Quote Originally Posted by chuckman View Post
I will throw out the F-14, not so much because of what it can do (as a marvelous aircraft), but because of what it was built to do. Just as the A-10 was built around the gun, the F-14 was built around the Phoenix, and once operational it totally changed Warsaw Pact naval doctrine in fleet defense and naval offensive strategy.

Oh yeah, also because Top Gun...(cue Kenny Loggins)...
The F-14 is one of my favorite aircraft although I don't think it would make the top 5 because we will never truly know how effective it was in combat. The Iranians claim well over 100 kills with the Tomcat for minimal losses in air combat but getting the 100% truth about that is difficult.