Always thought the F3, or Tornado ADV whichever variant, was developed by the UK to intercept the marauding Soviet bombers somewhere far out over the North Sea!
Oh it was - but they didn't play in exercises and all the mud-movers provided the targets - and you train as you intend to fight, so all the CAPS were at FL150 looking low and all the escort missions were at low level.
I can recall, long after the Cold War was over, a report of a senior officer being invited to look around the cockpit of a Backfire and asking where the TFR display was. "We don't have one of those", was the reply, "Our tactic was to come in as fast and high as possible under ECM and launch our ASMs at maximum range"...
Even if the F-3s had been looking up and seen them I doubt the missile would have taken out the height difference in a snap-up....