When working in Track-While-Scan mode, the AWG-9 emissions were difficult to identify for contemporary radar warning receivers, and thus, warning of an attack undertaken by an F-14 Tomcat was minimal, if there was any.
Supported by balanced and capable air wings, large aircraft carriers have been the cornerstone of US Navy doctrine and strategy since the Second World War. Designed to deliver massive striking power, their role is to exert control over vast expanses of airspace, whether in offensive or defensive operations.
From the mid-1970s through the mid-2000s, the cutting edge of US Navy air wings was the renowned Grumman F-14 Tomcat, widely regarded as one of the premier air superiority platforms worldwide. Initially conceived as a fast, agile, and heavily armed fighter, the Tomcat entered service as the ultimate long-range fleet defender and quickly became the largest, most complex, and most expensive carrier-based aircraft of its era.
As Tom Cooper notes in his book In the Claws of the Tomcat: US Navy F-14 Tomcats in Air Combat against Iran and Iraq, 1987–2000, the impact of the F-14’s introduction went far beyond simply fielding a new fighter. Its arrival pushed US Navy Tomcat squadrons into a position of dominance in the air battles of the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. The main reason was its weapon system which—although built around a heavily modernized radar originally developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s—was still ahead of its time and clearly superior to virtually anything else in service worldwide.
At the heart of this system was the AWG-9 radar and fire-control suite. Running from the front of the aircraft toward the rear, it comprised 27 units, beginning with a 91.4 cm (36 in) planar-array radar antenna, an antenna controller, synchronizers, microwave circuitry and Doppler clutter processors, digital computers, the fire-control system, cockpit displays, and two data links.
Integrating all of this hardware into a single aircraft was made possible by major advances in radar and computer design during the 1960s. Although the AWG-9 was still fundamentally an analogue system, it incorporated a second generation of solid-state technology, including high-throughput processors, coherent transmitters and amplifiers, and microprocessors used to filter ground clutter and track low-flying targets. It also employed entirely new tracking algorithms and could operate at a much higher pulse repetition frequency, which was essential for achieving extremely long detection ranges. With a peak output of 10.2 kW, it remained the most powerful airborne intercept radar in frontline combat aircraft until the F-22 Raptor, equipped with the APG-77, entered service in 2005.
The AWG-9 was highly versatile, offering six primary operating modes, four of which were pulse-Doppler. It supported 19 transmission channels for pulse-Doppler search, with six channels dedicated to guiding AIM-54 missiles and five for AIM-7s. Its longest-range mode, Pulse-Doppler Search (PDS), could detect bomber-sized aircraft at distances of up to 277 km (150 nm) and fighter-sized targets with radar cross-sections under five square metres—such as the MiG-21—at up to 213 km (115 nm). The Pulse-Doppler Single Target Track (PDSTT) mode was used for long-range AIM-54 engagements and attacks on targets employing strong electronic countermeasures (ECM). It could also be employed to guide AIM-7 Sparrows out to about 70 km (38 nm) and AIM-9 Sidewinders out to roughly 16 km (10 nm).
Arguably, the most important mode was Track-While-Scan (TWS). In this mode, the AWG-9 had a maximum detection range of 166 km (90 nm) and could sweep enormous volumes of airspace—around 15 times more than the best radar ever fitted to the F-4—while simultaneously tracking up to 24 targets. Of these, six could be engaged at once with AIM-54 missiles. All of these modes provided look-down/shoot-down capability, allowing the system to engage targets flying at very low altitude. In addition, when operating in TWS, the AWG-9’s emissions were difficult for contemporary radar warning receivers to classify, so targets often received little, if any, warning that they were under attack.
Although many of these modes could be used to set up engagements in which the fire-control system automatically selected targets and launched AIM-54s on its own, the AWG-9 still preserved its traditional, man‑in‑the‑loop pulse‑radar functions. This allowed the radar intercept officer (RIO) in the back seat to manually detect faint returns out to 91 km (49 nm) in Single Target Track mode, or 115 km (62 nm) in Pulse Search mode.
In addition, the radar featured three dedicated air‑combat modes—Pilot Lock‑On, Manual Rapid Lock‑On, and Vertical Scan Lock‑On—which enabled the crew, especially the pilot, to rapidly acquire and lock onto targets in close‑range engagements at distances of up to 9.23 km (5 nm).
Weapons release was controlled by a separate fire‑control computer, the AWG‑15. The challenge of employing four different weapons in quick succession, in any order, was resolved through an integrated armament control system. Alternatively, all weapon configurations could be pre‑programmed and stored before takeoff, ensuring that each weapon was immediately ready to fire at the flick of a switch.
In the Claws of the Tomcat: US Navy F-14 Tomcats in Air Combat against Iran and Iraq, 1987-2000 is published by Helion & Company and is available to order here.
Photo by Lt. Gerald B. Parsons / U.S. Navy
