Pentagon Shreds Retired F 14s

A year after the F-14 Tomcat was withdrawn from U.S. Navy service in 2006, the Pentagon ordered every remaining aircraft to be shredded rather than sold or preserved. Officials feared that any surviving frames or spare parts might end up in Iran, the only other operator of the F-14 since the United States sold the jets to the Shah in the 1970s. To close that supply line, workers dismantled and destroyed stored Tomcats in U.S. boneyards piece by piece.

Previous Fact Next Fact