I could understand that, but that's not what you said previously.

It was the following part which I didn't get, because it doesn't made sense IMHO:
My point with this quote was explained much better by CalBear in his post.
The Tomcat/Phoenix has been getting a mythical reputation on the Internet which goes way beyond what's reasonable.
Ah. Well, actually I was always imagining Japan's Tomcats in a bomber interceptor role. (Or actually, I thought that is what interceptors do: attack bombers. Not deal with fighters or what not) As I said, I thought that was one of the major roles of the JASDF, and the Tomcat + AWG 9 + Phoenix (and note that the radar is still useful even if you're not using the Phoenix with it) would clearly be superior to the F-15 in that role, and probably (replacing the Phoenixes with Sparrows) be comparable in other roles.
Why buy more expensive airplanes, which are less suited for your airforce and might get better with an expensive engine upgrade in the future? Not to mention it might not even be possible to export Tomcats to any nation but Iran from '77 to '80.
Well, in my thread it was because there weren't any F-15s

But more seriously, as I said above, the F-14 is superior in some aspects to the F-15, and it is possible that the JASDF decides improved bomber interception is more useful than a somewhat better all-round fighter. (And on engines--see below)
Flying Dutchman said:
What is the earliest date one could get a F110 in service in numbers?
As far as my googling skills can tell (I don't know squad about engines), by '79 the F110 is still in it's infancy.
Also, it's not so crazy the USN went for upgraded TF30's first and there's no need for F110's untill they give up on the TF30's, right?
Still, nobody is going to buy Tomcats without engines while happily waiting several years for the F110.
Although you're right AFAIK and it was known the Tomcat would do better with better engines (they were designed afterall with better performing engines in mind), you don't know for sure if and when they're going to get new, nifty engines.
According to wikipedia, they were actually supposed to get navalized versions of...the F-15 engines (the F100). Rather criminally, the Navy decided not to procure them, instead opting for TF30s. The obvious POD here is simply to have them choose to not procure any TF30 Tomcats for squadron service, leaving the only production model the one with the engine that can actually propel the aircraft the way it was designed. The F100s are still...problematic, but they'll give the F-14 clearly better performance.