The fighter was also used in various roles over Iraq and Afghanistan through the 1990s and early 2000s. It was the plane featured in the motion picture Top Gun (1986). After 2006 the United States destroyed its mothballed F-14s as part of an effort to keep usable parts from reaching Iran.

Jones was recovered the following day, but Slade was captured and held as a prisoner of war until his release on 4 March 1991. This incident marked the only time a U.S. Navy F-14 was lost to hostile fire. One air-to-air kill was credited to the F-14 during the war.

The F-14 Tomcat was designed as both an air superiority fighter and a long-range naval interceptor, which enabled it to both serve as escort attack aircraft when armed with Sparrow missiles and fleet air defense loitering interceptor role when armed with Phoenix missiles.

The F-14 could famously track 24 targets on its radar and engage up to 6 of them with its Phoenix missiles, which was something the F-15 wasn't capable of at the time. Iran's highly mountainous terrain probably didn't help air defense much, so having a large, capable radar system would have been a benefit.