By the autumn of 2001, the venerable F-14 Tomcat had been developed into a truly multi-role fighter-bomber thanks to the aircraft’s awesome load-carrying capacity, legendary long range and the advent of a bolt-on targeting sensor pod for precision bombing. Although, by then, the F-14 was far from being in the flush of youth, it was given more mission tasking than any other aircraft embarked in a US carrier. Having successfully evolved into the ‘Bombcat’ over the previous decade, the F-14 went on to play a pivotal role in the US military’s ‘War on Terror’ from 2001 through to its retirement in 2006. Indeed, its contribution in Operations Enduring Freedom (2001-02) and Iraqi Freedom (2003-06) meant that the aircraft approached phasing out from US Navy fleet service with its claws well and truly bared.

F-14 Tomcat in the War on Terror is heavily illustrated with photographs taken by the Naval Aviators that flew the jet in combat over Afghanistan and Iraq, complemented by professional images taken by US Navy photographers and the world’s best civilian aviation photo-journalists. The author was given unique access to veterans of these campaigns upon their return to the USA, and he also embarked on board several aircraft carriers in-theatre during the fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. The images taken by those who flew the jet in combat during the War on Terror is what sets this book apart from other Tomcat titles.