the Shah was a very intelligent man and knew the benefits which an F-14/AWG-9/PHOENIX system would provide in defending the borders of his over country from Soviet overflights by MiG-25s. He made his decision in a carefully crafted speech to the Navy and Air Force participants. He told them his country needed an air superiority fighter such as the F-15. (This, of course made the U.S. Air Force participants almost wet their pants). Then he deflated them by adding that his country also needed an air supremacy fighter such as the Navy’s F-14!

‘Ever since then I have used the expression “maritime air supremacy” in describing the mission of a Navy fighter. So, whether we are talking about the airspace over a battlefield, or deep behind enemy lines or even over the open ocean in the vicinity of a carrier battle force, the Navy fighter needs to achieve and maintain air supremacy for as long as is necessary to get the job done!

The Air Force’s mission is considerably different. It has the mechanism in place to replace its attrition fighter forces much more easily than the Navy can. The carrier battle force must be more autonomous and self-sustaining. Its attrition fighter forces may not be so easy to replace. Therefore, it needs to be so much better than any forecast enemy fighter force that the exchange ratios will be concomitantly high, negating the need to do any substantial turnover of replacement hardware during the brief prosecution of the mission. The Navy’s fighter force must consist of maritime air supremacy platforms.’