F-14 Tomcat: ‘Top Gun’ Maverick Legendary Aircraft

F-14 Tomcat: Top Gun Maverick Legendary Aircraft
While the F-14 Tomcat was retired from service with the Navy, and supplanted by the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, it remains in use by the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force. Only a handful of the planes, which were purchased by the Imperial Iranian Air Force in the 1970s, remain in operation.
During its three decades in service with the United States Navy the Grumman F-14 Tomcat more than lived up to the role, it was designed for, drawing blood in combat and even getting its moment in the spotlight in the film Top Gun. Designed to incorporate the air combat experience learned during the Vietnam War, the F-14 Tomcat was the first of the American "Teen Series" fighters that included the F-15 Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon and the F/A-18 Hornet.
The two-seat carrier-based multi-role fighter was developed after the United States Congress halted the development of the F-111B along with the Tactical Fighter Experimental (TFX) program. While the goal of that program was to supply both the United States Air Force and the United States Navy with the planes to fit each of their respective needs, the Navy was opposed.