On Sat, 25 Oct 2003 16:44:49 GMT, "Tom Cooper" wrote:

Why were the AWG-9 and the AIM-54 not put into any other plane?

The answer is simple: needs at the time and the aircraft construction.

The AWG-9 was a huge system when designed for the F-111B, which was
developed for service aboard the USN carriers through the 1960s. Although
considerably updated and thus made lighter by almost 500kg, it remained a
huge system when it was put into the F-14, in 1969. And still, the F-14 was
not designed "around" the AWG-9 and the AIM-54, but first as a dogfighter,
armed with a gun, Sparrows and Sidewinders, to fight MiG-17s and MiG-21s.
Once this capability was developed, the designers went to find out how to
fit the AWG-9 and the AIM-54s on it. One of the results of this work became
the "paletts" on which the AIM-54s are mounted. Another was the largest
cockpit of any fighter aircraft ever.

While I bow to your knowledge of the radar and AIM-54, as well as
history of the Iranian applications of the aircraft, I've got to
question some of your other assertions here.

Clearly by the time of production of the F-14, the anticipated threat
had migrated forward beyond MiG-17 and focussed more closely on 21,
23, 27 and future developments from the Soviet block. Additionally,
there was concern with free world designs used by swing
nations--aircraft like Mirage III and F-1, for example.

(As an aside, how does size of the radar or "paletts" for the Phoenix
result in a larger cockpit? Gotta say the F-105 cockpit was the
biggest single-seat office I ever saw and the F-15 operator station
isn't cramped, either.)

Doing anything similar with any other type would not function for several
reasons. When designing the F-15, the USAF actually wanted to have an
aircraft like the F/A-18 later became, a dogfighter and a one-seater.

That is precisely what General Bellis and the F-15 design team created
in the F-15A, a world-class maneuverability dog-fighter and a single
seater. There was never anything else under consideration.

Only
the shock from the appearance of the MiG-25 caused them to let the F-15
become as large as fast as it become, in order to be able to intercept
Foxbats.

Hardly. The Eagle planform was heavily governed by the size of TabVee
shelters. The footprint of the aircraft fits very closely over the
footprint of the F-4. Intercept of the Foxbat was clearly a missile
matter and not one of aircraft performance. Early detection, long
range weapons and good intercept geometry were paramount. The speed of
the F-15 both initially and in the end product closely parallels the
top speed of the existing front-line fighters--just a bit over M-2.

Clearly, the F-14 with its "long claws" would have been even better
for this task, but there was no way the USAF would buy a USN fighter (again,
like it did in the case of the F-4).

The F-14 was optimized for fleet air defense. It was designed for the
interceptor role. The F-15 was designed as a tactical fighter for air
superiority. There is a considerable difference in the detail of the
two missions. It shouldn't be construed as a question of service
rivalry.

The F-16, on the contrary, was designed as a simple dogfighter, day-fighter
armed with the gun and Sidewinders only. Only after it entered service was
any separation testing for the use of Mk.82783/84 bombs done. All the
complex avionics was added to it even at a later stage.

Sorry, but no. The F-16 (actually the lightweight fighter competition)
was to build a replacement for the F-4 fleet. The F-15 air superiority
fighter did the air/air mission and from its inception the F-16/F-17
programs were designed for ground attack. The "complex avionics" of
the CCIP conventional weapons release system were incorporated in the
first production A models.