[wjcsux]

Air superiority belongs to the F-14 equipped with AIM-54C's. Nothing else, with the exception of the YF-22, comes close! The A-6 is a much superior all weather close ground support aircraft than almost anything else that has been built. The F-15E Strike Eagle is probably the only one that is better. There is nothing wrong with the F/A-18 except for being slow, minimal capability to carry arnament, too heavy, and minimal unrefueled range. Other than that, it is an excellent combat aircraft.
The big joke in NAVAIR circles is that you have a choice of carrying fuel or arnament with a Hornet, you can't carry both!

[hchutch]

I disagree. I like the notion of having aircraft that can handle both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions. The E/F version is probably a good complement to the F-14D.

Again, the first responder to a crisis, whether it is one that involves conflict or just to settle things down, it would be better to have sixty fighters to maintain air superiority rather than just the 24 the two Tomcat squadrons would provide.