The F-14 was the first in the America's series of 'Teen Fighters.'
The Tomcat was developed to challenge decades of competition with Russia's MiGs.
It was a supersonic, twin engine, duel seated beast of the skies.
Its tell-tale folding wings could sweep back and forth between 68 degrees and 20 depending on required air speed.
The Navy first acquired the F-14 for long range intercept and air superiority missions.
The Tomcat could carry nearly 15,000 lbs of ordnance, ranging from air-to-air to cruise missile intercept warheads.
The Tomcat's spaceship-like Heads Up Display (HUD) featured a 'MOS-based LSI chipset,' which is geek-speak for microprocessor, in fact, the world's first microprocessor.
The F-14 also included two 'Martin-Baker GRU-7A rocket-propelled ejection seats,' the same one's that 'malfunctioned' when Goose died in Top Gun.
The Tomcat's first kills occurred over Libya in 1981, the Gulf Of Sidra incident, in which it toasted two Libyan fighters.
The Tomcat again engaged Libya in 1989, dropping another two enemy aircraft.
In the meantime, Iran had their own fleet of American-made F-14 Tomcats ... sold in a time of better relations.
So while Americans flew regular sorties over Libya for surveillance purposes ...
