S. Air Force's Improved Manned Interceptor Program as one of the contenders to replace the Convair F-106 Delta Dart as an Aerospace Defense Command interceptor in the 1970s. Each model is carefully carved and painted to provide a unique piece of art that will go great with the goat locker. The F110 provided a significant increase in thrust, with a static uninstalled thrust of 26,950 pounds-force (120 kN); installed thrust is 23,400 pounds-force (104 kN) with afterburner at sea level, which rose to 30,200 lbf (134 kN) at Mach 0. When the F-14 was still in development, Grumman had planned an upgrade path for the Tomcat's propulsion and avionics.

During their final deployment with Theodore Roosevelt, VF-31 and VF-213 collectively completed 1,163 combat sorties totaling 6,876 flight hours, and dropped 9,500 lb (4,300 kg) of ordnance during reconnaissance, surveillance, and close air support missions in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Tomcat's LANTIRN pod was altered and improved over the baseline configuration, such as a Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation System (GPS/INS) capability to allow an F-14 to accurately locate itself.He later testified before Congress about his concerns against the official Navy position and, in May 1968, Congress stopped funding for the F-111B, allowing the Navy to pursue an answer tailored to its requirements. In the second crash, lighting the afterburner damaged the afterburner can's lining and led to an explosion. As Phantome said, it's still today a very good kit that required care when new and later pressings need a bit more care. Only the pilot has flight controls; the flight instruments themselves are of a hybrid analog-digital nature.

With a range extending beyond 500 miles, it was capable of exerting influence over vast operational theaters. Trials with live bombs had been carried out in the 1980s; the F-14 was cleared to use basic iron bombs in 1992.

The F-14 TOMCAT fighter gained great fame not only because of its amazing appearance and variable wing geometry, but also because of its being part of the blockbuster film TOP GUN from 1986. Connolly, as the nickname "Tom's Cat" had already been widely used within the program during development to reflect Connolly's involvement, and now the moniker was adapted into an official name in line with the Grumman tradition of giving its fighter aircraft feline names. This iconic fighter was an unwavering sentinel through numerous conflicts, most notably in the Persian Gulf, where it demonstrated unmatched air superiority. Following the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force used them during the Iran–Iraq War.