The F-14A is the latest in a long tradition of Grumman fighters built for the U.S. Navy. It is a supersonic, twin-engine, variable sweep wing, two-place strike fighter. The Tomcat’s primary missions are air superiority, fleet air defense and precision strike against ground targets. With its twin, afterburning turbofan engines producing over 40,000 pounds of thrust, the F-14 can attain speeds greater than Mach 2.

​

In February 1969, the Navy selected Grumman to design this successor to the F-4 Phantom. From 1969 through 1992, a total of 710 were built: 637 for the U.S. Navy and 79 for Iran.

F-14’s were retired from the U.S. Navy’s active fleet on 22 September 2006.