via The Torch, I am reminded of something a friend mentioned to me a while back - the US Navy is phasing out the F-14 Tomcat.
The F-14 is the Navy's dedicated air superiority fighter. It is contrasted with the (apparently, easier to maintain) F-18 strike fighter, which engages surface targets as well as airborne ones.
The Navy is getting rid of the F-14.
This is the same Navy that is busy hyping China as a potential threat in the Pacific.
Now, I'm not saying the F-18 sucks or anything like that. But do we really think there's anything to worry about if the US Navy is so confident, they're willing to go without a dedicated air superiority fighter? Certainly, I think it says a lot about their confidence against the PLAAF.
Watch what they do, not what they say.
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I still wonder if the US Navy will revisit the idea of using modified F-22s as their air superiority fighter. They scrapped the initial plan in 1993 and the F/A-22 that is replacing the F-15 in the Air Force is designed to be more of a strike fighter than an air superiority one. It still, however, is not out of the question.
Also, by the time China is a threat to the US, the Tomcat will be so obsolete it would need to be replaced as well. Perhaps down the line, if they don't use modified F-22s they might use the next generation of them for the navy.
One interesting fact I learned. In tests, they ran 5 F-15s vs an F-22 and the F-22 pilot shot down all 5 without being damaged.
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