Shred Company Helps Protect National Security

by Robert J. Rua

In the 1970s the Grumman F-14 fighter jet was a state-of-the-art piece of machinery. During its heyday, it was the fastest, most maneuverable, and most expensive (with an approximate cost of $38 million per fighter) aircraft on the planet. Developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the F-14 was designed for the US Navy as a supersonic, low-level striker capable of intercepting the Soviet's quick and elusive MiG fighters. For over 30 years, it played an important role as the Navy's primary fleet defender, reconnaissance vehicle, and airborne attacker.

Millions of Americans are familiar with the F-14. It is one of the most recognizable aircraft in history. This is due in part to the blockbuster 1980s movie Top Gun, in which the F-14 played co-star opposite Hollywood mega-celebrity, Tom Cruise. Top Gun exposed millions of American civilians to the aircraft, cementing its reputation as an icon in the world of aviation.

But in the early 2000s, the F-14 was fast approaching obsolescence in the face of emerging aviation technology, and its nickname the “Tomcat” was beginning to seem less appropriate than its other, decidedly un-sexy nickname, “The Turkey”. Once a symbol of American Cold War air supremacy, the US military's remaining F-14 Tomcats have now been relegated to the “bone yard” at Tucson, Arizona's Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Davis-Monthan Air Force Base is to US military fighter planes what the Sargasso Sea is to European eels – a place where they go to die. The Pentagon officially retired the F-14 Tomcat from duty in the fall of 2006. The last remaining American F-14 Tomcats to fly made their farewell landing at Naval Air Station Oceana on March 10, 2007 . The Navy's new work horse, the über-sophisticated F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, has assumed the F-14's former roles.

The F-14 Tomcat has flown in every major American conflict since its first stint in active duty in 1974, during the US withdrawal from Saigon . The Tomcat was used extensively throughout the Cold War period. Though it was not originally designed for overland flight (the Navy felt the F-14's large size would make it vulnerable to surface-to-air missile attacks), the US military's desperate need for overland photo reconnaissance of Soviet and Libyan activity eventually forced the aircraft into an intelligence gathering role where, with the help of sophisticated missile detection equipment, it excelled for almost twenty years. Later, the F-14 flew strike escort and reconnaissance missions during Operation Desert Storm. F-14s were used as recently as Operation Iraqi Freedom.

But now the versatile aircraft's glory days are behind it – the F-14s awaiting their fate at the bone yard of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base are the last of a dying breed. In an article released by the Associated Press in early July, Pentagon representatives estimated that only 165 F-14 Tomcats remain out of the 633 that were originally produced for the US Navy. Of the 468 fighters that didn't end up at the bone yard a very small portion were “retired” to museum exhibits. Others simply crashed and were destroyed during active duty. Still others were gradually cannibalized for parts to keep their airborne cousins aloft.

The F-14 does, however, still remain in service with the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF). The Imperial Iranian Air Force (IIAF), as it was called in the 1970s under US ally Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, purchased 80 F-14 Tomcats from the US government in January 1974. The sale, which included several hundred AIM-54 and Phoenix missiles, was at that time the largest single sale of military equipment by the US to a foreign power in history. The Iranians had been looking for an aircraft capable of deterring Soviet intrusions into their air space, and in the F-14 they found what they needed.

But by 1979 the Shah was overthrown by the Ayatollah Khomeini and an embargo was placed on military arms imports from the West. Shipments of F-14s were canceled as US relations with Iran deteriorated. The US responded with its own embargo, which remains in place today. In theory, the US embargo made it difficult for the IIAF (and subsequently, the IRIAF) to obtain replacement parts for their American-made fighters. Without replacement parts, the Iranian F-14 should have eventually gone the way of the dodo. However, it is widely believed that spare F-14 parts were among the items Iran purchased from the US during the Iran-Contra Affair. Today, the Islamic Republic of Iran reportedly maintains a significant number of airworthy F-14 Tomcats, though how many is not known. Though F-14s are no longer state-of-the-art, the Pentagon still considers them a substantial threat to the US military presence in the Middle East.

