F-14 Tomcat Retirement: A Costly Mistake Leaving US Navy Vulnerable to Long-Range Threat!

According to the National Interest, the F-14 Tomcat known for being fast and having good missiles is missing from the Navy’s plans to defend against new threats. Brandon J. Weichert says the F-14 Tomcat could have helped a lot against long-range attacks on U.S. aircraft carriers. But after the Cold War, Americans felt good and thought there wouldn’t be big wars anymore. So, they didn’t focus on getting new weapons like the F-14 Tomca, leaving the Navy vulnerable to new dangers.

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F-14 Tomcat Retirement: A Costly Mistake Leaving US Navy Vulnerable to Long-Range Threat! (PHOTO: The National Interest)

When the F-14 retired in 2006, it was replaced by planes like the F/A-18 Hornet and F-35B which can’t fly as far. Weichert says these new planes force aircraft carriers to get too close to dangerous places. Without the long-range abilities of the F-14 Tomcat, U.S. carriers are in more danger especially from countries like China with strong defenses. Even though they looked at other planes like the F-35C none of them could do what the F-14 Tomcat did against faraway missile attacks. Weichert thinks the Navy has a big problem because they don’t have something like the F-14 Tomcat anymore. With new threats to aircraft carriers it’s really important to think again about how useful planes like the F-14 Tomcat could be in today’s Navy.

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