Charles Talleyrand wrote:

id the change from F-14s to F-18s increase or decrease the total
:number of planes per ship? Overly simple math suggests that the
:amount of room needed to hold 22 F-14s could also hold 30 F-18s.
:
:If the number of planes did not increase, what happened to the extra
:space?
:
:-Curious
:-Charles Talleyrand
:
:
:F-18a Length: 17.10 m
:F-18a Wing Span: 9.3 m folded
:Area of bounding box: 159 sq m
:
:F-14 Length: 18.6 meters
:F-14 Wingspan: 11.4 meters swept
:Area of bounding box: 211 sq m

You're looking at the wrong airplanes. The Navy only operates a
handful of F/A-18A+ aircraft. The remainder of the 'legacy' Hornets
are C/D aircraft. The F-14 aircraft were replaced by F/A-18E/F
aircraft, which are physically about the same size as an F-14. There
is no real 'extra space'.

F-18E/F Length: 18.31 meters
F-18E/F Wing Span: 9.32 meters folded


--
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable
man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore,
all progress depends on the unreasonable man."
--George Bernard Shaw