[slammin]

A question for all you experts: Why do the sidewinder rails on the plyons with the Lantirn pods have a rounded nose and the sidewinder rails on the sparrow pylons a pointy one?


Thanks,
Chris

[David Hingtgen]

The ones with the rounded nose are what are called a BOL launcher, designated LAU-138. It's a modified Sidewinder launch rail with built-in chaff dispensers. They were introduced just a bit prior to the LANTIRN pod, so by the time any F-14 got a LANTIRN pod, it would have already been upgraded to have BOL-style Sidewinder launchers. There'll be exceptions of course.

Most any 1996?+ F-14 of any squadron will have BOL launchers.

[slammin]

Thank you!

[zed550]

the fov vf-41 was originally supposed to have been a bombcat!
that's what its designer had in mind

[skysurfer808]

Originally Posted by zed550

the fov vf-41 was originally supposed to have been a bombcat!
that's what its designer had in mind

Very Cool, I would have definately bought that one, and probably still buy it anyways. VF-41 is a great unit, with a proud history, including the Libyan encounter in 1981. I'd probably pick one up if Century did it, though I'd still prefer a Balkan Bombcat. Still, the early Black Aces Low Vis scheme would look good next to the bright VF-84 Tomcat, especially since both units were teamed up aboard the Nimitz at that time.

As for RJ Lee's assertion about the Bombcat in the Balkans, VF-41 did engage in iron bombing during that conflict, and during Allied Force. I can still remember watching CNN clips of the Teddy Roosevelt launching those machines with bombs and VFA-87 F/A-18Cs. The Lantirn wasn't in full service, rather the Tomcats bombed while the Hornets lazed.

Skysurfer808

[zed550]

its still a good model if you can find one!
not many of the vf-41 about

[RJLee]

Originally Posted by skysurfer808

As for RJ Lee's assertion about the Bombcat in the Balkans, VF-41 did engage in iron bombing during that conflict, and during Allied Force. I can still remember watching CNN clips of the Teddy Roosevelt launching those machines with bombs and VFA-87 F/A-18Cs. The Lantirn wasn't in full service, rather the Tomcats bombed while the Hornets lazed.

Cool -- the Century Bombcats come with a series of Mk 83 iron bombs for which I don't otherwise have much use. Slinging these on a LANTIRN-less VF-41 F-14A from FOV would make for a good display.

WRT iron bombing (as opposed to precision-bombing) in the Balkans, my impression is that it was relatively rare. For instance, during Operation Deliberate Force the U.S. dropped only twelve (12) iron bombs (mostly Mk 83s); the remaining 300+ iron bombs were dropped by allied nations. (By comparison, US aircraft dropped ~570 PGMs.) Not sure what the figures are for Allied Force (a much larger operation), but the emphasis on using precision munitions to avoid collateral damage was clear at this point.

See http://www.maxwell.af.mil/au/aul/aup.../Owen/Owen.pdf for a statistical debrief on weapons and platforms used in Deliberate Force.

[slammin]

Another question for the tomcat experts: Can bombcats carry a mix Phoenix missle and bombs on the pallets?
I read how the 6 phoenix missle configuration wasn't used very often because of the stress it put on the glove pylons, but this appears to be how every bombcat is configured. I was just wondering if there was a reason they wouldn't choose to put the phoenix on one of the pallets as long as they didn't have to carry 4 bombs.

Does anyone have any good links to information about the loadout configurations of the F-14? Something that might answer questions like the one above.

Thanks,
Chris

[flyXwire]

Originally Posted by slammin

Another question for the tomcat experts: Can bombcats carry a mix Phoenix missle and bombs on the pallets?

Originally Posted by slammin

I read how the 6 phoenix missle configuration wasn't used very often because of the stress it put on the glove pylons, but this appears to be how every bombcat is configured. I was just wondering if there was a reason they wouldn't choose to put the phoenix on one of the pallets as long as they didn't have to carry 4 bombs.

Does anyone have any good links to information about the loadout configurations of the F-14? Something that might answer questions like the one above.

Thanks,

Chris

Well, I'm no Tomcat expert (so forgive me if I happened to step on somebody's foot on this one) but isn't the Bombcat's main purpose/mission is about air-to-mud delivery of ordinances? I know I'm very wrong on this assumption but it sure does make alot of sense to me. I don't see how you could mix and match Phoenix missiles and bombs on the same pallets, unless there is some sort of special fixture that allows this kind of configuration. Again, I really don't know enough about this area so I'll leave it up to our resident experts.

[David Hingtgen]

This is one area I've never seen any hard info, but based on the fact that it's never ever been photographed yet, I'm guessing it's impossible. I mean, even AMRAAM and HARM have been photographed for tests on an F-14, but never bombs and Phoenix on pallets simultaneously.

I imagine the pallets may have to be configured all the same way for several reasons:

1. Electrical lines run between them--the front and rear are connected to each other when all 4 are on.

2. Rear ones release first, so maybe the front have to be same for the computer to handle it. (The F-14's weapons computer is old, and can't handle all that many configurations)