The US Navy Retired Its Fastest Carrier Fighter & Replaced It With A Slower One
The F-14 Tomcat was faster, but the US Navy chose the slower Super Hornet. What made the iconic fighter too costly to keep?
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The Grumman F-14 Tomcat could fly at around 1,544 mph (2,485 km/h). Its replacement, the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, is considerably slower. So why did the US Navy retire the Tomcat in 2006 and hand its place in the carrier air wing to an aircraft that could not match its top speed? For anyone comparing the two fighter jets on paper, it still looks like a strange trade.
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About this article
- Length
- 68 words · 1 min read
- Published
- October 22, 2026
- Byline
- Antonio Di Trapani
- Source
- Simple Flying