Spanish Tomcats

[Spinners 15,986]

Grumman F-14A Tomcat - Ala 12, Ejército del Aire, 1982

By the late 1970's the Phantom F-4C's of 12 Ala (12th Wing) were becoming increasingly long in the tooth and the Ejercito del Aire urgently sought a replacement. McDonnell Douglas appeared to have the upper hand with no less than three products on offer;

The F-4E Phantom (still in low-rate production).

The F-15C Eagle.

The F/A-18A Hornet.

However, during 1978 the situation in Iran was becoming increasingly unstable and by January 1979 the Shah of Iran had fled in exile. An immediate arms embargo to Iran soon followed and Grumman were left with a considerable number of undelivered and now undeliverable Iranian F-14A Tomcats. A formal approach to Spain was made by Grumman and agreement was soon reached for the supply of 30 F-14A's to replace the Phantom F-4C's of No.121 and No.122 Escuadrons with a small follow-on batch of 10 F-14R's to supplement and eventually replace the RF-4C's of No.123 Escuadron. The F-14A Tomcat gave good service to the Ejercito del Aire before being phased out during 2007 and 2008 and replaced by Boeing Hornet F/A-18F's.

Edited March 6, 2018 by Spinners
Added a couple of piccies.