ONE OF A KIND

[Music] we're talking about a wide variety of threats high altitude supersonic bombers low altitude missiles surfac to surface missiles and surface air missiles we have to be able to stand off and shoot at those guys we have to be a ble to get in and protect that stripe group it takes a big airplane it takes a big missile it takes a lot of range it takes these things in order to handle the problem we know some airplanes if they're going fast they're not going to be able to turn with you real fast if if they're they're going slow we know that they can turn but they can't accelerate there's no room for error the decisions must be made now and they must be made correctly or otherwise you miss the Target and you lose the war ask a fighter pilot what kind of fighter he you'd like to have and any pilot who's been around has to ask you first what do you want me to do with it because if you want him to tangle with some guys at 40,000 ft over the Airfield that's one kind of airplane if you tell him the enemy is 4 or 500 mil away and he has to go through AAA or samire to get at him that's another kind if you want him to handle a Mach 3 overflight at 880,000 FT or defend against a coordinated attack by enemy bombers electronic Jammers and cruise missiles that's a different system again the problem is we don't have the luxury of an airplane for this and an airplane for that and even if we did what are the odds of getting the right airplane to the right place at the right time so the need is for an aircraft that can fulfill many roles that can meet the threat as it is and is projected for the future an Interceptor compatible with command and control systems but also able to go it alone and capable of long range detection tracking and multiple Target intercept there's just one airplane that can do that kind of job without exception the only really new fighter Interceptor in the world today the F-14 [Music] Tomcat [Music] the thing that separates the F-14 from all other tactical aircraft flying today is the combination of a high performance airframe and the multi-shot multi-target A9 Phoenix weapon control system the most significant advance in weapon system technology in a generation of fighter development practically immune to electronic countermeasures the Phoenix missile is specifically designed to destroy multiple maneuvering high-speed targets from extremely long range to close in and it's the only air-to-air radar missile with a launch and leave mode the Phoenix has proven its performance time and again against a variety of Targets in a variety of tactical situations scoring an unprecedented 85% success rate unlike any other system a to six Phoenix can be fired at six different targets at the same time up to 24 targets can be tracked simultaneously other new fighters on the other hand are restricted to one-on-one engagements once the pilot or the crew has determined they're going to attack a Target they are stuck with that Target they can't see anything else he has to stay in search he's back to a manual system the same thing that the F4 came out with 15 years ago this is the only system we've got going where you can attack a Target and not have to devote your full attention to that Target for the full-time of Flight of the missile whatever you're firing we can prepare ourselves to take on the rest of the threat it's one of a kind thing no matter how sophisticated no weapon system can get the job done unless you have time to deploy it and this means early detection a high-powered radar and extremely fast fast digital computer provide the F-14 with almost three times the detection volume of current Fighters at 30 to 50% greater range but this is no numbers game extended range means more time to respond up to two extra minutes for a phoenix to intercept a mock two threat the difference perhaps between winning and losing it also gives you the ability to stand off and fire a phoenix missile before being detected or before the enemy can launch a weapon since he has to get a lot closer to fire because we get to see him first uh we're going to get a cut right there we're going to get the edge right there here we are standing off uh having the standoff capability to Fire and uh attack the target when we have come nowhere close to him being able to do that to us okay what happens then your survivability goes up tremendously you take one aircraft and he can do the job of five six seven eight a dozen aircraft let's face it if you can get a guy at 100 to 150 miles that's where you want to get him you don't want to wait till you have to get him in close flying low has long been a simple but effective means for getting in under defensive radar networks unable to see Over the Horizon the tactic was used successfully in Korea and Vietnam and more recently by other Pilots for other reasons now cruise missiles have taken the art of Treetop flying a step further launched from Air surface and undersea platforms these self-guided weapons present a new threat to air defense [Music] systems within the state-of-the-art only long range Airborne radar can pick up the low flyer in time to protect land targets and surface traffic and only the F-14 has the system to carry out an intercept we have the capability to look down and shoot down and shoot down most effectively uh with a very good probability of kill it goes past that because it gives you the capability to stay at high altitudes and if