US authorities seize old private F-14 jets

[CougarKing]

oh?

At least that idiot President Ahmedijinad of Iran did not get hold of them:

http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,127763,00.html?wh=wh

Feds Seize Old Privately-Owned F-14s
Associated Press  |  March 07, 2007
LOS ANGELES - Federal agents seized four retired F-14 fighter jets that authorities said were improperly transferred from the Navy to two air museums and the company that produced the TV show "JAG."

The Tomcats were not properly demilitarized before being transferred to private parties, according to a statement issued Tuesday by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Under the rigorous demilitarization process, navigation, radar and other sensitive equipment are disabled so they can no longer perform military functions, said Cmdr. Dave Werner, a U.S. Navy spokesman. Werner said it seemed the four jets didn't formally undergo the process.

Two of the jets were at the Yanks Air Museum in Chino, Calif., another was at the Planes of Fame Museum in Chino, and the fourth, which was acquired by Paramount Pictures, then resold to a scrap dealer, had been stored at a facility operated by Southern California Aviation at the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville, Calif.

None of the jets were currently flyable, but one in Chino still has its engines and was at least superficially in very good condition, said ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice. The other three do not have engines but were otherwise essentially whole, she said.

There was no indication any of the hardware fell into the wrong hands "but it does present a vulnerability," Kice said.

After-hours calls to curators at the Yanks Air and Planes of Fame museums were not immediately returned Tuesday. Efforts to reach Mark Thomson, the scrap dealer who bought the F-14 from the producer of "JAG," were unsuccessful.

The Navy added F-14s to the fleet in 1972 and retired the last of them in 2006. Iran, which acquired F-14s in the 1970s when it was an ally of the United States, is the only country trying to keep the jets in the air.

 

[tomahawk6]

This is an effort to deny spare parts to the Iranians.

 

[retiredgrunt45]

Can you blame them. The Iranians already have enough of them flying.

You have to wonder if these big hollywood producers think any farther than their wallet sometimes. Idiots!!

 

[geo]

still wonder why they were sold of in the 1st place.... why not add them to the boneyards in Nevada...... the fate of pert much all other aircraft.... USAF at least

 

[aesop081]

still wonder why they were sold of in the 1st place.... why not add them to the boneyards in Nevada...... the fate of pert much all other aircraft.... USAF at least

Geo, the "boneyard".....AMARC is in Arizona, not Nevada.

http://www.dm.af.mil/units/amarc.asp

 

[Mike Baker]

Tuscon, isn't it? There are a lot of old jets there, just check it out on google earth.

 

[Bobby Rico]

Question- What are they going to do with all them pertty AIM-54's?  Isn't the tomcat the only platform that uses the phoenix?

 

[geo]

whups.... remember last time I was in Vegas, there were a number of commercial jets that were "mothballed" there at the time.......forgot - military VS civy

 

[muskrat89]

Tuscon, isn't it? There are a lot of old jets there, just check it out on google earth.

Drove by it on Friday, as a matter of fact. I couldn't believe how many planes were stored there. Not all of the obsolete, either (A-10s, for example)

 

[aesop081]

Drove by it on Friday, as a matter of fact. I couldn't believe how many planes were stored there. Not all of the obsolete, either (A-10s, for example)

Thats why its called Aircraft Maintenance And Regeneration Center.  In alot of cases aircraft are stored there while they await sale to foreign air forces or return to active US service.

 

[FredDaHead]

I doubt this will do much against the Iranian Tomcats; the Iranians have been quite prolific at reverse-engineering the Tomcats and figuring out how to make spare parts for them. It might be a bit of a hassle to not be able to buy new airframes, but the total effect on the Iranian Air Force should be minimal.

 

[Mike Baker]

Drove by it on Friday, as a matter of fact. I couldn't believe how many planes were stored there. Not all of the obsolete, either (A-10s, for example)

I would have loved to have been there. I saw the A-10's there on google earth. Are there any F-22's there? I thought I saw one on google earth, or perhaps it was just a F-18.

 

[aesop081]

I would have loved to have been there. I saw the A-10's there on google earth. Are there any F-22's there? I thought I saw one on google earth, or perhaps it was just a F-18.

While technicaly possible that the YF-22 may have been stored outside at AMARC, IMHO, it would not be done. The F-22 has just reached its IOC and in production so there is no need for it to go to AMARC just yet.

 

[Mike Baker]

While technicaly possible that the YF-22 may have been stored outside at AMARC, IMHO, it would not be done. The F-22 has just reached its IOC and in production so there is no need for it to go to AMARC just yet.

AMARC is where I saw it, out on the tarmack.

 

[aesop081]

AMARC is where I saw it, still close by though 

You are aware thet the YF-22 and F-22 are not one and the same right ?

 

[Mike Baker]

You are aware thet the YF-22 and F-22 are not one and the same right ?

Yeah, but I am unsure of what I have found, see here http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&tab=wl&q=

 

[aesop081]

Yeah, but I am unsure of what I have found, see here http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&tab=wl&q=

That realy doesnt help me much...all it shows me is a map of north america......

 

[Mike Baker]

http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=Tucson,+AZ,+USA&ie=UTF8&t=k&om=1&z=19&ll=32.188221,-110.882043&spn=0.000967,0.002688&iwloc=addr  That should work

 

[aesop081]

http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=Tucson,+AZ,+USA&ie=UTF8&t=k&om=1&z=19&ll=32.188221,-110.882043&spn=0.000967,0.002688&iwloc=addr  That should work

F-15 Eagle......

 

[Bobby Rico]

Jeeze, all those planes just sitting there....c'mon Canada, buy some freakin F-15s already.