The Navy's Secret Wish: Bring Back the Old F-14 Tomcat from the Dead?
Who cares about the F-35?
Dave Majumdar [2]
As Work described it, the Navy was relatively confident it could sink the Oscars and surface ships before they could launch their missiles. They were far less confident about their ability to take out the Tu-22Ms before they could get into launch position. The Tomcats, under Outer Air Battle, would try to “kill the archersâ€â€”the Backfires—before they could shoot and attempt to eliminate any cruise missiles that they launched. But, Work notes, no one knows how well it would have worked during a shooting war with the Soviet Union—and it’s a good thing we never got to find out. But with China’s emerging anti-access/area denial strategy, the threat is back.
While the requirement for a carrier-based long-range strike capability is a frequent subject of discussion around Washington, the U.S. Navy’s need for improved air superiority capabilities is often neglected.
Source URL (retrieved on April 16, 2018):
http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/the-navys-secret-wish-bring-back-the-old-f-14-tomcat-the-25206