you can stay up there you not only then have the capability of attacking the low guy now I also have the capability of going after the high guy and that's the other side of the coin from defending against targets 50 ft above the surface to defending against 70 or 80,000 ft High mock number aircraft and air to surface missiles there's only one aircraft in the world today that has that capability and that's the F14 with the Phoenix missile you know you can set up whatever you like in a training uh environment and if you control your drones well enough uh you can kill a drone at 78,000 ft with uh many many different types of missiles but if you go out and have to do it every day on a realistic basis there's nothing else that has that really good high altitude capability to really get up and do the job right now what you've got to like about the F-14 is that its performance just begins with a phoenix Factor medium range Sparrow and short range Sidewinder missiles are also part of the Armament package along with an internal gat gun and a versatile air to ground system the thing can cover the whole threat and that's what you really need when you're going out there to do the job it's a almost a self-contained GCI Interceptor fighter combination that can take the fight to any scenario any place in the world I deployed with bf1 and2 uh on the Enterprise and uh we used to simulate uh very realistic scenarios uh for example backfire bombers flying at 50 to 55,000 ft supersonic air speeds uh with lower fighter cover we went out on exercise after exercise like this with the F14 and demonstrated time and again that because of the two men in the airplane because of our ability to handle the ECM problem we could shoot those bombers at long range still have the short range weapons to get in and Visually engage the fighters take care of them and press on about our business in this age of automation the tendenc is to put everything you can into a computer for certainly computers have taken us over hurdles we never could have handled otherwise but there are limitations as we all know thus the F-14 though highly automated with a computer system that can process three times as much information as any other fighter still relies on a Twan crew working together to take full advantage of the enormous potential of the aircraft there has to be tackle decisions made by an air crew it cannot be done by a blackbox it has to be made in the human element involved the advantage of not having to split yourself down the middle or whatever percentage you got uh when you're in a tactical environment with two guys working on the solution you're going to come out with the right answer more often than you are with one that's all there is to it it's that simple it's a beautiful combination and uh I know in my past experience there's uh the first guy to see the other guy has a hell of an advantage with a tremendous flow of information that passes between the F-14 and the command center voice communication is often inadequate too slow or tactically undesirable you can get more information back and forth more quickly with the aircraft's data link system relaying tactical information and receiving additional Target data from the command center even when the enemy is fanned out 200 mil across the sky at different altitudes the F14 can be positioned for Optimum tactical Effectiveness and it's the only aircraft that can shoot down four of the enemy and still have fuel left for a protracted fight oneon-one the nice part about the F14 is that you got the best of both worlds you can get into the dog fight role without taking one iota away from the very significant capabilities in the long range Interceptor R wing wing buys an awful lot it gives you an awfully good on station loer time it gives you a tremendous turning aircraft and it gives you a slow approach speed throughout the flight regime and almost at any store loading you'd care to dream up you decide where you want to go and you point the nose and the airplane goes there it's going to be an awful long time before anyone could come close to finding an aircraft that can take the Interceptor Ro and the fighter role and come any closer to optimizing the two in one one aircraft the nice part about the whole system is that being computer-based software oriented the growth potential in the system is almost unlimited currently under evaluation is a TV sighting system that can differentiate between airplane types and provide positive Target ident identification at distances 10-fold over the uned eye a new compact computer is also being developed for long range positive all-weather Target identification in addition the aircraft is being equipped with a reconnaissance pod which will enable 1 F14 to handle both reconnaissance and Interceptor roles a unique self- escorting weapon system among other growth items are greater ECM capability and a phoenix missile with better performance against surface targets increased immunity against jamming and a programmable logic that will keep the missile up to-date against future threats without redesign it's an ongoing process of development and refinement tailoring an already formidable weapon system by taking advantage of its inherent growth potential system flexibility and new technology to stay one long step ahead of the threat the F-14 Tomcat a superior air defense Interceptor for today and well into the [Music] [Applause] 1990s [Music]