In many ways, Hollywood made the plane famous in the 1986 action movieTop Gun.
In 2022, the plane made a cameo in the same movies sequel,Top Gun: Maverick.
Yet, such support didnt result in the most authentic look at U.S. military operations.
An air-to-air view of three Grumman F-14A Tomcat fighters as seen from the front seat of another F-14 in 1987. Image: U.S. Navy
It remains a bombastic popcorn movie that can almost be watched on repeat!
And despite all of this, one sequence actually makes a bit of sense.
Yet, this is where truth can be stranger than fiction.
Based at NAS Miramar (now Marine Corps Air Station Miramar), this F-14 Tomcat was part of Fighter Squadron 124 (VF-124). Image: PHCS B. Lawson/NARA
The tale is a curious one.
Before I tell it, let us back up and talk about the plane first.
By December 1970, the first of the six R&D prototypes made its maiden flight.
Sailors on the USSHarry S. Truman(CVN 75) position an F-14B Tomcat onto one of the four steam catapults during flight operations on Dec. 26, 2004. Image: PH Philip V. Morrill/U.S. Navy
This gave Grummans design team an incredible amount of flexibility when engineering the air superiority fighter.
That design innovation served to prevent pitching when the wings were swept back.
In total, 712 F-14 Tomcats were built.
The F-14 Tomcat was the cornerstone of a carrier group’s air defense for about three decades. Image: U.S. Navy
In the film, the Tomcat was arguably as big a star as Cruise and Val Kilmer.
Interestingly, the replica Zeros had been made for the 1970 filmTora!
Tora!about the attack on Pearl Harbor.
F-14A Tomcats on patrol during Operation Desert Shield. Both planes are attached to Carrier Air Wing Three, embarked on the aircraft carrier USSJohn F. Kennedy(CV-67). Image: U.S. Navy
During filming they were almost accidentally downed by the Tomcats due to turbulence resulting from the modern fighters.
The kills in the movie also came before any U.S. Navy Tomcats have bared their claws in aerial combat.
It was conceived during the Vietnam War and was introduced in 1974.
A F-14B Tomcat of VF-32, the Fighting Swordsmen, launches from a waist catapult on the USSHarry S. Truman.Image: PH Philip V. Morrill/U.S. Navy
WhenTop Gunscored a direct hit with viewers, the Navys fighter had only two kills in U.S. service.
Its combat baptism occurred during the Gulf of Sidra incident in August 1981.
The Su-22 was an export variant of the Sukhoi Su-17 Fitter fighter airplane made in the Soviet Union.
This F-14 Navy Tomcat was used in the Variable-Sweep Transition Flight Experiment (VSTFE) to better understand variable sweep aircraft performance at high subsonic speeds. Image: NASA
Interestingly, the Su-17 and Su-22 were a variable-sweep wing design similar to the Tomcat.
The F-14s next actual combat sortie didnt occur until January 1989.
The Tomcat later served in an air policing role over the country during the Iraqi no-fly zones conflict.
An F-14 intercepts a Soviet Tu-95 Bear aircraft as it approached a carrier group during 1977. Image: NARA
The Tomcats last combat mission was completed on February 7, 2006.
Irans F-14s: Howd That Happen?
Attempts were made to sell the F-14 to various partners including Canada, Germany and Japan.
Sailors aboard the USSIndependence(CV-62) load a Phoenix missile on an F-14 fighter in the Arabian Sea. Image: NARA
As a result the militaries of the two countries trained together and shared military technologies.
Tehran ordered 80 of the fighters, of which 79 were delivered before the revolution.
Then came the Islamic Revolution of 1979, and the situation changed considerably.
A Fighter Squadron 114 (VF-114) F-14 Tomcat aircraft flies over oil well fires in Kuwait after Operation Desert Storm. The wells were set ablaze by Iraqi invaders. Image: NARA
The thinking at the time was that there was no way the aircraft would remain operational.
That is just part of the story of the F-14 Tomcat in Iranian hands.
The majority of those saved are F-14A variants.
An F-14D Tomcat prepares for an arrested landing aboard the aircraft carrier USSTheodore Rooseveltin the Persian Gulf on January 6, 2006. Image: PH Nathan Laird/U.S. Navy
Jeff Moe, a stand-in for Tom Cruise when setting up cameras and lighting, receives a briefing from Lt. Will Gildner on the layout of an F-14 Tomcat cockpit. Image: PH2 Michael D. P. Flynn/U.S. Navy
This scene from the movieTop Gunshows Lt. Craig Steffen of VF-211 standing near his F-14 Tomcat awaiting a ride to Base Operations. Image: PH2 Michael D. P. Flynn/U.S. Navy
Lt. Bruce W. Fecht takes a brief nap on the tail section of a F-14 Tomcat. The aircraft was being used as a prop by a Paramount movie crew filming the movieTop Gun. Image: PH2 Michael D. P. Flynn/U.S. Navy
A cameraman films a scene for the motion pictureTop Gun. Supported by the U.S. Navy, the movie made the F-14 a Hollywood star. Image: NARA
A US Navy F-14 Tomcat from the Fighter Squadron 111 (VF-111) Sundowners launches an AIM-54C Phoenix long-range air to air missile. Image: NARA
Aviation ordnancemen unload an AGM-62 Walleye missile from an F-14 Tomcat. This mission is in support of Operation Allied Force, the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999. Image: NARA
The Libyan Su-22, shown above, was a variable sweep wing design similar to the F-14. However, it was no match for the Tomcats flown by U.S. Naval Aviators. Image: U.S. Navy
An air-to-air right view of an F-14 Tomcat aircraft from Fighter Squadron 154 (VF-154) firing an AIM-54 Phoenix missile. Image: U.S. Navy
An F-14 pilot on the USSSaratoga(CV-60), a Forrestal-class aircraft carrier, prepares for a combat air patrol in 1986. Image: U.S. Navy
A U.S. Navy F-14A Tomcat fighter aircraft, foreground, escorts a Soviet Union Tupolev Tu-142 Bear bomber away from a carrier group. Image: NARA
Aviation ordnancemen prepare to arm an F-14 Tomcat aircraft with AIM-7 Sparrow air-to-air missiles on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USSJohn F. Kennedy. Image: PH2 John Bivera/U.S. Navy
An Air ForceF-100 Supersabreprepares for takeoff to fly to Iran to participate in the Operation Delaware — joint military maneuvers between the United States and Iran. Image: NARA
The United States and Iran used to be allied. Here future president Richard Nixon and his wife attend a formal event with Iranian Army staff in Iran during a diplomatic mission. Image: NARA
An F-14A Tomcat fighter aircraft from the U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School, painted like an Iranian fighter for adversary training, makes a visit to the U.S. Air Force Fighter Weapons School. Image: NARA
These Iranian F-14A fighters are armed with AIM-54 Phoenix, AIM-7 Sparrow and AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles. An unidentified missile appears to be a modified MIM-23 Hawk. Image: IRIAF/Public Domain
A technician checks the cockpit of an F-14 Tomcat aircraft aboard the aircraft carrier USSKitty Hawk(CV-63). Image: NARA
An air-to-air right side view of three F-14 Tomcat aircraft from Fighter Squadron 213 (VF-213) as they fly over the desert near NAS Fallon, Nevada in 1980. Image: Robert L. Lawson/NARA
