[Pukin Dog]

The AMRAAM or AIM-120 or 'slammer' is used by all the flying services and almost all of the NATO allies. The Tomcat was late to get the slammer, but the F-14D supports it. Slammer range is only a third of Phoenix range. The Phoenix is a HUGE missile. It is the reason that the Tomcat was built as big as a house. You don't need so much airplane to carry 6 slammers, but there is only one airframe that can take 6 Phoenix missiles for a ride.

[Mr. Silverback]

Right, that's what I figured, and I knew that was the reason the Tomcat is built about as big as a B-25. I just figure that at least part of the motivation for the slammer is to give the Eagle jockeys the same fire-and-forget capability as the Phoenix, without the range.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

The F-18 Superhornet is supposed to replace the Tomcat. What a joke. Let's see the F-18 carry six Phoenix missiles. Hell, the "Superhornet" can't even go Mach 1 in clean condition below 10,000 feet. It would probably fall right out of the sky with 6 Phoenix on board.