F-14B Upgrade Weapons Employment

The F-14B Upgrade added a whole host of new A/G stores and a plethora of ways to both employ A/A and A/G ordnance.

The F-14B Upgrade, like earlier F-14s, features 4 main types of air-to-air weaponry: the Long-Range Active Radar Homing (LRM ARH) AIM-54 Phoenix missile, the Medium-Range Semi-Active Radar Homing (MRM SARH) AIM-7 missile, the Short-Range Infrared-Guided (SRM IR) AIM-9 missile, and the M61A1 Vulcan cannon.

The aircraft can be armed with a variety of bombs, rockets, and guided munitions to engage and neutralize ground targets. All A/G stores carried in earlier F-14 versions are retained.

As opposed to older versions of the F-14 Tomcat, the F-14B Upgrade attains the ability to employ GPS-guided weapons (GGW). These include the GBU-31 with the 2,000-pound hard-target penetrator BLU-109 or 2,000-pound general-purpose BLU-117 warhead; the GBU-38 with the 500-pound general-purpose BLU-111 warhead; and the Enhanced GBU-24E/B Paveway III with the 2,000-pound hard-target penetrator BLU-109 warhead.

Loadout

The F-14B Upgrade is able to employ GPS and Laser Guided Stores from stations 4 - 5 - 3 - 6, also commonly refered to as the tunnel stations. These stations utilze the phoenix pylon paired with the BRU-32 rack. The implementation of the 1553 data bus allows the aircraft to send targeting data to the stations for transferral into the JDAMs.

The GPS Guided stores available for the F-14B Upgrade are:

• GBU-31v(2)
• GBU-31v(4)
• GBU-24
• GBU-38

Loading of stores in the tunnel follows certain restrictions. These restrictions are only applied in DCS if the air-to-ground stores cannot physically fit side by side or behind one another in the tunnel, as is the case for the GBU-24 for example.

Nonetheless, certain carriage rules should be followed to ensure that the Tomcat remains within CG limits and is flyable throughout all flight regimes.

For single-type store loadouts, it is recommended to load the stores from front to back and release them in a back-to-front sequence. For example, when loading two GBU-31 JDAMs, they should be loaded on the front stations (3 and 6). When loading four GBU-31 JDAMs, they should then be released in the opposite order, i.e. back to front. Stations 4 and 5 should be released first, followed by stations 3 and 6.

When employing mixed loadouts, it is desirable to stagger the weapons in the tunnel. This ensures that stores can always be released from back to front while providing the aircrew with the ability to choose which stores are released. For example, when employing a mixed loadout of two GBU-31s and two GBU-12s, stations 3 and 6 should each carry one GBU-31 and one GBU-12, while stations 4 and 5 should each carry a GBU-31 and a GBU-12 on the opposite side.

The F-14B Upgrade Tomcat in DCS comes with a default set of loadouts. These loadouts follow the Standard Conventional Loadout (SCL) principle. The SCLs are divided into air-to-air (A/A) and air-to-ground (A/G) categories, with a few special loadouts for TARPS missions and peacetime flight operations.

The A/G SCLs in particular are not intended to provide a comprehensive set of loadouts, but rather a standard format in which specific air-to-ground stores can be exchanged depending on the mission.

The SCLs are listed below, together with their gross weights and maximum trap fuel weights. The maximum trap fuel weight is the amount of fuel the Tomcat can carry with the specific loadout while remaining at the maximum carrier landing weight of 54,000 pounds.

🚧 Work In Progress

Armaments Section Overview

This section covers the F-14B(U) specific weapons employment. For A/A weapons employment specific VDIG-R Formats and PTID Formats are covered. For a detailed discussion on the AWG-9 weapons system refer to the AWG-9 Section in the F-14A/B manual. For A/G the section covers GPS Guided Weapons (GGW) employment in detail. Laser Guided Weapons (LGB) and Unguided Weapons employment are also covered.

Magnetic Tape Load

The Tomcat's weapons control system uses magnetic tape programs to load mission-specific software into the aircraft's computer. The computer has three levels of memory: Non-Destructive Readout (NDRO) memory, which permanently stores the main tactical program; Destructive Readout (DRO) memory, which serves as working memory for mission-specific software; and bulk storage, provided by the magnetic tape system.

The main tactical program is stored in NDRO memory and is always available. It controls the overall operation of the weapons control system, including air-to-air radar modes, such as TWS or RWS etc. Special programs, such as air-to-ground (A/G), TID AVIA, or training software, are stored on magnetic tape. When required, they are loaded from the tape into DRO memory, replacing any previously loaded special program. Because DRO memory cannot hold multiple special programs simultaneously, only one can be active at a time. Depending on the program, loading can take from several seconds to several minutes.

In the F-14B(U), air-to-ground magnetic tapes are loaded through the PTID Menu page as part of the startup procedure if A/G operations are planned. Once the A/G program is loaded, no other special program can be accessed until it is replaced. Without the A/G program loaded, the AWG-9 radar cannot operate in air-to-ground ranging mode.

However, with the A/G program loaded, when selecting MANUAL on the ACP attack mode selector, the A/G radar ranging function of the AWG-9 is disabled while leaving the A/G program loaded. This allows the AWG-9 to operate in all air-to-air modes and permitting the employment of air-to-ground stores that do not require radar ranging.