Three U.S. Navy F-14D Tomcats could be transferred to the U.S. House and Rocket Heart Fee in Huntsville, Alabama, and one could be made flyable once more, following the approval of the “Maverick Act.”
The U.S. Congress is voting on a brand new invoice which could see a F-14D Tomcat return to the skies 20 years after it was retired. The invoice, notably referred to as the “Maverick Act,” was launched by Senator Tim Sheehy, co-sponsored by Sen. Mark Kelly, on Mar. 23, 2026.
Maverick Act
The invoice handed Senate by Unanimous Consent on Apr. 28, 2026, and is now in line for voting on the Home, with the newest replace on Might 4. Ought to the invoice additionally go the Home, it will authorize the switch by the Secretary of the Navy to the U.S. House and Rocket Heart Fee in Huntsville, Alabama, of three F-14D Tomcats.
The invoice nonetheless must go the home.
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) Might 7, 2026
The Fee directs the U.S. House & Rocket Heart, the space-dedicated museum established by the federal government of Alabama in 1970 and generally referred to “Earth’s largest area museum.” In accordance with the textual content of the invoice, it seems that the three plane have already been recognized with the Bureau Numbers 164341, 164602, 159437.
The doc specifies that the plane “should not have any functionality to be used as a platform for launching or releasing munitions or every other fight functionality that it was designed to have.” A set of circumstances is then listed, with the Secretary of the Navy not required to restore or alter the situation of the plane earlier than conveying its possession however offering any upkeep and operations manuals and extra spare components.
The latter is the place issues will get fascinating, mentioning for the primary time a attainable return to the skies of the Tomcat:
“The Secretary shall present extra spare components to make one of many F–14D plane flyable or in a position to full a static show, supplied that any half transferred is from present Navy inventory, with no gadgets being procured on behalf of the Fee.”
Nevertheless, the actions required to make this occur would be the sole duty of the Fee:
“The Secretary is not going to be chargeable for transferring any extra components or offering any extra help past what’s said on this part, throughout or after the conveyance of the plane.”
The Fee will be capable of acquire certified help outdoors of the Division of the Navy, one thing much like what the Collings Basis did with the F-4D Phantom, the sort’s solely flying instance within the U.S.:
“The Secretary could authorize the Fee to enter into agreements with certified nonprofit organizations for the aim of restoring and working the plane transferred below subsection for public show, airshows, and commemorative occasions to protect naval aviation heritage.”
The doc additionally specifies that the switch will likely be made for free of charge to the federal government. “Any prices related to such conveyance, prices of figuring out compliance with phrases of the conveyance, and prices of operation and upkeep of the plane conveyed shall be borne by the Fee,” mentions the invoice.
Feasibility
The U.S. has been traditionally extraordinarily restrictive concerning the entry to the retired F-14 airframes. In actual fact, entry to spare components was tightly managed to keep away from any risk of smuggling towards Iran, which was the sort’s solely operator after the U.S. Navy retired its Tomcats in 2006.
Many components have been additionally destroyed, which might make tough the procurement of the required elements to make the plane flyable once more. It ought to be famous that, upon retirement, many elements have been faraway from the plane, earlier than they have been parked within the desert.
Earlier than returning to flight, the F-14D would want deep inspections, each for the airframe’s construction and the methods. After that, work could be executed with a purpose to make the plane compliant with the necessities for the certification by the Federal Aviation Administration.
This course of is predicted to be extremely costly, primarily as a consequence of amongst of labor after the plane sat within the desert for 20 years and the dearth of provide chain. The Tomcat was additionally identified for its excessive working prices, which might make sustained airshow operations unlikely.
Nevertheless, restricted flight demonstrations and heritage occasions could be extra doubtless. The timeline is one other unknown side, and the attainable return to flight would possibly take years earlier than materializing.
