>>1483182Sure anon, but the AIM-54 had a giant motor with a burn time of 30 seconds, and depending on the launching and target aircraft's speeds could hit targets over 100 miles away. I would wager an F-14A with 2 Phoenixes at max speed and altitude (don't have precise numbers, but probably M1.9 at 40,000 feet) firing an AIM-54 could handily cut the distance to an SR-71 at 85,000 feet going M3.3, if it launched close enough. It'd probably no more than 15 miles in a tailchase, though it'd significantly longer from other angles, likely farther than the radar could hold a lock from the front. Though of course, in practice this would be an extremely demanding intercept even if there was an F-14 on CAP with this ideal loadout on standby with warning well in advance, but it could be done. Also the MiG-25, while slower than the Blackbird, was still much faster than the F-14A, and yet a few of them were shot down while traveling over Mach 2 with AIM-54s shot by Iranian F-14s.
Though let's be fair, the plane that's basically an F-14 that traded its naval fighter traits to become a land-based pure heavy interceptor would do a better job here.
