An American carrier-capable supersonic twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter

aircraft is the Grumman F-14 Tomcat. After the General Dynamics-Grumman F-111B project failed, the
US Navy's Naval Fighter Experimental (VFX) program developed the Tomcat. The F-14 was the first of the
American High schooler Series contenders, which were planned consolidating air battle insight against
MiG contenders during the Vietnam War.

The F-14 made its first flight on December 21, 1970, and its first deployment with the U.S. Navy was in
1974 aboard the USS Enterprise (CVN-65), taking the place of the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II.
Throughout the 2000s, the F-14 was the primary platform for the U.S. Navy's fleet defense interceptor,
maritime air superiority fighter, and tactical aerial reconnaissance. The Tomcat began performing
precision ground-attack missions in the 1990s, when the Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared
for Night (LANTIRN) pod system was added.[1] On September 22, 2006, the U.S. Navy retired the Tomcat
and replaced it with the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. In the United States, a number of retired F-14s
have been displayed.

During the Iran–Iraq War, the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force used F-14s as land-based interceptors
after they were exported to Iran in 1976 by the Pahlavi dynasty. According to historian Tom Cooper, Iran
claimed that their F-14s shot down at least 160 Iraqi aircraft during the war, but only 55 of these were
actually confirmed. Additionally, 16 Tomcats were lost, seven of which were to accidents.[2][3] As of
2022, the F-14 is still in use by Iran's air force, but there are only a few combat-ready F-14s because
there aren't enough spare parts.