Tips for F-14

[Bobile]

I just researched the F-14 recently but I haven't crewed it yet.
The title says it all, I need tips on how to use it properly.

[Jaes]

The F-14 is an absolute joy to fly, but you need to dig into technical knowledge in order to get the most out of it.

First, you need to familiarize yourself with its Radar capabilities and its various modes. The AWG-9 Radar is the core to being successful with the F-14 so you need to know when to use its various capabilities.

https://wiki.warthunder.com/Airborne_radars

Highly recommend reviewing this wiki and making sure to set keybindings for the Airborne Radar Controls (all of them) because you're going to be using them.

One of the most important features of the F-14's radar is the ability to switch between PD mode and SRC mode while maintaining a hardlock. This makes it a lot harder to defeat your AIM-7's as your targets won't be able to simply Notch to defeat your Sparrows unlike with the F-4J.

A subtly about the AWG-9 array is that it can be difficult to hard lock a target at long ranges at times because the refresh rate for the radar beam is very quick. If you need to lock something beyond 9km (your ACM range), it's best to narrow your radar sweep so you can reliably lock the target.

TWS is cool, but it should be only used for AIM-54 launches.


Next, you need to master the F-14's two circle fight capabilities. Set bindings for manual wing sweep controls (and when you do, make sure to toggle the "Relative Control" function). Quite a few aircraft can defeat you in a One Circle engagement, but nothing currently in game can defeat you in a Two Circle. Plan your engagements accordingly.


The biggest con of the F-14 (besides its giant size and flying fuel canister that lights on fire at the slightest provocation) is its poor acceleration rate compared to many of the aircraft you'll run into. If you get into a two circle and suddenly find yourself in a bad situation and need to bug out, you're going to be in trouble. While the F-14 retains speed very well in full afterburner, it won't regain lost speed in a hurry (relatively speaking to others). Don't start a rate fight unless you're going at least 800km/h and use your combat flaps sparingly.

And while the F-14 technically has the highest top end speed in the game, its engines take awhile to get to that top speed and there's a good chance you'll run out of fuel before then.

The F-14's fuel consumption in afterburner is absolutely nuts. Left in afterburner, you can burn through an hour's worth of fuel in 7 minutes. Don't use it to cruise, only use it when you're engaging/at the start of the match to get to your preferred combat altitude. If you afterburner smartly, you never need more than 30 minutes of fuel for the "small" maps while only taking 45 minutes for the EC style maps. Carrying an hour's worth of fuel makes you much easier to kill.

[W-I-L-D W-E-A-S-E-L]

Im about to get to the F14 and this is going to be useful. (leaving a comment so i can find this once i get it)

[Bobile]

Originally posted by Jaes:

The F-14 is an absolute joy to fly, but you need to dig into technical knowledge in order to get the most out of it.

First, you need to familiarize yourself with its Radar capabilities and its various modes. The AWG-9 Radar is the core to being successful with the F-14 so you need to know when to use its various capabilities.

https://wiki.warthunder.com/Airborne_radars

Highly recommend reviewing this wiki and making sure to set keybindings for the Airborne Radar Controls (all of them) because you're going to be using them.

One of the most important features of the F-14's radar is the ability to switch between PD mode and SRC mode while maintaining a hardlock. This makes it a lot harder to defeat your AIM-7's as your targets won't be able to simply Notch to defeat your Sparrows unlike with the F-4J.

A subtly about the AWG-9 array is that it can be difficult to hard lock a target at long ranges at times because the refresh rate for the radar beam is very quick. If you need to lock something beyond 9km (your ACM range), it's best to narrow your radar sweep so you can reliably lock the target.

TWS is cool, but it should be only used for AIM-54 launches.


Next, you need to master the F-14's two circle fight capabilities. Set bindings for manual wing sweep controls (and when you do, make sure to toggle the "Relative Control" function). Quite a few aircraft can defeat you in a One Circle engagement, but nothing currently in game can defeat you in a Two Circle. Plan your engagements accordingly.


The biggest con of the F-14 (besides its giant size and flying fuel canister that lights on fire at the slightest provocation) is its poor acceleration rate compared to many of the aircraft you'll run into. If you get into a two circle and suddenly find yourself in a bad situation and need to bug out, you're going to be in trouble. While the F-14 retains speed very well in full afterburner, it won't regain lost speed in a hurry (relatively speaking to others). Don't start a rate fight unless you're going at least 800km/h and use your combat flaps sparingly.

And while the F-14 technically has the highest top end speed in the game, its engines take awhile to get to that top speed and there's a good chance you'll run out of fuel before then.

The F-14's fuel consumption in afterburner is absolutely nuts. Left in afterburner, you can burn through an hour's worth of fuel in 7 minutes. Don't use it to cruise, only use it when you're engaging/at the start of the match to get to your preferred combat altitude. If you afterburner smartly, you never need more than 30 minutes of fuel for the "small" maps while only taking 45 minutes for the EC style maps. Carrying an hour's worth of fuel makes you much easier to kill.

What Secondary Weapons would you recommend that I should bring in matches?

[Acidic__Thought]

Originally posted by Bobile:

What Secondary Weapons would you recommend that I should bring in matches?

Aim 7Fs and a few Aim 9Hs if you like IR missiles.

[Jaes]

Originally posted by Bobile:

What Secondary Weapons would you recommend that I should bring in matches?

My Favorite loadout:

1x AIM-54, 3x AIM-9H, 4x AIM-7F.

