How two F-14 Tomcats shot down two Gaddafi’s MiG-23s, On This Day in 1989 How two F-14 Tomcats shot down two Gaddafi’s MiG-23s, On This Day in 1989 U.S. Navy F-14 vs Libyan MiG-23. After two F-14 Tomcats from the VF-41 Black Aces shot down two Su-22 Fitters on Aug. 19, 1981 and, above all, after Operation El Dorado Canyon, the air strike launched on Apr. 15, 1986, against Libya, Colonel Gaddafi and its regime went off the U.S. high priority agenda. But in late 1988, tensions between Washington and Tripoli raised again. In fact the United States government accused Libya of building a chemical weapons plant near the town of Rabta and once again Gaddafi warned the U.S. against interfering in Libyan affairs, reiterating the threat of military actions. In response to Gaddafi’s menace, the USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) and its battle group were dispatched to conduct a “freedom of navigation” exercise off the Libyan coast.