The American supersonic twin-engine Grumman F-14 Tomcat was the icon of the U.S. Navy fighter squadrons during the ‘80s and ‘90s. it was characterized by the adoption of the variable-sweep wing, the twin-tail and the tandem two-seat cabin. The “Tomcat” provided an impressive operational performance. Thanks to its two General Electric Afterburning turbofans it was able to reach the max speed of Mach 2.34. It was armed with a 20 mm M61 Vulcan rotating gun and it could use, in addition to the more conventional AIM-9 Sidewinder and AIM-7 Sparrow, the AIM-54 Phoenix radar-guided long-range missiles. The F-14 entered in service during the ‘70s, replacing the F-4 Phantom II to perform air superiority duties. During its operational career it participated in a lot of military operations from the Gulf of Sirte crisis to the Iraq War.
