Word: 14s
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...Libyan Floggers had approached the American planes with apparent deliberation and determination. Flying at 20,000 ft., the F-14s picked up the Libyans on their radar screens at 11:57 a.m. on Wednesday. The "bogeys," as U.S. airmen call any potentially hostile planes, were 72 nautical miles away at 10,000 ft., heading directly toward the U.S. planes and the Kennedy...
...14s turned away from the approaching aircraft, a clear signal that the American pilots were not looking for a fight. To the surprise of the U.S. crews, the Libyan planes shifted abruptly ("jinked," in pilot jargon) to get back on a nose-to-nose lineup with the Americans. The distance between the two pairs of jets was closing at roughly 1,000 m.p.h...
...another evasive maneuver, the F-14s dove to 3,000 ft. This gave the Navy flyers a tactical advantage: their radar could now look up for a clear view of the approaching targets. The less sophisticated Soviet-made radars on the Libyan craft had to contend with the clutter...
...Kennedy was sailing to the east last Wednesday. The carrier was near Crete, more than 600 miles away from the Rabta plant and 120 miles off recognized Libyan territorial waters, when the unexpected combat situation arose. Even the Libyans had to know that the F-14s were fighters on routine patrol, not bombers carrying out an attack...
...signals received by the Vincennes through "mode 2" had been identified with Iranian F-14s in the past year, Howard said...