Well, the Soviet bombers that the Phoenix was designed to intercept couldn't really outmaneuver them, I'm pretty sure.
Exactly my point. Most Tomcat fanboys that espouse the merits of the AWG-9's capability to multi-target and the AIM-54's range don't really have any concept of what that really means.
It means that several non-maneuvering targets with an enormous radar cross section could be hit by the Phoenix -- not exactly what I'd consider something to be bragging about as a fighter.
The AWG-9 was revolutionary when it came out and only had competition from the F-4...but by the 1980s it was all ready outdated and didn't have much exclusive capability.
And, from what I've heard from old Tomcat drivers, in the right hands a Tomcat can out-dogfight just about anything out there (if it's not a compresser-stall prone -A model).
I wouldn't agree with that at all -- although the D models with the GE-129 engines were a HUGE improvement. The airframe was still G limited, and had issues in some dogfights with those swing wings. The D models ended up with a great amount of excess thrust that allowed them to really use the vertical...and fight the same kind of fights that Vipers and Eagles had all ready been fighting for years.
Remember, though, that the D models just showed up at the end of the airframe's life. For years and years, the A model was the only thing out there, and that is the one that earned the "Topgrape" name.
The Tomcat was a great airplane in the role it was designed for when it was initially fielded -- a 1970s fleet defender against MiGs before the advent of the Fulcrum and Soviet bombers. Any sort of expertise in anything beyond that (especially when people start talking about 'Bombcats' and the like) is hyperbole and not reality.