In the "Shadows of Steel" by Dale Brown there was a fictional story of
USS Abraham Lincoln taking control over Southern Persian Gulf (with an
Iranian carrier "Chomeini" in the North) by sending to the air 3 CAPs
with 2 Tomcats each, F-14s armed with a mix of 2 AIM-9, 2 AIM-7 and 4
AIM-54 (2 normal + 2 extra), and as many as 3 E-2C Hawkeyes (one of
them shot down by ARMs fired from Tu-22M Backfire).

I've read somewhere 3 CAPs 2 F-14s each was a normal procedure in
combat until 1990s(?). The limited number of Tomcats could easily be
augmented by Hornets, but sending 3 of 4 (or 5 ) Hawkeyes to the air at
the same time sounds like totally no Hawkeyes in the air a few hours
later.

Yes, I know this subject was discussed here long ago...

According to the book at least one cruise missile escaped from AIM-54
range (because it was "faster than Phoenix" - uhh, that's funny;-), and
had to be shot down by a Ticonderoga-class cruiser.

Frankly, I am dissapointed with this book - the author describes Mi-8
in a way that proves that should be Ka-25 or Ka-27.
Kind regards,

Jacek Zemlo