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Although initially developed and fielded as a “Fleet Defender,” the Tomcat matured into a capable Tactical Reconnaissance platform with the introduction of TARPS, Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance Pod System. All F-14D models were wired for TARPS. Select F-14As and F-14Bs were also modified for TARPS. In the case of the F-14A/B, standard practice involved assigning three TARPS aircraft to one squadron per Carrier Air Wing. The system consisted of a pod mounted under the fuselage on the starboard side between the engines (right rear Phoenix station). The pod measured 17 feet in length and weighed 1,850 lb. The pod’s three camera bays were controlled by the Radar Intercept Officer (RIO). Each bay held specific cameras for specific tasks. The aft bay contained an AN/AAD-5 Infrared Line Scanner Camera for night and day missions. The front bay contained a KS-87, six-inch focal length camera on a rotating mount capable of pointing straight down or at a 45-degree angle. The middle bay held a nine-inch focal length KA-99 Panoramic Camera capable of rotating horizon to horizon. Late in their service life, the pods received Digital Imagery (DI) and Electro-Optical (OI) improvements. The Pullnix digital camera was installed in the pod’s forward bay, replacing the wet-film KS-87 camera. Digital images were then sent via the Tomcat’s UHF radio. The first squadron to deploy the TARPS DI was VF-32. The new system was validated over Bosnia when a VF-32 Tomcat transmitted near real time digital imagery to an F-15E Strike Eagle via E-2 Hawkeye during a simulated strike. The final improvement to TARPS was the TARPS CD that incorporated its own transmitter and was completely digital.
F-14A 161293, assigned to VF-154, launches from the deck of the USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63), March 18, 2003, armed with four GBU-12s, AIM-9 Sidewinders and a Lockheed Martin AN/AAQ-25 LANTIRN Targeting Systems (LTS) pod. This Tomcat delivered fifty-one LGBs during the deployment making it the high-time ordnance expender. This Tomcat was SARDIP/Destroyed at NAS Oceana and stricken on December 17, 2003. (U.S. Navy/PH3 Todd Frantom).