The film, Great Fighting Jets: F-14 Tomcat, provides a brief post World War II history of the United States Navy's carrier based fighter jets to add context to the development and deployment of the two-jet, two seat F-14 Tomcat air superiority fighter.  The development of the F-14 Tomcat began in the early 1970s as the United States Navy was searching for a replacement to the venerable F-4 Phantom carrier based jet fighters made famous during the Vietnam War.  This development effort occurred as a result of the United States Navy's decision not to adapt the recently deployed United States Air Force F-111 Ardvark for carrier operations.  The result of this development effort by Grumman Aircraft was the F-14 A, variable geometry. maritime air superiority / fleet defense jet fighter.  The F-14 A was designed in a manner that would allow the use of more powerful jet engines in the initial airframes long after they had been deployed.  The operational characteristics are as follows: 1) Top speed Mach 2.34; 2) Combat range of 2,000 with externally mounted fuel tanks and 3) Service ceiling above 50,000 feet.  The F-14 Tomcat was designed to carry an external weapons load of up to 14,000 pounds.  The F-14 carried one cannon along with an assortment of intermediate range Sidewinder and Sparrow missiles along with long range Phoenix missiles.  Full screen in black and white & color.  Release date 1988.  Runtime 58 minutes.