In January the AP reported that intermediary buyers for various foreign powers were able to purchase F-14 parts and other military gear from the Pentagon by circumventing the Defense Department's military surplus-sale security measures. These “middlemen,” as they were referred to by the AP, successfully obtained Tomcat parts and other sensitive military equipment by misrepresenting themselves in order to access Pentagon surplus auctions. Where the parts and equipment ended up is unclear, but US officials fear they were destined for Iran and/or China.

As of January 2007, the Defense Department suspended the sale of all Tomcat parts, citing concerns over “the current situation in Iran.” Now, in an unprecedented move, the Pentagon is attempting to prevent its nemeses from acquiring F-14 parts by destroying the retired aircraft and shredding them up into militarily useless two foot by two foot chunks.

Enter TRI-Rinse, Inc, a St. Louis, Missouri-based environmental contractor that was recently awarded a $900,000 contract by the Pentagon to safely dispose of 23 of Davis-Monthan bone yard's retired Tomcats. The TRI-Rinse/Pentagon contract is not, however, limited to the demolition of F-14s. TRI-Rinse will also oversee and execute the destruction of other sundry surplus military equipment. All told, TRI-Rinse, Inc. will earn an estimated $3.7 million over three years for the Davis-Monthan demo project.

Though TRI-Rinse is perhaps better known for cleansing and shredding metal containers, they have overseen the destruction and demilitarization of US military equipment many times in the past. TRI-Rinse employs various mechanical monstrosities of proprietary design capable of handling large and unusual items. The company has been known to customize demolition equipment for a specific job, to suit the needs of its client. For the Pentagon project, TRI –Rinse developed portable shearing and shredding machines capable of handling the Tomcat's 38 foot wingspan and roughly 40,000 pound frame. These massive demo machines had to be portably designed because the demolition project is taking place on site at the Davis-Monthan bone yard to avoid the potential security risks of transporting the aircraft from Arizona to Missouri.

The demolition of an F-14 is a challenging task. The process begins with the massive, 100,000 pound custom shearer, which pulls apart the plane via a set of powerful pincers, segmenting the doomed fighter into manageable pieces. Then the huge mechanical shredder (weighing in at a whopping 120,000 pounds) scoops up, mangles, crunches, and shreds the F-14 into small bits of unrecognizable rubbish.

TRI-Rinse boasts that their machines are fully compliant with environmental regulations for particulate and emissions control. They also boast an 8:1 volume reduction ratio. However, not all of the F-14's components can be shredded. The fighter's titanium augmented landing gear (designed to endure repeated violent landings on the decks of aircraft carriers) are too durable for the shearing machine and must be cut manually with torches.

The Pentagon has not yet revealed what it plans to do with the remainder of the bone yard's F-14's. Reportedly, government officials are considering disposing of them via the TRI-Rinse process, though nothing has been confirmed. Some vocal preservationists have urged the Pentagon to delegate a few of the remaining F-14s to museum settings where they can be appreciated as an important part of the American aviation legacy. A small number of F-14s have already been stripped of sensitive components and donated to aviation museums throughout the country.

Whether any more F-14s will be maintained for perpetuity is unclear. The Senate is currently considering legislation that would outlaw the sale of F-14 parts to anyone but museums. The proposed bill will also ban export licenses for F-14 components. This would make it possible for a few more of the fighter planes to escape execution, but a strong contingent that believes the best thing to do is to demolish the remaining aircraft remains. The Senate will vote on this issue later this summer. In the meantime, squadrons of venerable steel wait in the arid bone yard dust facing the prospect of two undesirable fates. The first, to be scavenged for parts like some desert corpse beset with vultures. The second, to be chewed up and spit out – literally – like so many other former movie stars.