Days of Imperial Glory.

[ravinderpalrulez]

Days Of Imperial Glory

In the period between 1967 and 1979, Iran was the custodian of the world’s fifth largest fleet of military aircraft. The Imperial Iranian Air Force’s (IIAF)1 Tactical Air Base at Teheran’s Mehrabad Airport comprised of the 11 Tactical Fighter Squadron operating McDonnell DouglasF-4E Phantom-2 M-MRCAs, 12 Tactical Fighter Squadron flying F-4Es, 13 Combat Instructor School with F-4Es, 11 Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron with RF-4Es, Northrop RF-5s and Lockheed RT-33s, 11 Tactical Transport Squadron with Lockheed C-130E/H Hercules transports, 12 Tactical Transport Squadron with C-130E/Hs, one MRTT squadron with Boeing B.707s and B.747s (the IIAF was the world’s sole operator of KC-747 MRTTs), one Fokker Friendship F-27 Transport Squadron, 11 Search & Rescue Squadron and one Support Squadron with F-33s and L-20s; the 2 Tactical Air Base at Tabriz that comprised the 21 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-5E Tiger-2 L-MRCAs, 22 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-5Es, 23 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-5Es, 21 Counter Insurgency Squadron with Grumman O–2As, 21 Search & Rescue Squadron, and one Support Squadron with F-33s; the 3 Tactical Air Base at Hamadan (Shahrokhi) housing the 31 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-4Es, 32 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-4Es, 33 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-4Es, 34 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-4Es, 31 Search & Rescue Squadron and one Support Squadron with F-33s; 4 Tactical Air Base at Dezfull (Vahdati) comprising the 41 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-5Es, 42 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-5Es, 43 Tactical Fighter Training Squadron with F-5Es, 41 Search & Rescue Squadron and one Support Squadron with F-33s and L-20s; 5 Tactical Air Base at Agha Jari (Omidieh) with its 51 Tactical Fighter Squadron flying F-5Es, 52 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-5Es, 53 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-5Es, 51 Search & Rescue Squadron and one F-33 Support Squadron; 6 Tactical Air Base at Bushehr comprising the61 Tactical Fighter Training Squadron with F-4Es, 62 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-4Es, 63 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-4Ds, the 61 Search & Rescue Squadron and one F-33 Support Squadron; the 7 Tactical Air Base at Shiraz comprising the 71 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-4Es, 72 Tactical Fighter Squadron with Grumman F-14 Tomcats, 73 Tactical Fighter Training Squadron with F-14s, 71 Tactical Transport Squadron with C-130E/H, 72 Tactical Transport Squadron with C-130E/H, 71 Search & Rescue Squadron and one F-33 Support Squadron; the 8 Tactical Air Base at Isfahan ( Khatami ) comprising the 81 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-14s, 82 Tactical Fighter Training Squadron with F-14s, 81 Search & Rescue Squadron, and one F-33 Support Squadron; 9 Tactical Air Base in Bandar Abbas with its 91 Tactical Fighter Squadron flying F-4Es, 92 Tactical Squadron with P-3F Orion LRMR/AQSW platforms, 91 Search & Rescue Squadron and one F-33 Support Squadron; and the 10 Tactical Air Base at Chabahar comprising the101 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-5Es, 102 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-4Es, 103 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-4Es, the 101 Search & Rescue Squadron, and one F-33 Support Squadron.

The IIAF’s first squadron of 13 F-5A/B Freedom Fighter L-MRCAs entered service on on February 1, 1965. On that date, 11 F-5As and two F-5Bs arrived at the 1 Tactical Air Base at Mehrabad. These F-5s were declared operational in June 1965. The 12 RF-5As were ordered in October 1967. Subsequently, Iran in 1972 purchased a total of 104 F-5As, RF-5As and 23 F-5Bs.

This was followed by the procurement of 166 F-5Es and F-5Fs, plus 15 RF-5E tactical reconnaissance platforms between 1974 and 1976, enough to equip eight squadrons. The first F-5E/F tranche was delivered in January 1974, when 28 F-5Fs were received for operational conversion training. By this time, IIAF had disposed of virtually all of its earlier-model F-5A/B aircraft, selling them to Greece, Turkey, Ethiopia, South Vietnam, and Jordan, although some F-5Bs were retained for flying training purposes.