Sparrows are your primary weapon. AIM-7F has been buffed a couple times since the F-14 was released and the AWG-9 radar gives them pretty nutty capabilities. As long as you fire your AIM-7F before your target reaches 2.5km in a merge, you're getting a kill. If you can't acquire the target and launch before that point, switch your focus to guns/evading.

Ideal launch ranges: 15km max 2.5km minimum

The single AIM-54 will be primarily used to force a target to throw their nose off you or to engage a target that's flying dumb (going in a straight line), which will typically be other F-14s or a bomb laden SU-17/22 at lower altitudes. The best altitude to fire it from is to climb between 6000-7000m and fire at targets 32km distance.

This distance is within the Phoenix's burn time, gives it plenty of time to gain lethal speeds (since it has a poor acceleration rate), and if your target is below you, your AIM-54 will attack the target from above, which gives it a bit of extra lethality if your target isn't paying attention until it's too late.

It's not ideal to use an AIM-54 against a target that's within 20km, but it's workable. If the target is within 9km, expect it to not even have enough time to get underway and track the target. This was a problem with the early Phoenix missiles that was mostly resolved with the AIM-54C.

AIM-54 is by far not a "meta" missile because you need to do a lot of hand holding/set up to get it to hit targets and it's relatively easy to defeat if your target is paying attention, but I take that as a challenge and work with it to get the most out of it. It has its niche and will get you kills if you use it correctly.

Ideal launch ranges: 32km max 20km minimum

AIM-9Hs are great. They combine the best aspects of the AIM-9J (flare resistance) and the AIIM-9G onto one platform. The AIM-9H's HOBS (high-off boresight) capabilities couples very well with the AWG-9's ACM modes so it enables you to pull off some very funky missile shots that will net you kills if you time the launch right.

IR missiles can still be pretty vulnerable to countermeasures, but the HOBS and radar slaving capabilities allows you to lead your missile ahead of your target's potential flare coverage so that it ends up ignoring the CM deployment altogether simply because the missile doesn't detect the flares within its field of view.

Ideal launch ranges: 3km max 0.8km minimum.

- Note that ideal launch ranges are the best window to launch the missiles, that doesn't mean they're useless if you fire them sooner/later, they'll just have a higher chance of missing.



A more meta loadout: 4x AIM-9H & 4x AIM-7F or even 2x AIM-9H and 6x AIM-7F.

[Bobile]

Originally posted by Jaes:

Originally posted by Bobile:

What Secondary Weapons would you recommend that I should bring in matches?

My Favorite loadout:

1x AIM-54, 3x AIM-9H, 4x AIM-7F.

Sparrows are your primary weapon. AIM-7F has been buffed a couple times since the F-14 was released and the AWG-9 radar gives them pretty nutty capabilities. As long as you fire your AIM-7F before your target reaches 2.5km in a merge, you're getting a kill. If you can't acquire the target and launch before that point, switch your focus to guns/evading.

Ideal launch ranges: 15km max 2.5km minimum

The single AIM-54 will be primarily used to force a target to throw their nose off you or to engage a target that's flying dumb (going in a straight line), which will typically be other F-14s or a bomb laden SU-17/22 at lower altitudes. The best altitude to fire it from is to climb between 6000-7000m and fire at targets 32km distance.

This distance is within the Phoenix's burn time, gives it plenty of time to gain lethal speeds (since it has a poor acceleration rate), and if your target is below you, your AIM-54 will attack the target from above, which gives it a bit of extra lethality if your target isn't paying attention until it's too late.

It's not ideal to use an AIM-54 against a target that's within 20km, but it's workable. If the target is within 9km, expect it to not even have enough time to get underway and track the target. This was a problem with the early Phoenix missiles that was mostly resolved with the AIM-54C.

AIM-54 is by far not a "meta" missile because you need to do a lot of hand holding/set up to get it to hit targets and it's relatively easy to defeat if your target is paying attention, but I take that as a challenge and work with it to get the most out of it. It has its niche and will get you kills if you use it correctly.

Ideal launch ranges: 32km max 20km minimum

AIM-9Hs are great. They combine the best aspects of the AIM-9J (flare resistance) and the AIIM-9G onto one platform. The AIM-9H's HOBS (high-off boresight) capabilities couples very well with the AWG-9's ACM modes so it enables you to pull off some very funky missile shots that will net you kills if you time the launch right.

IR missiles can still be pretty vulnerable to countermeasures, but the HOBS and radar slaving capabilities allows you to lead your missile ahead of your target's potential flare coverage so that it ends up ignoring the CM deployment altogether simply because the missile doesn't detect the flares within its field of view.

Ideal launch ranges: 3km max 0.8km minimum.

- Note that ideal launch ranges are the best window to launch the missiles, that doesn't mean they're useless if you fire them sooner/later, they'll just have a higher chance of missing.



A more meta loadout: 4x AIM-9H & 4x AIM-7F or even 2x AIM-9H and 6x AIM-7F.

Oooh thanks, I'm gonna try this out once I spade out my F14.
Btw do you use TWS when using the Phoenix missile?

[Jaes]

Originally posted by Bobile:

Oooh thanks, I'm gonna try this out once I spade out my F14.
Btw do you use TWS when using the Phoenix missile?

Yes, TWS and the AIM-54 go hand in hand.

Technically, you only need to maintain TWS tracking for your AIM-54 until it reaches 16km distance to target, then its onboard radar will guide itself to your target, but I've found maintaining the Datalink through TWS and the Phoenix until it strikes the target produces the best hit probability.

This can be dangerous though as it will make you "blind" to anything that isn't within the field of view for your TWS radar sweep so this is an aspect of consideration as well.