The F-15 has a TWR as high as the Su-27`s TWR
This would had allowed to the F-15 a good carring capacity, it is true it would had added weight as it would had been navalized, but it would had also take off with the aid of a catapult, the F-14A has a very low TWR and a very slow rate of climb, the F-15N would had been more like a Su-33 in that sense since the land F-15 has a TWR of 1.2 at normal take off, contrary to the F-14A that has really a very low TWR even worst than the MiG-23MF in fact it only has a 1:0.9 TWR empty, fully loaded, it gets as bad as 1:0.5, so the F-14 is a really overweight and obese aircraft even compare to the F-15.
The F-14 is bigger than the F-15. The F-15’s T/W advantage is not going to keep it in the air with the same big load after it clears the end of the deck on launch. You could put all six Phoenix on it, but it wouldn’t have the same range.
The F-15 has a better wing loading than the F-14A while the F-14A has a pancake fuselage generated lift, it also has a smaller wing, and it is heavier, also the Wing Pivots limit the G overload permitted and the F-14 was even limited to 6.5Gs due to the complexity and fragility associated with swing wings
You should say, while the F-14 has a smaller wing, with its pancake fuselage it can generate more lift per pound than the F-15. Its not really true to say that the F-15 has a lower wing loading, except in the most literal sense. The F-14 is not G limited in combat, either. (Lets see, which plane has broken in half in flight… 😀 )
F-14 Phoenix realities The F-14 can not land on the deck of an aircraft carrier with a load of six AIM-54 and it is restricted to a Max G load factor of 6Gs while carrying the AIM-54, so the F-14 armed with AIM-54 is not agile in fact is so limited that in agility it would be comparable to the MiG-31.
Not quite that bad, but true, the Phoenix is not for dogfighting. But it would have a tough time pulling 6Gs anyway with all of that Phoenix weight, so a 6G limit is no problem at all. Besides, why would a pilot want to pull more than 6G with a load of AIM-54? The only manuver you would need to make is a 45 degree pull up to lob the Phoenix at a Backfire.
If an F-14 can’t bring back six AIM-54, an F-15N never would have.
So i do not think the Naval F-15 would had been worst than the F-14, in fact i think it would had been better why? The F-14 empty weight is 18 tonns, the weight of the F-15N would had been less than 14tonns, the reality the VG wing imposes a weight penalty that is even noticeable just looking at the empty weight of the F-15A and the F-14A, the F-15A is 5 tonns lighter than the F-14A;)
The Navy chose a heavy VG aircraft because it will have the range and payload capability that a fixed wing Mach 2 fighter (or some slower Boeing pig) would not have, as well as other advantages. The F-14 and the F-15 are each beautifully optimized for their roles. Neither could perform the role of the other as well, which is why both were built. (Although the F-14A really deserved a better engine.)
So then why the F-15 never was purchased by the US navy? simply politics and enough money to burn, simply like that, Grumman needed the program, the US Navy could not back down since the future of Grumman was at stake and the US Government would had been resposible for Grumman`s bankarupcy.
Like when it went for the F-18E/F.
The F-14A is inferior to the F-15A simply because as a whole the F-14 has two aspects that makes it more primitive than the F-15, one is older and less advanced engines and the other is weight penalty due to the VG wing
As an airframe, I would say the F-14 is more advanced. It has several innovative tricks, like the pancake, the retractable vanes, and of course the automatic variable sweep wings. The F-15 doesn’t even have leading edge flaps. As a fighter, the F-15 is superior for the reasons that you stated. But the F-14 is superior in the fleet defense role.
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