PUBLISHED on August 9, 2025, 11:18 PM EDT – Key Points and Summary – The U.S. Navy’s long-range fleet air defense mission, once defined by the F-14 Tomcat and its Phoenix missiles, now faces a radically different threat environment of hypersonic missiles and drone swarms.
-That while a true unmanned successor to the F-14 does not yet exist, its lineage can be seen in the MQ-25 Stingray refueling drone.
-Originally envisioned as a stealthy strike drone, the MQ-25 is now a critical enabler, extending the range of manned fighters.
-It represents a foundational step toward future carrier-based combat drones, though the embattled F/A-XX program’s uncertain future leaves the Navy’s next-generation interceptor in limbo.
Where Is the F-14 Tomcat’s Unmanned Successor?
During the Cold War, the U.S. Navy’s fleet air defense doctrine was centered on intercepting Soviet bombers before they could launch anti-ship missiles, and it was the F-14 Tomcat that made this strategy possible.
Equipped with AIM-54 Phoenix missiles, the F-14 could simultaneously track two dozen targets while engaging six at ranges of more than 100 miles.
And while air defense remains a core element of U.S. military operations—arguably more critical today than at any point since the Cold War—the threat environment has shifted dramatically. Long-range bombers are still a factor, but hypersonic missiles, anti-ship ballistic missiles, and large-scale drone swarms now dictate the priorities and strategies for fleet defense.
The Navy Faces a Challenging Future
The ongoing campaign by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthis against commercial shipping is a good example of how current air and missile defense systems are being placed under increasing and sustained strain – and why the United States and other major powers are rapidly adapting their defensive capabilities, technologies, and strategies to counter emerging threats.
In July 2025, two vessels – Magic Seas and Eternity C – were sunk in separate attacks involving attack drones, rocket-propelled grenades, and small arms. Both of these incidents took place despite the implementation of Operation Prosperity Guardian, a U.S.-led military operation adopted by a multinational coalition formed in 2023 to secure Red Sea shipping lanes.
The tactics and technologies used in the ongoing war in Ukraine also demonstrate how and why air defense strategies are changing. On August 7, 2025, Ukraine’s Air Force reported that Russian forces launched more than 100 Iranian-designed Shahed loitering munitions and several jet-powered drones in an overnight attack that targeted multiple locations across the country. The broad attacks forced Ukraine to deploy a combination of missile batteries, electronic warfare units, aircraft, and mobile fire teams.
Warfare is evolving, and the U.S. Navy, along with the rest of the armed forces, is adapting its capabilities and doctrine to meet that challenge.
Thinking Beyond the Tomcat
Decades after the F-14 Tomcat made a name for itself as a Cold War icon and one of the United States’ most valuable tools for long-range interception, preventing the targeting of U.S. carrier strike groups, the U.S. Navy now relies on a much broader and layered system of defense.
That layered system combines F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, armed with AIM-120D and AIM-9X long-range missiles, with E-2D Hawkeye early-warning aircraft, and Aegis-equipped destroyers and cruisers capable of intercepting aircraft, drones, and missiles.
While highly capable, the system is manpower-intensive and less suited to defeating large swarms of low-cost aerial weapons that are being utilized not only against naval vessels, but against ground targets, too.
Enter the MQ-25 Stingray, an aerial refueling drone that gradually emerged from the Navy’s Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) program, which was initially expected to develop a stealthy, carrier-launched strike drone. By 2016, shifting priorities and budget pressures turned that concept into the Carrier-Based Aerial-Refueling System (CBARS), a lower-risk platform intended to bridge the gap toward a future carrier-launched combat aircraft expected to be produced by the embattled F/A-XX program.
While the Stingray’s primary mission is refuelling, its ability to extend the range of manned fighters performing long-range interception is a notable benefit as air defense needs change. The Stingray could reduce the need for a dedicated fleet defense jet, such as the F-14, while demonstrating that unmanned aircraft can safely operate from carriers and support manned-unmanned operations. These are foundational steps towards fielding armed UAVs capable of assuming combat and air defense roles in the future.
The future of that next-generation platform, however, remains uncertain. Significant funding cuts to the F/A-XX program risk leaving the U.S. Navy without a purpose-built successor that integrates unmanned technology, even as China and Russia press ahead with their own next-generation carrier-based aircraft programs.
About the Author:
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society. His latest book is The Truth Teller: RFK Jr. and the Case for a Post-Partisan Presidency.
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