As supersonic engines roar to life and iron wings spread to their full extension, a great predator of the sky nears extinction. As it soars 50,000 feet above, nearing a speed of Mach 2, the F-14 Tomcat approaches its retirement from active duty with style, grace and ferocity.

Originally designed in the early '70s to attack and destroy enemy aircraft, the Tomcat has reached the end of its service life, explained Cmdr. Doug Waters, executive officer of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5’s Fighter Squadron (VF) 154, embarked on USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63), one of 10 F-14 squadrons in the Navy. “The F-14’s been around for a long time. It’s been a great fighter and a strike fighter. It’s just getting old,” said Waters.

Although the Tomcat has been upgraded and modified since its debut to the world, the 30-year-old design requires too much maintenance, explained Waters. Because of older hydraulic and electrical systems, the F-14 is more difficult to maintain than newer aircraft.

“Our squadron flies F-14As, which is the original model Tomcat,” said Waters. “It’s a testimony to how good our maintainers are, that they’re able to keep those jets full-mission capable and lethal as they are.” According to Waters, in the '90s, naval leadership made the decision to phase out the Tomcat and replace it with the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet. The F/A-18 E model of the Super Hornet is a single-seat aircraft, while the F/A-18 F’s two-person crew resembles the F-14’s crew more closely, with a pilot and a radar intercept officer.

“What you get with the Super Hornet is a brand new airplane, with upgraded avionics, with modern ergonomics, plus the fuel capacity and range and endurance you have in a Tomcat. All that, with a digital architecture,” said Waters

The schedule for replacing the Tomcat with the Super Hornet is created by the Transition Squadron Process Action Team (TSPAT). TSPAT looks at the schedules of carriers, squadrons, schools, and any other organization that will be affected by the transition, in order to come up with the best schedule to phase out the Tomcat, Waters said.

“Generally, an air wing will come off of a deployment, and the squadrons will have to transition then,” explained Waters. “The Tomcat will eventually be retired completely by 2007. Our transition will probably occur this fall.” During their scheduled transition time CVW-5’s Tomcat pilots will join Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) VFA-122. FRS are post-training commands, where pilots learn to fly specific aircraft. Pilots already trained to fly the Super Hornet will also be brought into the existing squadrons, to provide their valuable experience, explained Waters. Tomcat maintenance crews will spend their transition time in maintenance training school, learning about the Super Hornet.

The 10 squadrons that fly Tomcats will remain squadrons, however, they will be adding an “A” to their squadron identification. The Black Knights of VF-154 will become VFA-154, explained Waters. “The Tomcat squadrons that transition will maintain their lineage, their heritage and their name,” he said.

As for the fate of the Tomcats, that decision will be made by Commander Fighter Wing Atlantic. After a squadron’s transition period, the Tomcats will be evaluated. Based on that evaluation, they will either be sent back to the fleet until the full phasing out period is completed, or the Tomcats will be preserved in a desert environment. By preserving the Tomcats, the Navy will be able to pull them out of retirement should the need ever be required, explained Waters.

“I have mixed emotions. I’ve flown the Tomcat my entire career. I have over 2,500 hours in it,” said Waters. “It’s a great airplane. I love flying it. You get an emotional attachment to aircraft that you fly, especially that much. But I realize the future of naval aviation lies in the Super Hornet. It’s time for the Tomcat to move on.”

America's oldest active warship, Kitty Hawk with embarked CVW-5 currently operates with coalition forces in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the multinational coalition effort to liberate the Iraqi people, eliminate Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and end the regime of Saddam Hussein. [ANN Thanks Journalist Seaman David Beyea, USS Kitty Hawk Public Affairs]

FMI: www.navy.mil