TOMCAT SUNSET. The United States Navy no longer flies the F-14 Tomcat, not because the plane isn't combat capable (it remains an excellent platform) but rather because the maintenance costs are very high compared to the F/A-18. Consequently, the Navy now has a vast surplus of spare F-14 parts. DoD is in the habit of selling surplus parts on the open market, and had plans to begin selling F-14 spares before long. There is one country in the world that still flies the F-14. In 2003, Iran was able to put 16 F-14s (purchased by the Shah) over the Gulf at one time. Many more Iranian F-14s have presumably been cannibalized for spares. While the DoD would never sell spares directly to Iran, anyone who purchased the spares could then turn around and sell them to the only country in the world in the market for such items. Fortunately, some of the players have had an attack of sanity; Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) has put forth a bill to permanently ban the sale of F-14 parts. Eric Martin has more details at American Footprints. Also see Defense Tech. --Robert Farley
