[NovemberWhiskey]

The AIM-54 Phoenix, and indeed the F-14 Tomcat, come from a background of needing a carrier-based aircraft that would be able to intercept the expected threat - massed Soviet bombers with cruise missiles - at maximum possible range.

Since that threat never occurred, it is difficult to say whether it worked out. The discontinuation of the platform has more to say about the change in the threat than it does in the merit of BVR missiles.