KenV, I am not sure why you think that the Phoenix is such a great missile and should have been retained? Yes, you could fire it at great range but it was VERY slow. I understand that if fired at long range and the Tomcat then followed in and fired an AIM7 at 8 miles, the AIM7 got to the target first?
The Phoenix climbed to 80,000 to 100,000 ft and then cruised there at around Mach 5. I personally don't see that as slow. And once in the terminal area it dived down to increase its speed for the final intercept.
OK for fleet defense 30 years ago but not a missile for the 2020s?
Let's accept that the Phoenix is old and was designed specifically for the fleet defense mission. My point was, nothing has replaced it (certainly not the AMRAAM), so now there is no fleet defense missile system at all, other than the ship mounted Aegis/SM-2/3. Apparently USN is no longer worried about Bears or other large aircraft launching volleys of supersonic anti-ship missiles. I'm not convinced that threat no longer exists. Especially since India has developed the Brahmos anti-ship missile. It has awfully impressive performance and while not yet exported, its probably just a matter of time before it is.