![]() So, Grumman came back to the Navy with a true "Super Tomcat," called the Super Tomcat 21. ![]() Also, rumors that an inexpensive clean sheet next-generation Hornet design was in the works over at McDonnell Douglas did not help Quick Strike's attractiveness. Quick Strike was aimed more at cheaply picking up the Intruder's slack than at replacing the A-12's high-end capability, and was seen at the time as an insufficient technological leap over the F-14B and D models already in service. Quick Strike was meant to be an upgrade for existing F-14s by giving them high-end navigation and targeting pods similar to the USAF's LANTIRN system, along with upgraded ground attack modes for F-14D's APG-71 Radar (based on the aircraft's original AWG-9 radar) and the ability to carry more standoff weaponry like the AGM-84E SLAM and AGM-88 HARM. The Super Tomcat 21 grew out of a previous proposal made by Grumman after the collapse of the A-12 program called Quick Strike. Yet in some people's opinion, it worked for the wrong aircraft. ![]() In the end, this "low-risk" and familiar design concept worked via the eventual development and procurement of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. The hope was that if aircraft manufacturers make an almost entirely new aircraft look like an existing type, while also giving them a familiar "evolutionary" designation, Congress would see the product as a low-risk, low-cost upgrade of a proven platform and thus move forward with its procurement.Īt the same time the NATF program (the Navy's equivalent to the USAF's Advanced Tactical Fighter program) was in the works, but the costs and timeline for its development would have been massive, and in light of what happened to the stealthy A-12 "Flying Dorito," it was clear that something simpler was needed. With the A-6E TRAM Intruder's retirement imminent and in the vacuum created by the canceled A-12 program, manufactures starting throwing out "logical growth" designs based on existing platforms. The "peace dividend" sentiment was on the rise and defense budgets were beginning to fall. Congress had been talked into high-risk, hugely aggressive defense programs for decades and they had had enough. This was back in 1991, the Cold War had just ended and we just got done kicking the ass of one of the world's largest standing armies. After massive cost overruns, weight increases and huge delays, then Defense Secretary Dick Cheney axed the stealthy carrier-borne flying wing attack jet leaving a huge hole in NAVAIR's future inventory. Even before the movie anybody that saw the F-14 at an air show could not help but be impressed, and I suspect you've been to many air shows and.In our reality, the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet became the Navy's vanguard fighter of the 21st century as a result of the boondoggle that was the A-12 Avenger program. But then from the public, you mentioned Top Gun. They certainly were confident of their ability to prevail in combat, something that's so important. Of course, the F-4 had been dual-crewed too, but the backseater in the F-4 had far less capability than the F-14 Radar Intercept Officer, so that introduced just a tremendous pride in the airplane that you could feel in the squadrons. The F-8 was single piloted, the A-7 was single piloted, the A-6, the Grumman platforms, the A-6 and the F-14, were dual-crewed. What the F-14 brought to that was even more power, even more mastery of the skies, and a two-person crew. And the fighter camaraderie and the fighter squadron atmosphere, I think was relatively constant along the way. First of all, there was a legacy of fighters that Grumman had built, and even Northrop with the F-5, there was this rich legacy of fighters that came together in Northrop Grumman.
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