The order for 16 F-4Ds for the IIAF was placed in 1967. A second batch of 16 F-4Ds was ordered later. The first batch of F-4Ds arrived in Iran on September 8, 1968, with a total of 32 F-4Ds being ultimately delivered. Iran had ordered a total of 208 F-4Es and 32 RF-4Es. The first tranche of these were delivered in March 1971. A total of 177 F-4Es (plus eight F-4Es borrowed from the USAF and subsequently returned) and 16 RF-4E were delivered between 1971 and 1979. On February 28, 1979 the US government placed an embargo on further arms deliveries to Iran. Consequently, the remaining 31 F-4Es and 16 RF-4E were never delivered.

In August 1973, the IIAF selected the F-14 Tomcat as its new-generation air dominance combat aircraft, following which the initial contract was signed in January 1974 for 30 F-14s, but in June 50 more were added to the contract. At the same time, Iran’s state-owned Bank-e-Melli stepped in, and agreed to loan Grumman US$75 million to partially make up for a US government loan of $200 million to Grumman, which had just been cancelled. This loan saved the F-14’s R & DTE programme and enabled Grumman to secure a further loan of $125 million from a consortium of US banks, ensuring at least for the moment that the F-14 R & DTE programme would continue.

The principal air base for IIAF F-14 operations was at Isfahan’s Khatami Air Force Base and 1 Squadron at Shiraz Tactical Fighter Base. The first two of 79 F-14s arrived in Iran in January 1976. By May 1977, when Iran celebrated its 50th anniversary of the Pahlavi Dynasty, 12 had been delivered. The last F-14 bought by Iran was retained in the US for use as a test-bed. Iran had also ordered 714 Hughes AIM-54A Phoenix LRAAMs, but only 284 had been delivered by 1979. A follow-on order for 400 AIM-54As was never executed by the US.

On October 27, 1976, Iran placed orders for 160 General Dynamics F-16A/B Block 15 M-MRCAs, and this was followed by a follow-on order for another 140 F-16s. MRO-related equipment for the F-16s had arrived in Iran as early as 1978 (these were later sold to Pakistan in the early 1980s). However, the entire F-16 procurement contract was cancelled in 1979 at a time when the first 75 F-16s were already being prepared for delivery. Consequently, these F-16s were sold by the US to Israel’s IDF-AF.

By 1979, the IIAF was also operating 60C-130E/H Hercules transports, 30 T-33A basic jet trainers, 40 Boeing CH-47C Chinook transport helicopters, 12 Fokker Friendship F-27 transports, two KC-747 MRTTs (out of the 10 that were ordered), 12 KC-135 MRTTs, six Sikorsky RH-53D Sea Stallions and 20 Agusta-Sikorsky AS-61A helicopters. The Imperial Iranian Navy was operating six Lockheed P-3F Orions, while the Imperial Iranian Army was operating 70 Bell 214A and 50 Bell 212 utility helicopters, plus 204 Bell AH-1J attack helicopters.








The IIAF’s airspace surveillance radar stations were located at Teheran (UK-supplied radar at Doushan Tapeh), Karadj (US-supplied radar), Tabriz (UK-supplied radar), Mashhad (UK-supplied radar), ShahrAbad (UK-supplied radar), Dezful (US-supplied radar at Dehlooran), Hamadan (US-supplied radar at Soobashi), Bushehr (UK-supplied radar), Isfahan (US-supplied radar), Bandar Abbas (US-supplied radar), Bandar Jask (US-supplied radar), Kish Island (US-supplied radar), and Chabahar (US-supplied radar).

In addition, the IIAF procured eight Westinghouse TPS-43E gapfiller radars for installation at sites like Bandar Lengeh, Bandar Taheri, Kohkilooyeh near Behbahan, Abdanaan near Dezful, and Kerend near Ghasre Shirin. More than 90% of the hardware had been delivered by 1979. All these 19 radar sites and facilities were built in less than 15 years (between 1962 and 1977). The IIAF’s Air-Defence Command, in addition to these radar sites, also had six combat aircraft from each air base on alert (2 aircraft on 5-minute alert, two on 15-minute alert and two on 30-minute alert)—a total of 60 combat aircraft at any time on any given day.

