Yet… F-14 and F-18… many view the airframe as a step backwards, and I agree with them.

And who cares?

The F-14 is outdated in airframe life and concept. Any “new Tomcat” would basically call for complete redesign. Then you can ask: do we need swing wings, do we need Phoenix (actually, they are gone). Update aerodynamics, new engine, more stealth. Finally you are where you are with the F-18E, or at least close. With higher costs, later IOC.

And finally: how can provide reliable data on how much better is F-14s acceleration? Or did you read that on another forum?

The overwings had a capacity of 270 gallons each and I was reliably informed by my instructer at the Lightning ground servicing school that 270 gallons was required to overcome the extra drag of the tanks.

“Reliably” sounds well, but you know that the additional drag is a function of the Mach number, and as that I guess the 270 gallons refer to normal cruising speed. That external tanks use up half of their content “for themselves” is a rule of thumb, it is hard to calculate exactly. When the regime is changed from subsonic to supersonic, the allowance might increase.

Still, climb performance essentially depends on thrust/weight ratio and drag/lift ratio. The TWR (of course static) isn’t that great. Did anything happen with the thrust at higher MAch numbers that made is so much different from other contemnporary turbo-jets?
I would also expect the drag/lift ratio to be not much better than that of later jets, especially in transonic/supersonic regime. So where is the secret?

I was in the company of a former Lightning F3 pilot, a distinguished elderly gentleman in his early 70’s, a couple of years ago at Farnborough.

It was during either the the MiG29 or Typhoon display (can’t quite remember which) when he leaned over to me and tried his best to shout through the racket:

‘Absolutely remarkable, these modern fighters. Shame they can’t climb like we could, though…’

Climb performance is dependant on lift-drag ratio and thrust-weight ratio, two fields were Lightning clearly looses against both MiG and Typhoon (against the latter, with wide margin). An elderly man, however, should not be disturbed with such beancounting in his mid 70s.

Add in the Phoenix missile as well.

I know the AWG-10 fitted in the F-4J was developed in parallel with the AWG-9, but could a AIM-54 compatable radar be fitted in the ‘Toom?

A max of only 4 Phoenix missiles would be feasable, but it would get that long-range “punch” that was really needed.

Something similar to the F-4S, with new engines, and with the AIM-54 would have done rather well, I would think.

Surely the Phoenix would not fit under the Phantom as nicely as under the Tomcat, but a 6 Phoenix load is quite unrealistic for normal combat. I would assume that for usual fleet defence mission the Tomcat would start with 2 or 4 Phoenix, 2 Sidewinders and 4 or 2 Sparrows.
The question is if the radar would fit on the Phantom, especially if a cannon is installed, too.

It is out of question that an updated Phantom would not reach the overall performance of the F-14, but recognising that the Phantom was already a huge aircraft and that the F-14 was very costly (possibly also a reason for delays and cancellations in other programs), it might have made a viable solution.

This is going to sound flippant, Phantom, but Tom Cruise never flew an F-4!.

I doubt the ‘household name’ you think the F-4 became was actually discussed in all that many households.

The Tomcat though was Mavericks need-for-speed ride and Top Gun gave it the sort of legend that, perhaps, the Spitfire had in an earlier era.

There is your answer for the ‘hoopla’, as you put it, over the exit of the F-14.

I agree. The F-14 is one of the most overrated aircraft of the Cold War fighter era. A sober watch on the facts reveals that.
Just compare market success, service life, versatility and combar success.
Still, Maverick has flown the Tomcat.

BTW: The oldest Luftwaffe Phantom, 37+01, was delivered in 1973 and still flies today. It has outlived the whole F-14 service career with the USN.

What?? So why do you think it was given a bubble canopy and a gun?

Granted, the design of the Tomcat would have been different if it was intended to be a pure fighter, but it was THE fighter on the decks of USN carriers until the F-18 came along. It was a far better dogfighter than the F-4 it replaced. I’d go so far as to say that when it entered fleet service, it was the world’s best fighter aircraft.

It was a compromise. The Navy needed a long range interceptorin the first place. A role the F-4 filled not well enough. So they went for the Tomcat. Technology has advanced so they could afford a quite versatile fighter (and thus opposed the F-111B). From the pure perspective of flight performance, the F-14 was not the big leap. Sure it was better than F-4B Phantom, but equip a Phantom with current engines and the comparisons look less impressive. Still, the Phantom cannot match the weapon system of the Tomcat.

Is anybody interested in my opinion?
No?
Never mind, you get it for free today!

The Tomcat does not compare well to latest fighters, but rather well to its time, which saw the standard aircraft of the West to be the Phantom and of the East the MiG-23M (with ML being in development).

It is an aircraft for a very special mission and was never intended for use as fighter-to-fighter dogfighter. Some things are truly remarkable on the F-14, which actually set trends for following fighters:

Many more things were remarkable but very mission specific, like the weapon system and the swing wings. The Tomcat was much too big for an effective fighter, but would have been an effective aircraft in the inventory.

I think that the F-18E is indeed better suited for today’s US Navy. It has however some drawabcks when compared to the Tomcat, because it wasn’t tailormade for the mission. But as the threat of Russian attack has vanished, single mission aircraft are superfluent. Something like a Tomcat II or life extension measures would surely be a waste of money and resources. When talking about the Tomcat it should always be noted, that its technology is basically end 1960s standard. It was introduced same time as late MiG-23M and very early MLs, which it outpasses in overall performance (and by a wide margin in price).

And I think the F-14 was the first fighter aircraft to exceed all expectations in price tag. F-14 Million!