When F-14 Tomcat Got Its First Kill For The US Navy In 1981 #shorts
4,537On August 19th, 1981, the first kill by the US Navy F-14 Tomcat was achieved. But it should be noted that the Iranian Air Force achieved the first-ever kill during the Iran-Iraq War. Gadafi claimed the entire Gulf of Sidra as part of Libyan national waters, so the U.S. Navy sent two aircraft carriers from its sixth fleet there in August 1981, to carry out freedom of navigation activities. The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz launched two F-14 Tomcats that day, each armed with Sparrows and Sidewinder missiles. An E-2C Hawkeye saw two Libyan Su-22s taking off from the Ghurdabiyah Air Base as Fast Eagles 102 and 107 from the VF-41 Black Aces were on a routine air patrol. Action was now unavoidable as the E-2C ordered the Tomcats to change course and engage the Fitters. One Su-22 fired a missile at approaching F-14s from a distance of 1000 feet, but they easily avoided it. Fast Eagle 102 used his Aim-9L Sidewinder to score the first kill, while Fast Eagle 107 scored the second as the F-14s made a hard left turn and approached the Libyan jets from the rear.
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