Shit, I finished recording before they buffed TWS datalink and announced the BR changes.
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The F-14B, like its predecessor, is an excellent aircraft that excels at both BVR and WVR. With 8 missiles, an absurd amount of countermeasures, and stellar flight performance, you are effective at any range. The Phoenixes are sent out first, then the Sparrows, the Sidewinders, and finally the Vulcan. This basic rhythm will net you most of your kills but in a tango to the death, the airframe and engines will allow you to prevail over most adversaries. It is an insanely versatile aircraft with few weaknesses that can be exploited.
The flight performance is generally excellent although the Tomcat is still a fat, heavy aircraft. Its top speed is on par with the other 4th-gens but its acceleration, while quicker than its predecessor, is inferior to 4th-gens like the F-16s. The fuel use is on-par with the F-14A so bring full fuel and drop tanks. In dogfight mode with the wings manually swept forward, it is very maneuverable and can defeat any 3rd-gen fighter in most scenarios; against 4th-gens, it's still capable of holding its own, and good piloting will take care of the rest. However, I haven't had many chances for close-in dogfighting as the missiles usually take care of whoever flies my way before they get within visual range.
The vast array of weaponry is the main strength of the Tomcat and with eight missiles total with ARH, SARH, and IR AAMs, you will have one for every situation. The Vulcan is a backup weapon that will rarely be used. 676 rounds is a decent amount of ammo but the left-low offset can throw off your aim if you're not used to it. But who uses this except for Tom Cruise?
The AIM-54C is your long range "pool filter" as I like to call it; you launch them from far away and they will kill the less competent or unaware pilots, catching them like scum in a net. The missile is slow, large, and unmaneuverable, with the main upsides being its ARH operation and its potential range from the long booster. Once you fire the Phoenix, you guide them closer on TWS with datalink that doesn't give a lock warning to the enemy aircraft. Once the missile's radar turns on (~16 km from target), you can notch, chaff, and defend against any incoming radar missiles as the Phoenix is now guiding itself. At high altitudes, you have an effective range of 30 km - 50 km depending on conditions. They are not a dogfighting missile like a Sparrow and should not be used in the same way, always bring some Sparrows for ~20 km or closer targets.
The AIM-7Ms are your "medium range," all-purpose SARH missile that is good for anything closing head-on within ~20 km. They are maneuverable, accelerate quickly, and have a long sustainer. Anyone who closes head-on will die even if they start maneuvering, it is very difficult to dodge with maneuvers. However, both your radar and the missile are easy to notch and chaff so be mindful of the enemy's heading before you launch.
The AIM-9Ls are your standard all-aspect, long range IR missile (relative to IR AAMs). They have decent flare resistance when rear-aspect especially if the enemy is afterburning, I've seen them track through a heavy saturation. When diving on an enemy, they have an effective range of ~4.5 km and when not, around ~3.5 km. This is not a point-blank dogfighting missile, they need a tiny bit of distance to pull good lead, so do not launch it like a Magic. If the enemy neglects to flare and you launch at a good range, it is guaranteed to hit no matter their maneuvers.
Avionics have always been stellar and complicated on Tomcats so I will only mention the essentials. The AN/ALR-67(2) is a digital RWR that has launch detection and target ID so you can see who you need to defend from. With two BOL pods, you have a total of 380 countermeasures, with chaff popping one at a time and flares popping twice at a time (essentially unlimited). The AN/AWG-9 radar can pick up enemies from over 100 km away, though the PD and TWS modes are only head-on and struggle to track rear-aspect targets. There are three ACM modes, small box, dogfight, and vertical dogfight, with all of them serving a purpose although you are limited by the max range of 9 km. If you are used to the F-14A, then the F-14B will seem familiar as it has all the same radar modes. If you are new to the F-14s, you can simplify it to TWS, PDV, and the ACM modes.
The F-14B is a jack-of-all-trades, master of BVR. Missile combat is where it excels with the amount and the type of missiles it gets. Ideally, you'll never need to fire the gun since your missiles will strike down all the peasants that lay before you first. If you have to though, the forward swept wings make it scarily competitive in a dogfight against 4th-gens, with 3rd-gens not being a problem. That has not happened often for me though, my missiles usually do all the work, as they should. God blessed America.
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0:00 The Video
1:00:30 The Funny