It might have made Goose turn in his grave, but the F-14 was a much better CAS/Strike platform than the legacy F-18. It had the same podded sensor capabilities as the hornet, can carry more practical weight further/stay on station longer, and most importantly came with two sets of eyes/ears/brains. That let the F-14 function as an airborne FAC for other strikes in addition to being a strike aircraft- having a FAC overhead takes some work off the guys in the ground in terms of airspace management and deconfliction.
|