Manufacturer: Italeri
Scale: 1/72
Additional parts: none
Model build: Dec 2019 - Apr 2020
Luftwaffe Grumman F14G Seekatze
Italeri
1/72
1/72
Intercept
The icy wind whipped around Major Elsa Schmidt's helmet as she piloted her F-14G "Seekatze" through the choppy North Sea air. Behind her, Lieutenant Weber monitored the radar, his youthful face etched with concern. This wasn't a routine patrol. A pair of unidentified aircraft had breached the border, sleek, angular silhouettes unlike anything they'd encountered before.
"MiGs? Fencers?" Elsa muttered, her voice tight over the comms. The silence from Weber was unnerving. "Anything, Lieutenant?"
"Unknown, Captain," he finally responded, his voice strained. "Signatures don't match anything in our database. They're fast, Captain, very fast."
Elsa cursed under her breath. They needed to identify the intruders before escalating. She pushed the sleek fighter into a daring climb, aiming to get above the unknown jets.
The world tilted on its axis, the G-force pulling at Elsa's body. A flash of silver caught her eye, the lead intruder mirroring her climb. Its sleek, delta-winged design was unlike anything she'd ever seen. Panic gnawed at her, but she forced it down.
"Lieutenant," she barked, "Get on the international channel. Open communication. This is Luftwaffe Captain Schmidt, unidentified aircraft in German airspace. Identify yourselves immediately!"
Silence met her request, broken only by the roar of the engines. Frustration bubbled within her, but she kept focused. An idea, risky but potentially effective, sparked in her mind.
"Lieutenant, activate the variable-geometry wings. Full sweep-back. We're going supersonic."
Weber's voice crackled over the comms, "But Captain…"
"Trust me," Elsa interrupted. She pushed the throttle forward, feeling the familiar surge as the Seekatze broke the sound barrier. The world blurred into a tunnel of blue, the shockwave rippling through the air.
Below, the lead intruder hesitated, thrown off by the unexpected maneuver. Elsa slammed on the brakes, throwing the Seekatze into a tight turn, banking hard to come face-to-face with the unknown jet.
The cockpit of the intruder filled Elsa's vision. She saw the surprised, youthful face of the pilot, clearly not expecting such aggression. In a split second, a decision was made. With a flourish, she levelled the Seekatze and fley besides the unknown intruder.
The young pilot in the other jet followed her action, confusion etched on his face. Through the roar of the engines, she saw him raise a gloved hand in a hesitant wave. Understanding dawned on Elsa.
"Lieutenant," she said, voice hoarse from the wind, "Open a secure channel. Maybe we can talk our way out of this."
A tense standoff ensued, engines roaring as the two jets danced in a silent ballet. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, a voice crackled through the comms, laced with a thick Russian accent.
"Luftwaffe Captain, this is Captain Petrov. We apologize for the misunderstanding. We are on a training exercise and… miscalculated our course."
The tension slowly bled away. Relief washed over Elsa as she responded, equally formal. "Captain Petrov," she said, "This is a sensitive airspace. Please ensure a more precise course in the future. Welcome back to international airspace."
With a final nod, Petrov turned his aircraft away, followed by his wingman. Elsa watched them go, a sliver of unease lingering. This wasn't a complete victory, but it was a win without a single shot fired. As she turned her Seekatze back towards Jagel, she knew the skies wouldn't remain calm forever. But for now, she'd kept the peace with nothing but courage and a fighter jet on a wing and a prayer.
After the USN had introduced the Grumman F-14 in September 1974, the US government approached Germany to introduce the F14 at the Marineflieger. This move was not without second thoughts.
At this time, Germany operated one Aircraft carrier, the Graf Zeppelin. Build during WW2 and modernized after the war, Germany operated the F4N as the primary carrier-based fighter. However, with the approach of more modern Soviet build aircraft, the need for a more modern fighter jet was seen by the German military.
As the Graf Zeppelin was a small carrier, it was not very well suited for operations of larger aircraft like the F14, therefore the USA suggested a package of F14 plus the option of a non-nuclear aircraft carrier slightly bigger than the last class of conventional US carrier.
This idea was not rejected directly in Germany, however it was decided to prioritize the F14 first, while keeping the carrier option open. Contracts for 36 F14 were signed in April of 1977, with an option of additional 36 aircraft.
Based on the F14A model, Grumman constructed the F14G with slightly modified avionics, but more or less, the aircraft was similar to the F14A used by the USN.
On October 3rd, 1980, the first F14G had its rollout at Grumman's factory in Calverton, Long Island, followed by its successful maiden flight the next day.
But only one week after that, the Graf Zeppelin had its fatal engine breakdown which lead to the decommissioning of the ship.
The original US plan to sell a new carrier to Germany was not accepted by the Bundesregierung as the costs for a new ship was seen as too expensive. Therefore, the Graf Zeppelin was not replaced.
The F14G's "Seekatze" were introduced at the Marienflieger and based in Jagel from 1981 on. From there, the aircraft mainly operated over the North and Baltic Sea. Together with Luftwaffe F4, they were also used on quick alert duty to protect German Airspace.
F14G also operated on US carriers from time to time, mainly on ships in the North Atlantic, but also in the Mediterranean.
From 2010 on, the F14Gs were taken out of service, the last of them left active duty in 2013. Most of them were scrapped by the US military directly – to prevent that parts of the planes would come into Iranian hands – the only other operator of the F14.
Three of the planes are now displayed in museums.
The model shows a Luftwaffe F16G "Seekatze" during its initial rollout on October 3rd, 1980 on a faked carrier deck.
The model is a 1/72 scale Italieri Kit of a F14 Bomb Cat. Luckily the kit also contains all AA missiles so they could be used. Besides this, the model is built OOB. Airbrushed with Revell Aqua Color, I used some of the original decals and some HaHen ones.
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