In my non-experienced, non-pilot, non-military personal opinion, the
NAVY, Congress, the Pentagon, or whoever, should've opted for one or
more of Grumman's proposals for an advanced Tomcat.

Tomcat 21 aka Super Tomcat 21 aka ST-21

or

Attack Tomcat 21 aka Attack Super Tomcat 21 aka AST-21

or the most advanced of all, the ASF-14, (Advanced Strike Fighter ?)
a completely new Tomcat aircraft, an alternative to a Naval ATF /
F-22N

.....the lowest-end proposal, 'Quckstrike', an F-14 equivalent of the
F-15E Strike Eagle, may not have been enough..... I'd want the ASF-14



http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/planes/q0132.shtml
http://www.anft.net/f-14/f14-history-f14x.htm
http://www.topedge.com/alley/text/other/tomcat21.htm
http://home.att.net/~jbaugher1/f14_13.html
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/8629/14var.htm




also, should have developed the AAAM ~ Advanced Air to Air Missile, a
longer range replacement for the AIM-54 Pheonix family

in a REAL war with China and/or Russia, are those F/A-18E 'Super'
Hornets really going to cut it ?