abstract
Iran has been accepted as the one export marketplace for the F-14 Tomcats, which proceed to function there. The actual variety of F-14s presently in service with Iran is unknown, starting from 13 to 44. Despite their age, Iranian F-14s nonetheless function within the fleet alongside different older plane.
The F14 Tomcat is among the most iconic US fighter plane of the late Cold War. When Tom Cruise’s film Top Gun was launched in 1986, his then-latest F-18 had simply been launched to the Navy. The film centered on the Navy’s flagship plane, the F-14 Tomcat. In 1989, shortly after the movie’s launch, his two F-14As on the USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) engaged and destroyed two of his MiG-23 Froggers in Libya. However, by the point the sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, was launched in 2022, the Tomcats had already been retired from the Navy for 16 years. Iran continues to function them, and flicks have been in a position to incorporate them for nostalgia. But what number of F-14 Tomcats does Iran have and proceed to function?
one other time
It could also be laborious to think about now, however earlier than the Iranian Islamic Revolution of 1979, the United States and Iran had a really shut relationship. Iran is among the United States’ key allies within the Middle East, and the United States has provided it with a few of its most superior weapons. Before the revolution, the US even supported Iran’s nuclear program.
F-14 Tomcat specs (in accordance with the National Naval Aviation Museum)
Power plant:
2x Pratt & Whitney TF30-P-412A or 414A engines
Max Speed:
1,544 miles per hour
Sealing:
55,000 toes
vary:
2,400 miles
Armed:
M-61 20mm cannon, 4 AIM-7 Sparrows, 4 AIM-9 Sidewinders, or 6 AIM54 Phoenixes, 2 AIM-9 air-to-air missiles
Number of buildings:
712
In the Seventies, Iran was the one export market accepting Tomcats. In whole, the Iranian ordered 80 Tomcats (of which 79 have been delivered), together with spare components and substitute engines. However, after the revolution and the collapse of Iran-US relations, the US reduce off assist for the F-14, and it was anticipated that Iran wouldn’t have the ability to keep the F-14. But they continued to make use of them in opposition to Iraq and proceed to fly in the present day.
Iran has managed to maintain its Tomcat fleet roughly operational. How they did that is in all probability a fancy story, however sourcing spare components is a part of the story. In 1998, Iranian-born Parviz Ravi was arrested on Long Island for purchasing spare components for Tomcat engines and transport them to Iran by the Netherlands, in accordance with the Eurasian Times.
Related 5 Surprising Facts About the F-14 Fighter Jet What made the Tomcat greater than only a film star?
Operation historical past in Iran
In the Nineteen Eighties, Iran and Iraq started a struggle (1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War), during which American Tomcats confronted off in opposition to Soviet-made Iraqi plane. The F-14 Tomcat is a supersonic twin-engine variable-swept wing strike fighter plane manufactured by Grumman Aircraft Corporation. Its foremost missions have been precision strikes in opposition to floor targets, air superiority, and fleet air protection, making it a particularly versatile plane for its time.
Combat losses within the Iran-Iraq War are very tough to determine and should be handled with warning.
The first shootdown of the struggle by a Tomcat was an Iraqi Mil Mi-25 helicopter in 1980. According to Tom Cooper’s analysis, Iranian F-14s recorded roughly 50 air-to-air kills within the first six months of Iraq’s struggle with MiGs. -21, MiG-32, and Su-20/22, just one F-14 was broken by particles from the exploding MiG-21. His F-14, with its highly effective AWG-9 radar and Phoenix air-to-air missiles, turned probably the most highly effective jet fighter through the Middle East wars.
During the struggle, Iraq claimed to have shot down greater than 70 F-14s. This determine is tremendously exaggerated, and the variety of tomcats is probably going 12 to 16. A small variety of Tomcats have been shot down by pleasant fireplace from Iraqi forces and Iranian Hawk SAMs. There are additionally experiences that a number of F-14s have been misplaced to stalls and defected to Iraq. It could be very tough to understand how many individuals have been misplaced, as sources report conflicting numbers and counsel that nobody actually is aware of. However, Iran had a fleet of her 79 ships earlier than the struggle, and there are in all probability dozens nonetheless in operation in the present day. It is believed that greater than 20 plane have been misplaced to all causes through the struggle.
Related Iran vs. Israel: How do Air Force capabilities differ? Both armies function dozens of fighter jets.
present iranian air drive
Since 2009, the variety of F-14s within the Iranian navy is estimated to vary from 44 to 13 (operational) (one other Tomcat crashed in June 2022). No one actually appears to understand how a lot wealth Iranians nonetheless have. FlightGlobal, which is usually cited as a supply, estimated that Iran had 24 F-14s in 2014 and 41 Tomcats in 2024. There seems to be no supply indicating the place their data got here from. Footage of Iranian F-14s working in Iran has been launched occasionally, demonstrating that no less than a few of the plane proceed to fly.
Number acquired: 79 (80 ordered) Number remaining: Probably dozens
Iranian F-14s kind a part of the Iranian Air Force’s motley assortment of legacy plane. Other plane operated by Iran embody the MiG-29, F-4 Phantom, Mirage F1, Northrop F-5 Tiger II, and Chengdu J-7. Many international locations haven’t any drawback working out of date plane so long as the opposite nation additionally operates out of date plane. However, on condition that Iran’s almost certainly direct enemies are the United States and Israel, which function the world’s most superior fifth and 4.fifth technology fighter jets, this plane is hopeless. It’s outdated. It is not any shock that Iran is looking for to obtain extra superior Sukhoi Su-35 fighters from Russia, leveraging its capabilities to assist Russia’s combat in Ukraine.