A or B never dropped bombs.

Neither the A or B model were designed to drop MK's. But I have seen a Heatblur Pic of a 'Grim reapers' jet, dropping them like it was a D model?

I believe F-14As from VF-41 dropped bombs in the Kosovo War. Interesting read about their experience here:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/951658.Black_Aces_High

Figure 2-43 shows a diagram of the throttle assembly including a switch for manual wing sweep pitch, one of these modes is "bomb"

Figure 2-55 shows a diagram of the stick with position '1' labelled as "Bomb release button"

4-19 "The aft cg limit will be exceeded if all stations are configured for AIM-54 missiles or Mk 83/84 bombs and only stations 4 and 5 are loaded or remain as a result of firing, dropping, or jettison of stations 1, 3, 6, and 8. If the aft cg limit is exceeded, airspeed/ AOA control may be difficult."

Strangely though the only stores pages i could find only referenced air to air weaponry as well as drop tanks and not bombs

This is from Natops by the way. Chatpers 26 through 30 something are redacted and are instead referenced in another document which i do not have.

Neither the A or B model were designed to drop MK's. But I have seen a Heatblur Pic of a 'Grim reapers' jet, dropping them like it was a D model?

You are correct that initially the Tomcat wasn't designed for air to ground. When the navy retired the A-6 though, that changed.

Changes were made to the B model for A-G sorties.

You are correct that initially the Tomcat wasn't designed for air to ground. When the navy retired the A-6 though, that changed.

 

Changes were made to the B model for A-G sorties.

The US Military has always preferred its fighters to have the ability to perform limited air to ground missions going back at least as far as WWII, if not further. The F-14 as designed was no exception. The A/G display mode, bomb wing sweep mode for the pilot as well as the bomb specific munitions programming options on the RIO's armament panel have been there since the beginning.

As the Tomcat approached IOC, the program as a whole was running over budget and over schedule, and in the context of the larger draw down of the US Defense Budget post Vietnam, the program was in serious danger of being cancelled. The decision was made to eliminate the operational validation of the A/G capability as an attempt to expedite adoption. The Navy didn't really want to squander its whiz bang new fighter carrying bombs into the teeth of an enemy IADs when a CVW already had three VAs as it was. This decision also lead to the withdrawal of the USMC from the F-14 program (they already had pilots in the RAG). Various attempts, forays, and experiments were undergone in the 80's to see about finally validating the capability, but neither the budget or the organizational inertia were there.

The impetus to finally get it done was the collapse of the Soviet Union and the accompanying air threat. Validation of dumb bombs had begun by 1990, squadron level adoption of the A/G role began before or coincident with the announcement of the A-6's early retirement. What the death of the A-6 did was open up a capability gap in the long range, precision strike role that the Hornet could not fulfill. Quick thinking and creative budgeting produced the LANTIRN LTS, and secured the Tomcat's future for the next decade.

To OP, all three variants of the Tomcat carried and dropped bombs in combat. All three variants would eventually carry the LANTIRN pod.

Neither the A or B model were designed to drop MK's. But I have seen a Heatblur Pic of a 'Grim reapers' jet, dropping them like it was a D model?

VF-41 (F-14A) dropped LGBs in combat for the first time in 1995 over the Balkans (buddy lazed).

VF-32 (F-14B) and VF-213 (F-14D) took part in Operation Desert Fox in 1998 and dropped LGBs (first combat use of the LANTIRN).

VF-14 and VF-41 (F-14A) took part in Operation Allied Force, striking ground targets.

VF-14, 41, 102, 211 and 213 (F-14A, B, and D) took part in Operation Enduring Freedom, and led numerous strikes against Afghanistan (over 605,000 kg of bombs were dropped).

VF-2, 31, 32, 154 and 213 (F-14A, B, and D) took part in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.

Open and Shut Case, Johnson.

Book it.

Neither the A or B model were designed to drop MK's. But I have seen a Heatblur Pic of a 'Grim reapers' jet, dropping them like it was a D model?

Of course they did or what do you think they did over the Balkan and Afghanistan?

F-14A's definitely dropped bombs in combat VF-54 (I think it was 54). Was actually deployed to shore and attached to a F-15E Squadron in the opening stages of OIF to lase for the F-15E's. Because the F-14 RIO's Fishbowl is bigger than an MFD on the F-15E they were able to get more precise beads on targets which is incredibly important for Danger Close CAS or for strikes in densely populated areas where collateral damage must be Minimized as much as possible.

Because the F-14 RIO's Fishbowl is bigger than an MFD on the F-15E

That would be the PTID screen, not the Fishbowl.

I'm not defending him. I didn't waste 10 minutes of my life finding pictures of F-14's with dumb bombs loaded (surprisingly hard) in order to defend him.

35sec:

Okay we proved that the op was incorrect. Need anyone say anymore?

Two of the 1990s Fighter Flings have awesome footage of CBU and GP bomb drops, pretty cool stuff.

That's f'ing Fantastic.

That's f'ing Fantastic.

Yes, it is and it will be a s**t load of fun