Combat Aircraft #70 is on the near last gasp of the F-14 Tomcat and its role in the operations in Afghanistan during 2001-2003. Designed as the ultimate fleet defense interceptor and fighter, the Tomcat shed it air to air role and became a lowly bomber and ground attack aircraft during these operations. Either that or sit on the deck as the enemy was the stealthy and lightly armed Al-Queda and Taliban terrorists, who spent most of their time hiding in caves in the mountainous regions of Afghanistan/Pakistan, moving only under cover when they had to.

As the fleet had been winding down since 1991, there were few units to operate during this time period, but all had some chance to get involved in either the bombing campaign or the follow-on operations of supporting ground troops, even if it was little more than providing a chance to 'show the flag' by doing fly-bys.

Author Tony Holmes covers these operations in considerable detail and includes stories from pilots and crews about their more interesting missions. This is all enhanced by quality, though in some cases rather small, images provided from official sources. Artist Jim Laurier adds to the book with his superb profiles; each unit involved in the action getting at least two planes included in this section.

Though not the enthralling air to air combat record that we would hope for the Tomcat to be involved with, this book does show that the F-14 played an important role in both ground attack and reconnaissance missions during these operations at the start of the century.

March 2008

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