The F-14 Tomcat (and the F-4 Phantom in its day) were designed for fleet air defence - not defence of the carrier
per se but long range defence against hordes of Soviet bombers.
...the primary mission for the CV/CVN in the North Atlantic was not ASW (it was an additional role) but rather AAW to prevent the Backfire/Bears from attacking the convoys. The A-6/A-7s were the organic tankers to push the F-4/F-14 CAP stations out to a range to shoot the archer, not the arrows. Obviously, those roles swapped a bit when you started facing a surface threat or got close enough to land to start contemplating strikes against those Soviet Naval Air Arm airfields - Former US Navy EA-6B Prowler Naval Flight Officer.
From a discussion (on another forum) about the role of the carrier in Sea Control.
Last edited by WE Branch Fanatic; 11th Nov 2023 at 17:35.