Congress Moves to Save the Last F-14 Tomcats With the Maverick Act

The F-14 Tomcat is one of the most recognized aircraft in American military history - thirty-two years of carrier service, combat from the Gulf of Sidra to the skies over Iraq, and a cultural footprint cemented by a 1986 film that sent Navy recruiting numbers through the roof. It was retired in 2006. Since then, federal law has required the systematic destruction of nearly every remaining airframe. Congress is now moving to stop that - for three jets, at least. And incredibly, they are opening the door for one of them to fly again.

Why Were They Being Destroyed?

When the Navy retired the Tomcat, Iran remained the only other country operating the type. Tehran had acquired 79 F-14As from the United States before the 1979 revolution and had been cannibalizing spare parts ever since to keep its small fleet marginally airworthy.

The FY2008 National Defense Authorization Act specifically prohibited the Department of Defense from selling any F-14 fighters or parts, or granting an export license to allow any to leave the country.

Retired airframes at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base - the Air Force's 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group facility known as the Boneyard - were ordered shredded to prevent parts from reaching Iranian buyers. It worked, and it was thorough. There are only eight remaining F-14s in storage at the Boneyard out of more than 630 that flew with the Navy before the fleet-defense fighter was retired in 2006.

What Changed?

The security rationale has largely collapsed. Iran is believed to be the only remaining F-14 operator, though Tehran's last Tomcat is believed to have been destroyed on the ground in March by Israeli air strikes as part of the joint U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign against Iran.

With Iran's fleet apparently gone, the primary justification for continued destruction no longer holds. Three of the remaining eight airframes now have a congressional lifeline.

What the Maverick Act Does

Senate Bill 4161, titled the Maverick Act, authorizes the Secretary of the Navy to transfer three surplus F-14D aircraft to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center Commission in Huntsville, Alabama. The legislation passed the Senate by unanimous consent on April 28, 2026, and now awaits action in the House of Representatives.

Senator Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), Naval Academy graduate, and former Navy SEAL, introduced the Senate version on March 23, with Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona - a retired naval aviator and astronaut - as co-sponsor. In the House, Representative Abe Hamadeh (R-Ariz.), an Army Reserve officer, introduced companion legislation on April 16, with nine co-sponsors.

The three airframes were not chosen at random. One of the planes specified in the bill was one of two F-14s to score a rare air-to-air kill in a 1989 dogfight with two Libyan MiG-23s over the Gulf of Sidra.

Another was successfully landed as an improvised convertible after the passenger in the back seat accidentally pulled his ejection handle and fired himself out of the aircraft mid-flight outside Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada. The pilot then successfully landed the plane. These are aircraft with documented histories worth preserving.

What It Does Not Do

The bill transfers legal title and sets conditions, but it doesn't mention how three fighter jets will get from Tucson to Huntsville. The Navy transfers the aircraft at no cost, but the U.S. Space and Rocket Center Commission is responsible for the costs of moving, restoring, operating, and maintaining them.

However, unlike standard museum transfers, Senate Bill 4161 contains a provision that states:

“The Secretary shall provide excess spare parts to make one of the F–14D aircraft flyable or able to complete a static display.”

For 20 years, the DoD paid contractors millions to shred these planes into two-foot squares so Iran couldn't get the parts. Now, the Senate has unanimously agreed to not only stop the shredders but also potentially put an F-14D back in the sky for airshows.

The Bottom Line

The Maverick Act is narrow and bipartisan. It represents a massive shift in Pentagon policy, moving from mandatory destruction to historical preservation and potential flight restoration. Additionally, the cost of transport, restoration, and maintenance will be borne by the U.S. Space and Rocket Center Commission, an Alabama state government body.

No federal appropriation is authorized. Its real purpose is straightforward: halt the legal destruction of three historically significant aircraft and get them into a museum where the public can see them. As Hamadeh's office put it, the act creates a narrow exception to the post-retirement restrictions that have destroyed nearly all F-14s, ensuring that the legacy of the type is preserved.

As for the name - yes, a Naval Academy graduate and former Navy SEAL named his bill after a Tom Cruise character. The Senate passed it unanimously, so perhaps he knew his audience.