PS. I should add that Tornado F3 was the product of RAF Air Staff Requirement 395 (ASR 395) that dates back to the early 1970s to look for an interceptor to replace English Electric Lightning and Phantom FGR2. ASR 395 was for a Mach 2 interceptor capable of chasing down and shooting down long range bombers in the Iceland-Faroes Gap. The contract was awarded in 1976 for BAe to build 3x Air Defence Variant (ADV) Tornados. The F14A first flew in 1970 and was with the USN from 1974.
At the time for ASR 395 there were 4 options on the table:
1. F14A with a questionable set of engines and massive expense - which offered not much better performance than the Phantoms in service but was certainly a favourite at the time.
2. F15A with a really poor RADAR but seemed to have great performance - first flight 1972 - it broke eight time-to-climb world records between 16 January and 1 February 1975. But without the RADAR it was seen more as a long range Lightning than what ASR 395 was aiming for.
3. F16A was designed as a single-engine IR-missile equipped day fighter initially. First flight 1974. Deemed unsuitable for ASR 395.
4. Tornado ADV - the winner, which BAe made fit the entirety of ASR 395 and would keep the British aircraft industry in business.
I understand that F14A and Tornado ADV was a really close run thing too.