Until the F-22 came along, the most impressive air show display I ever saw was an F-14 with F-110 engines. What a machine it was! Just as the Pentagon was short sighted in stopping production of the F-22, they were equally short sighted in ending the Tomcat. Not dogging the Super Hornet, but there should be at least 12 advanced, updated Tomcats on each carrier with at least F-110 engines and the biggest baddest AESA radars on them, along with advanced Phoenix missles or a follow-on long range missile.
Imagine what an F-14 "EX" with the above features and fly by wire would be like today!
Btw, I'd chalk that Iranian F-14 jocky as one [censored] dude. Not only has he probably seen more combat that most other Tomcat drivers, but as mentioned, in conditions to which we'd never subject our aircraft or pilots. On top of all that, he's had to survive the insanity that is the regime in that country. I'd love to get him and his family the [censored] out of there, hear his stories, and then set him up to do a book.