I always wondered why the RWR wasn't insanely noisy or the fact that the Mig-23 went against F-14 without at least medium ranged missiles?
They where like invited to the airspace until they got so close. It's like they where bribed for the 4477th squadron or like Syrian/Iraqi defecting pilots then only to be shot down for some publicity stunt.
I'm no expert but the Migs looked like they didn't realize they where targeted until it was too late; they fired to knock off the balance of F-14 pilots than down them and looked like they tried to return as close to shore to eject. They where defiantly panicking