The F-14 Tomcat (Grumman) is a retired carrier-based fighter jet of the United States Navy. Originally designed as an air superiority fighter, it was responsible for fleet air defense and long-range interception, undertaking the fleet air defense mission centered on aircraft carriers. It was also the first fighter jet designed by the United States Navy after learning from the experience of the Vietnam War. It particularly emphasized close-range dogfighting and had excellent continuous turning ability. Therefore, the F-14 had both powerful long-range beyond-visual-range attack capability and excellent close combat capability. Its performance had several characteristics at the time:
The first fighter jet with the ability to deal with multiple targets at the same time, it could lock onto 24 targets at the same time and attack 6 of them.
Its dedicated Phoenix long-range air-to-air missile had a range of 190km. It was not until the 2020s that it was surpassed by the AIM-174 missile [2].
The first fighter jet equipped with a data link, which could share the target information measured with friendly aircraft of the same type.
The first fighter jet with variable-sweep wings that could automatically adjust to the optimal lift-to-drag ratio sweep angle.