The US-supplied radars did not perform well in the hot and humid weather of the Persian Gulf. Several attempts by Westinghouse and Allied Signal/Bendix to upgrade the radars did not correct the problem. Those radars installed along the Persian Gulf and Kish Island could achieve only ‘Zero Detection’. In 1972 an extensive radar coverage optimisation study was carried out by the IIAF with the help of the USAF, FAA, and US universities and industries. A thorough search for more suitable radar sites and extensive meteorological investigations of the Persian Gulf region’s weather behavior patterns, from zero feet to 10,000 feet ASL, and inter-operability and suitability of yielding the desired interlaced-meshed radar coverage of Iranian airspace by various radar systems were conducted, which eventually led to further analysis regarding the automation of ADIZ/ADGES networks, and the deployment of AEW & C platforms. The IIAF eventually zeroed in on the E-3 AEW & CS platform, with the requirement being for eight platforms. However, only five were contracted for and the first three were ready for delivery in 1979. Unlike ground-based radars, the rotodome-mounted radars of bthe E-3 were not troubled by the ‘ducting’ phenomenon prevalent in Persian Gulf region. The E-3 order was eventually cancelled by Teheran after the Islamic Revolution and these E-3s were consequently sold by the US to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
(to be concluded)

source- http://trishul-trident.blogspot.in/2017/06/islamic-republic-of-irans-rma-analysed.html?m=1

 

[Cthulhu]

How things fall, Things on Earth. And what falls, is fallen.

 

[AmirPatriot]

American glory, residing in Iran.

 

[Sina-1]

American glory, residing in Iran.

Exactly!

 

[Evin]

American glory.but gloryhole

 

[rahi2357]

American glory, residing in Iran.

American , Russian , Chinese , french glory doesn't matter . Without it , how could we answer Saddam's Russian glory ?
Indeed , nothing to be proud about that huge fleet during shah regime , but I am just saying we need the air force .Better if we make our own birds but if we are not there yet , we must get a fleet of at least 100 potent jets from wherever we can because the likes of Saddam won't wait for us to get one .

 

[AmirPatriot]

Indeed , nothing to be proud about that huge fleet during shah regime

That is my point. Of course we need an air force and an army and if we don't have domestic options, we would have to opt for foreign weapons. But there is no pride in that.

 

[Kastor]

We won't be able to make anything useful for another decade. We need to buy Su30's ASAP, after that we can continue to develop a our aircraft manufacturing industry. I can't help but to think these sanctions were a bleesing in disguise, a client state would never have made these leaps in such a short time.

 

[Fafnir]

Just to let all of you know that this is from the same indian internet "expert" who got it so wrong when it came to irans oth radars..oh and according to him the Qahar 313 is just a F-5E skeleton with a "superfluous "air frame and that irans reverse/reengineered captured drones like the RQ170 and Scan Eagle are all,in his own words no less:"PR-related propaganda,rest assured."
So my advice to the good posters here in this forum would be to do what I tend to do with internet "experts" and that is to take both them and what they claim with not just a grain of salt,nor even a tablespoons worth of salt,not even a truckload but an entire fu#king salt mines of salt,because sadly in my experience 9 out of 10 internet experts such as this indian fellow are usually nothing more than fanbois or worse walter mitty fantasists and even the ones that arent often have a political axe to grind ie your typical right wing western think tank experts or people like babak taghvaee for instance.

 

[Asghar1234]

