[Paul Ross]

Part of the problem here is that the Navy is just flat-out late to the party. They were late with Stealth...

Hey, they did want the Navalized F-22...which would have been an appropriate F-14 replacement. But Cheney and then Clinton shot it down.

[Tallguy]

Hey, they did want the Navalized F-22...which would have been an appropriate F-14 replacement.

Remember the Avenger? The stealthy replacement for the A-6 Intruder? Killed because it was too expensive. Navalized airframes are both expensive and few -- a formula for fantastically expensive. Kicking a project down the road won't make it any cheaper.