Tomcat RIO
Among Cold War-era Western fighters, the Grumman F-14 Tomcat stood in a class of its own. Its AWG-9 weapons control system could simultaneously engage six separate targets at long range, each guided by one of six AIM-54A Phoenix missiles. For medium-range engagements, AIM-7 Sparrow missiles provided a reliable option, while AIM-9 Sidewinders and an internal 20mm cannon covered close-in combat. In a dogfight, the Tomcat’s variable-sweep wings delivered a maneuvering edge that no fixed-wing design of the era could match.
The AWG-9’s sophistication demanded a dedicated Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) in the rear cockpit to manage it effectively across all phases of a mission.
Dave “Bio” Baranek built a distinguished 20-year naval career, serving as a Tomcat RIO in front-line F-14 squadrons, as an instructor at the elite TOPGUN school, and later at the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the US 7th Fleet. He eventually commanded an F-14 Tomcat fighter squadron of nearly 300 personnel operating 14 aircraft valued at approximately $700 million. By the end of his career, he had accumulated 2,499.7 F-14 flight hours and 688 carrier landings.
The MISSILEX Challenge
Among the most demanding training events a Tomcat crew could face was the MISSILEX—a live missile exercise in which an actual weapon is fired against an unmanned drone. In his book Before Topgun Days, Baranek recounts the second AIM-7 Sparrow he ever fired in anger. In December 1982, while assigned to VF-24 Fighting Renegades, Baranek and his pilot, Lieutenant Commander Steve “Drifty” Smith, were selected to execute a live Sparrow shot over the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California.
The exercise followed a test and evaluation profile that required both the Tomcat and its target to fly supersonically—a demanding constraint that compounded an already complex scenario. As the crew approached the launch range, Smith lit the Zone 5 afterburners and pushed the aircraft past Mach 1. Moments later, an A-6 Intruder operated by the Pacific Missile Test Center released an AQM-37 target drone.
Direct Hit
The intercept unfolded rapidly. At supersonic closure speeds, the 30-mile gap between hunter and target was collapsing at more than 2,000 feet per second. After approximately one minute, the geometry was right. Baranek pressed the missile launch button, and the 500-pound AIM-7 was kicked clear of the aircraft by its explosive ejection charges before its motor ignited and drove it toward the target.
The next few seconds were tense. Keeping the radar locked on a small, fast-moving drone during a high-speed turn was demanding work, and when the radar lock lights went out mid-maneuver, it appeared the intercept had failed. Then Smith calmly offered a different explanation: the target wasn’t lost—it was gone. The radar had broken lock, not because the drone escaped, but because the Sparrow had destroyed it. The missile had scored a direct hit, blowing the drone out of the sky.
All images used with permission of author Dave “Bio” Baranek
