will still cherish the Harrier over anyother jet in the world. The sounds of one rolling in hot to provide close air support is like hearing an angel. Oddly enough, Harriers are suppose to be the most manuverable aircraft under 500 feet. Great for what I needed out of a jet.

F14s were nice, but frankly I feel that they would be outclassed by alot of the jets, even some of the older ones we have.

Rick

[Breecher_7]

I will still cherish the Harrier over anyother jet in the world. The sounds of one rolling in hot to provide close air support is like hearing an angel. Oddly enough, Harriers are suppose to be the most manuverable aircraft under 500 feet. Great for what I needed out of a jet.

F14s were nice, but frankly I feel that they would be outclassed by alot of the jets, even some of the older ones we have.

Rick


Except they brake down all the time, burn up the flightdeck like a mother when they take off vertically and use WAY to much fuel for what they do. Agreed they are cool to see though. When i was on ship a few times I used to watch them launch them all the time. Very loud when they take off.........

[Prince Valiant]

Just as long as they don't go tearing up the A-10 Thunderbolt's (warthogs), I'll be happy. That and B1 bombers....

[Berettaspeed]

man all that money that could be made. just do like we did back in the day. sell it and take it back. sell it to the black market and take it back. what are they going to do tell on us? you know some are getting sold. its just to keep "us" feeling safe. i don't believe a word of it.

i think they call those people "Indian Givers". ahah