[El Gato]

If the Tomcat had gotten the engines it was supposed to have, it would still be the main platform today, as we would have never had a Hornet. The A-12 almost killed NAVAIR, and if the Super Hornet doesnt do it, then nothing will.

Don't hold your breath, although the F-14D did finally get engines appropriate to the airframe.

Right now, Squadrons are screaming bloody murder at how crappy the Super Hornet performed in Iraq, and you may yet see a Super Tomcat proposed very shortly with FBW and Strike Eagle electronics.

That would be nice, although the Strike Eagle itself is getting a little long in the tooth, technologically speaking. An Su-35 with a decent drier (hard to come by admittedly) would eat it for lunch) I developed some ot Terrain Following algorithms in part of the LANTIRN navigation pod, used both on the Strike Eagle (F-15E and export versions) and the F-16.

[El Gato]

drier<== driver. Sorry 'bout that.

[Pukin Dog]

A decent Su-35 driver's last words would be "It's raining missiles!" long before he got within AA-12 firing range. They dont want any of what our boys have got for them.

Tomcat D's are helped by the engine and APG-71, but they really need the beasts from the F-22. If the F-14 ever got a 1-1 ratio, it could eat anything currently in the sky, including the F-16.