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Description
A F-14A Tomcat from VF-154 Taking off in full afterburner.
The Grumman F-14 Tomcat was initially fielded with the TF30-P-414A turbofan engine as the F-14A. This engine was carried-over from the US Navy's failed F-111B project. The F-14 had a troublesome history with the the TF-30 engine. The aircraft was severely underpowered and had lacked the thrust to weight ratio of its contemporaries such as the US Air Force's F-15 Eagle. Furthermore, TF30 was found to be ill-adapted to the demands of air combat and was prone to compressor stalls at high angle of attack (AOA) if the throttles were moved aggressively. Because of the Tomcat's widely spaced engine nacelles, compressor stalls at high AOA were especially dangerous because they tended to produce asymmetric thrust that could send the Tomcat into an upright or inverted spin, from which recovery was very difficult.

The F-14's engine problems were later corrected with the F-14B (or F-14A+) and the F-14D. Both variants were built and engined (or rebuilt from F-14A models) with the more powerful General Electric F110 turbofan engine, which gave the F-14 a thrust to weight ratio of 1:1. However, due to production cost and budget cuts many US Navy squadrons flew F-14s with the original TF30 engines, until the aircraft was replaced by the F-18 Hornet. Most notably, VF-154 and VF-211 both flew TF30 engined tomcats from the late 1970s/early 1980s until their F-14s were removed from service in the early 2000s.

*The variants of the TF30 were also used in the US Navy's A-7 Corsair II attack aircraft, and the US Airforce's (and Royal Australian Air Force) F-111 long-range medium attack bomber.

Description
A F-14A Tomcat from VF-154 Taking off in full afterburner.
The Grumman F-14 Tomcat was initially fielded with the TF30-P-414A turbofan engine as the F-14A. This engine was carried-over from the US Navy's failed F-111B project. The F-14 had a troublesome history with the the TF-30 engine. The aircraft was severely underpowered and had lacked the thrust to weight ratio of its contemporaries such as the US Air Force's F-15 Eagle. Furthermore, TF30 was found to be ill-adapted to the demands of air combat and was prone to compressor stalls at high angle of attack (AOA) if the throttles were moved aggressively. Because of the Tomcat's widely spaced engine nacelles, compressor stalls at high AOA were especially dangerous because they tended to produce asymmetric thrust that could send the Tomcat into an upright or inverted spin, from which recovery was very difficult.

The F-14's engine problems were later corrected with the F-14B (or F-14A+) and the F-14D. Both variants were built and engined (or rebuilt from F-14A models) with the more powerful General Electric F110 turbofan engine, which gave the F-14 a thrust to weight ratio of 1:1. However, due to production cost and budget cuts many US Navy squadrons flew F-14s with the original TF30 engines, until the aircraft was replaced by the F-18 Hornet. Most notably, VF-154 and VF-211 both flew TF30 engined tomcats from the late 1970s/early 1980s until their F-14s were removed from service in the early 2000s.

*The variants of the TF30 were also used in the US Navy's A-7 Corsair II attack aircraft, and the US Airforce's (and Royal Australian Air Force) F-111 long-range medium attack bomber.