[Bob-san]

It's a shame about the F-14. It had a lot of potential. For the cost of the new Raptor, you could have built something like a dozen new, modern, up-to-date Super Tomcats 21's or other variations. I'd say that would be a better use for the money--especially as a new generation could stay in development until it was ready and offered a major upgrade.

[SpardaSon21]

Don't forget the Phoenix missile - like a FS2 Trebuchet, except even longer ranged and even more powerful!  Way it is supposed to work is it ignites its engine, climbs, levels out, keeps going, targets the top of the enemy plane, and then slams down on it at several times the speed of sound.  And lets not forget it has a proximity warhead, so it almost never misses.

[The E]

...and it weighed so much, that no Tomcat ever lifted off of a carrier deck carrying the full loadout of six, because if they weren't fired during a mission, the F-14 was too heavy for the arrestor cable.

[Solatar]

Long range missiles would be a lot better if it weren't for the fact that usually rules of engagement preclude attacking an aircraft before it is in visual range anyway.

[SpardaSon21]

Not if you're in a shooting war, which is the exact arena that weapons are designed for.  The RoE are different during war than peace.  By war, I mean all-out war with a modern nation-state, like the (now non-existent) Soviet Union or China.  And it is quite possible to identify enemy aircraft from BVR either by their emissions (all active radars have different signatures) or because they don't respond to challenges.  If they aren't emitting, don't respond to challenges, and are on a direct course for the carrier group, its safe to assume hostile intent.  Which is when you want your CAP of Tomcats to light off their Phoenix missiles before they blow up that multi-billion fleet of yours.

[General Battuta]

Not if you're in a shooting war, which is the exact arena that weapons are designed for.  The RoE are different during war than peace.  By war, I mean all-out war with a modern nation-state, like the (now non-existent) Soviet Union or China.  And it is quite possible to identify enemy aircraft from BVR either by their emissions (all active radars have different signatures) or because they don't respond to challenges.  If they aren't emitting, don't respond to challenges, and are on a direct course for the carrier group, its safe to assume hostile intent.  Which is when you want your CAP of Tomcats to light off their Phoenix missiles before they blow up that multi-billion fleet of yours.

That's how an Aegis cruiser managed to shoot down an Iranian airliner. And it wasn't even in time of war!

Solatar's got a great point. Even not accounting for ROEs, most fights end up at visual range (and have been doing so for a very long time, in spite of predictions to the contrary.)

The Phoenix was, unfortunately, a big waste of money and space. And the Tomcat never handled well in ACM.

I really recommend playing Falcon 4.0. It demolished a lot of my myths about air combat -- especially when I had to fly allied operations alongside Eastern Bloc fighters in the hands of now-NATO countries.

[NGTM-1R]

Solatar's got a great point. Even not accounting for ROEs, most fights end up at visual range (and have been doing so for a very long time, in spite of predictions to the contrary.)

The Phoenix was, unfortunately, a big waste of money and space. And the Tomcat never handled well in ACM.

For the scenario and the threat it was designed for, the Tomcat/Phoenix combination was very capable. There's not going to much commercial air traffic flying around out there in the North Atlantic with the multiregiment Backfire raid.

The Tomcat-21 project would have produced a fighter on a par or better than the F-15E in every fashion. It would also have sidestepped the really crippling problem that the modern USN carrier air wing has: the Hornet's lack of range. By all reports the JSF when it gets around isn't going to be vastly better in this fashion. That was the real problem with sending the F-14s and A-6s to the boneyard, it shortened a carrier's reach dramatically.

[Dilmah G]

There's only so far you can push the Tomcat, I think in this case just starting a fresh was a good idea.

[SPECTRE87]

Fail   

I seriously doubt the article though, but if it's real, then it's Epic Fail...

[General Battuta]

Solatar's got a great point. Even not accounting for ROEs, most fights end up at visual range (and have been doing so for a very long time, in spite of predictions to the contrary.)

The Phoenix was, unfortunately, a big waste of money and space. And the Tomcat never handled well in ACM.

For the scenario and the threat it was designed for, the Tomcat/Phoenix combination was very capable. There's not going to much commercial air traffic flying around out there in the North Atlantic with the multiregiment Backfire raid.

The Tomcat-21 project would have produced a fighter on a par or better than the F-15E in every fashion. It would also have sidestepped the really crippling problem that the modern USN carrier air wing has: the Hornet's lack of range. By all reports the JSF when it gets around isn't going to be vastly better in this fashion. That was the real problem with sending the F-14s and A-6s to the boneyard, it shortened a carrier's reach dramatically.

I remember Tomcat CAPs in Harpoon were great because you could get your missiles off and RTB from quite a distance. Fuel was a big consideration in that game.