I rarely post but couldn’t resist adding my 2 cents.

The Tomcat lives on! I fly the A/B version in my Fleet Defender sim and the D version in my F18 sim thanks to TSH.

The best Tomcat read is “Black Aces High” by Robert Wilcox.

dragon

We're launching drones that exceed Mach 5 so the Tomcat is sadly outdated for today's battlefield.

I don't know much about the F-22 radar, but does it have a range in excess of 100 mi and can track 24 targets at once, firing on 6 of them with a long range air-to-air missile?

If so, I stand corrected.

v6,
boNes

They are 25% Titanium in the airframes. Much more valuable as scrap than Aluminium or carbon honeycombs. The wing box in particular is a very large machined Ti component.

As a combat platform it was useful, but the technology was severely outdated and the aircraft were maintenance nightmares, and the 'single piece' titanium wing box was a fatigue prone critical part without the crack-stopping advantages of a built up structure.

Yes to all, though much of the APG-77's radar data is highly classified. It's a modern AESA radar and far in excess of the AGP-71's capability. A lot of the F-22's capability surrounds data collection and tracking of targets, and not just aerial ones. The radar was developed by Northrup Grumman so I'd imagine they incorporated a bunch of lessons learned from the APG-71 into it.

Further, the AIM-120 is a far more capable missile than the AIM-54, especially the D model.

Go with Franze.......should be night and day between the old APG-71 MSA radar and the APG-77 and even 79 in the SH - then also consider the APG-81 for the F-35 was developed from the 77.
- AESA radars can do things the old MSA ones simply cannot.

Wouldn't advise holding breath on any F-14 production restart personally.

As much as I love the F-14, it's not coming back.


I was on the Kitty Hawk in the late 1990's and I was told back then that the Tomcats were a massive pain in the ass to maintain.

It would be pointless to try restarting production too. We live in an age where the greatest threat to America resides within our own borders.

I think it's safe to say that the new Top Gun film will feature F-35's and drones.

I hope not Panzer. I'm hoping we get Hornets and plenty of carrier action. That would certainly assure that Top Gun 2 will have the same spirit and feel of the first. I did see a photo of Tom Cruise in his old flight suit and helmet with an F-18 in the background.

I kid, I kid. It’s a sure thing that the F-18’s will be center stage.