All models 1970–2006
Probably best-known for its starring role in the Hollywood movie Top Gun, the variable geometry two-seat carrier-based Grumman F-14 Tomcat was the US Navy's primary maritime air superiority fighter and fleet defence interceptor between 1974 and 2006.
Tony Holmes reviews the design, construction and use of the Tomcat, as well as its combat career in Operation Desert Storm (1991), Deliberate Force (Bosnia-Hertzegovina, 1995), and Allied Force (Bosnia and Kosovo, 1999). In 2001, F-14s led some of the first strikes into Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom), and in Iraq in 2003 (Operation Iraqi Freedom).
Author: Tony Holmes is a publishing professional and author with a specialist interest in aviation. He established Osprey Publishing’s critically acclaimed ‘Aircraft of the Aces’ series. Tony is widely published in the book and magazine worlds. He lives in Kent.