Days Of Imperial Glory

In the period between 1967 and 1979, Iran was the custodian of the world’s fifth largest fleet of military aircraft. The Imperial Iranian Air Force’s (IIAF)1 Tactical Air Base at Teheran’s Mehrabad Airport comprised of the 11 Tactical Fighter Squadron operating McDonnell DouglasF-4E Phantom-2 M-MRCAs, 12 Tactical Fighter Squadron flying F-4Es, 13 Combat Instructor School with F-4Es, 11 Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron with RF-4Es, Northrop RF-5s and Lockheed RT-33s, 11 Tactical Transport Squadron with Lockheed C-130E/H Hercules transports, 12 Tactical Transport Squadron with C-130E/Hs, one MRTT squadron with Boeing B.707s and B.747s (the IIAF was the world’s sole operator of KC-747 MRTTs), one Fokker Friendship F-27 Transport Squadron, 11 Search & Rescue Squadron and one Support Squadron with F-33s and L-20s; the 2 Tactical Air Base at Tabriz that comprised the 21 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-5E Tiger-2 L-MRCAs, 22 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-5Es, 23 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-5Es, 21 Counter Insurgency Squadron with Grumman O–2As, 21 Search & Rescue Squadron, and one Support Squadron with F-33s; the 3 Tactical Air Base at Hamadan (Shahrokhi) housing the 31 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-4Es, 32 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-4Es, 33 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-4Es, 34 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-4Es, 31 Search & Rescue Squadron and one Support Squadron with F-33s; 4 Tactical Air Base at Dezfull (Vahdati) comprising the 41 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-5Es, 42 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-5Es, 43 Tactical Fighter Training Squadron with F-5Es, 41 Search & Rescue Squadron and one Support Squadron with F-33s and L-20s; 5 Tactical Air Base at Agha Jari (Omidieh) with its 51 Tactical Fighter Squadron flying F-5Es, 52 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-5Es, 53 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-5Es, 51 Search & Rescue Squadron and one F-33 Support Squadron; 6 Tactical Air Base at Bushehr comprising the61 Tactical Fighter Training Squadron with F-4Es, 62 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-4Es, 63 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-4Ds, the 61 Search & Rescue Squadron and one F-33 Support Squadron; the 7 Tactical Air Base at Shiraz comprising the 71 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-4Es, 72 Tactical Fighter Squadron with Grumman F-14 Tomcats, 73 Tactical Fighter Training Squadron with F-14s, 71 Tactical Transport Squadron with C-130E/H, 72 Tactical Transport Squadron with C-130E/H, 71 Search & Rescue Squadron and one F-33 Support Squadron; the 8 Tactical Air Base at Isfahan ( Khatami ) comprising the 81 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-14s, 82 Tactical Fighter Training Squadron with F-14s, 81 Search & Rescue Squadron, and one F-33 Support Squadron; 9 Tactical Air Base in Bandar Abbas with its 91 Tactical Fighter Squadron flying F-4Es, 92 Tactical Squadron with P-3F Orion LRMR/AQSW platforms, 91 Search & Rescue Squadron and one F-33 Support Squadron; and the 10 Tactical Air Base at Chabahar comprising the101 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-5Es, 102 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-4Es, 103 Tactical Fighter Squadron with F-4Es, the 101 Search & Rescue Squadron, and one F-33 Support Squadron.

The IIAF’s first squadron of 13 F-5A/B Freedom Fighter L-MRCAs entered service on on February 1, 1965. On that date, 11 F-5As and two F-5Bs arrived at the 1 Tactical Air Base at Mehrabad. These F-5s were declared operational in June 1965. The 12 RF-5As were ordered in October 1967. Subsequently, Iran in 1972 purchased a total of 104 F-5As, RF-5As and 23 F-5Bs.

This was followed by the procurement of 166 F-5Es and F-5Fs, plus 15 RF-5E tactical reconnaissance platforms between 1974 and 1976, enough to equip eight squadrons. The first F-5E/F tranche was delivered in January 1974, when 28 F-5Fs were received for operational conversion training. By this time, IIAF had disposed of virtually all of its earlier-model F-5A/B aircraft, selling them to Greece, Turkey, Ethiopia, South Vietnam, and Jordan, although some F-5Bs were retained for flying training purposes.

The order for 16 F-4Ds for the IIAF was placed in 1967. A second batch of 16 F-4Ds was ordered later. The first batch of F-4Ds arrived in Iran on September 8, 1968, with a total of 32 F-4Ds being ultimately delivered. Iran had ordered a total of 208 F-4Es and 32 RF-4Es. The first tranche of these were delivered in March 1971. A total of 177 F-4Es (plus eight F-4Es borrowed from the USAF and subsequently returned) and 16 RF-4E were delivered between 1971 and 1979. On February 28, 1979 the US government placed an embargo on further arms deliveries to Iran. Consequently, the remaining 31 F-4Es and 16 RF-4E were never delivered.

In August 1973, the IIAF selected the F-14 Tomcat as its new-generation air dominance combat aircraft, following which the initial contract was signed in January 1974 for 30 F-14s, but in June 50 more were added to the contract. At the same time, Iran’s state-owned Bank-e-Melli stepped in, and agreed to loan Grumman US$75 million to partially make up for a US government loan of $200 million to Grumman, which had just been cancelled. This loan saved the F-14’s R & DTE programme and enabled Grumman to secure a further loan of $125 million from a consortium of US banks, ensuring at least for the moment that the F-14 R & DTE programme would continue.

