F-14A Tomcat Black Knight 1/32 Scale Tamiya 60313

About the Grumman F-14A Tomcat "Black Knights"
Ever since its first flight in 1970, the F-14 Tomcat has been one of the top air defense fighters. From 1990, in addition to its role as an interceptor, the F-14A, noted for its long range and superior weapons systems was designated as an air-to-ground strike plane. With this new role, the Tomcat was fitted with a new weapons arsenal. Since 1996, the F-14A employs the AN/AAQ-14 targeting pod, referred to as the LANTIRN. This targeting pod gives the F-14A precision bombing capability by procuring targets for nose-mounted infrared laser or other laser guided weapons. The AN/AAQ-14 targeting pod contains a high-resolution, forward-looking infrared sensor (which displays an infrared image of the target to the pilot), a laser designator-rangefinder for precise delivery of laser-guided munitions, target tracking software, and more. The LANTIRN, combined with GBU-16 and GBU-24 guided bombs, enables precision striking with a minute margin of error from several meters down to tens of centimeters. This precision can be realized at long-range. The VF-154 Black Knights is attached to the USS Kittyhawk,homeported at Yokosuka Harbor, Japan. The Black Knights were formed after WWII, and were deployed to both the Korean and Vietnam War. F-14As were employed with the VF-154 from 1984, and used extensively in Operation Desert Shield during the Gulf War in 1990.