The principal air base for IIAF F-14 operations was at Isfahan’s Khatami Air Force Base and 1 Squadron at Shiraz Tactical Fighter Base. The first two of 79 F-14s arrived in Iran in January 1976. By May 1977, when Iran celebrated its 50th anniversary of the Pahlavi Dynasty, 12 had been delivered. The last F-14 bought by Iran was retained in the US for use as a test-bed. Iran had also ordered 714 Hughes AIM-54A Phoenix LRAAMs, but only 284 had been delivered by 1979. A follow-on order for 400 AIM-54As was never executed by the US.

On October 27, 1976, Iran placed orders for 160 General Dynamics F-16A/B Block 15 M-MRCAs, and this was followed by a follow-on order for another 140 F-16s. MRO-related equipment for the F-16s had arrived in Iran as early as 1978 (these were later sold to Pakistan in the early 1980s). However, the entire F-16 procurement contract was cancelled in 1979 at a time when the first 75 F-16s were already being prepared for delivery. Consequently, these F-16s were sold by the US to Israel’s IDF-AF.

By 1979, the IIAF was also operating 60C-130E/H Hercules transports, 30 T-33A basic jet trainers, 40 Boeing CH-47C Chinook transport helicopters, 12 Fokker Friendship F-27 transports, two KC-747 MRTTs (out of the 10 that were ordered), 12 KC-135 MRTTs, six Sikorsky RH-53D Sea Stallions and 20 Agusta-Sikorsky AS-61A helicopters. The Imperial Iranian Navy was operating six Lockheed P-3F Orions, while the Imperial Iranian Army was operating 70 Bell 214A and 50 Bell 212 utility helicopters, plus 204 Bell AH-1J attack helicopters.








The IIAF’s airspace surveillance radar stations were located at Teheran (UK-supplied radar at Doushan Tapeh), Karadj (US-supplied radar), Tabriz (UK-supplied radar), Mashhad (UK-supplied radar), ShahrAbad (UK-supplied radar), Dezful (US-supplied radar at Dehlooran), Hamadan (US-supplied radar at Soobashi), Bushehr (UK-supplied radar), Isfahan (US-supplied radar), Bandar Abbas (US-supplied radar), Bandar Jask (US-supplied radar), Kish Island (US-supplied radar), and Chabahar (US-supplied radar).

In addition, the IIAF procured eight Westinghouse TPS-43E gapfiller radars for installation at sites like Bandar Lengeh, Bandar Taheri, Kohkilooyeh near Behbahan, Abdanaan near Dezful, and Kerend near Ghasre Shirin. More than 90% of the hardware had been delivered by 1979. All these 19 radar sites and facilities were built in less than 15 years (between 1962 and 1977). The IIAF’s Air-Defence Command, in addition to these radar sites, also had six combat aircraft from each air base on alert (2 aircraft on 5-minute alert, two on 15-minute alert and two on 30-minute alert)—a total of 60 combat aircraft at any time on any given day.

The US-supplied radars did not perform well in the hot and humid weather of the Persian Gulf. Several attempts by Westinghouse and Allied Signal/Bendix to upgrade the radars did not correct the problem. Those radars installed along the Persian Gulf and Kish Island could achieve only ‘Zero Detection’. In 1972 an extensive radar coverage optimisation study was carried out by the IIAF with the help of the USAF, FAA, and US universities and industries. A thorough search for more suitable radar sites and extensive meteorological investigations of the Persian Gulf region’s weather behavior patterns, from zero feet to 10,000 feet ASL, and inter-operability and suitability of yielding the desired interlaced-meshed radar coverage of Iranian airspace by various radar systems were conducted, which eventually led to further analysis regarding the automation of ADIZ/ADGES networks, and the deployment of AEW & C platforms. The IIAF eventually zeroed in on the E-3 AEW & CS platform, with the requirement being for eight platforms. However, only five were contracted for and the first three were ready for delivery in 1979. Unlike ground-based radars, the rotodome-mounted radars of bthe E-3 were not troubled by the ‘ducting’ phenomenon prevalent in Persian Gulf region. The E-3 order was eventually cancelled by Teheran after the Islamic Revolution and these E-3s were consequently sold by the US to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
(to be concluded)

source- http://trishul-trident.blogspot.in/2017/06/islamic-republic-of-irans-rma-analysed.html?m=1

Years of dependency! Years of bullshit ....