Iran and the F-14 Tomcat

[AlohanAkua]

It still strikes me as funny that the F-14, long synonymous w/ American aerial might (in no small part thx to a certain Tom Cruise movie), didn't actually do that much for the US in battle. Instead it was Iran of all countries that benefited the most from its capabilities during the Iran-Iraq war. The most kills, the top aces, all Iranian.

"In eight years of combat, Iran’s Tomcat crews claimed some 200 aerial victories against Iraqi planes, 64 of which the Iranian air force was able to confirm. One F-14 pilot named Jalil Zandi reportedly claimed a staggering 11 air-to-air victories, making him by far Iran’s deadliest fighter pilot of the war."

The F-14 was so successful, it got to where Iraqi pilots would break off and scram as soon as they heard the rumor that a Tomcat might be around. Iran made such good use of them that ever since, the US has been scrambling to block F-14 spare parts from ever reaching the Iranians, to the pt that retired F-14s, instead of being sent to one of the big airplane "boneyards" out in the deserts of Arizona and such, were scrapped & crushed to make sure nothing could be retrieved. Spy vs Spy, black market cat & mouse, all over parts, its wild.

This is a bit of a long read, but worth it imo if you're interested in the history: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/irans-air-force-flies-american-made-f-14-tomcats-24750

P.S. There's some UFO-y stuff at the end, that or Uncle Sam has been holding out about his new toys

 

[Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen]

It still strikes me as funny that the F-14, long synonymous w/ American aerial might (in no small part thx to a certain Tom Cruise movie), didn't actually do that much for the US in battle. Instead it was Iran of all countries that benefited the most from its capabilities during the Iran-Iraq war. The most kills, the top aces, all Iranian.

"In eight years of combat, Iran’s Tomcat crews claimed some 200 aerial victories against Iraqi planes, 64 of which the Iranian air force was able to confirm. One F-14 pilot named Jalil Zandi reportedly claimed a staggering 11 air-to-air victories, making him by far Iran’s deadliest fighter pilot of the war."

The F-14 was so successful, it got to where Iraqi pilots would break off and scram as soon as they heard the rumor that a Tomcat might be around. Iran made such good use of them that ever since, the US has been scrambling to block F-14 spare parts from ever reaching the Iranians, to the pt that retired F-14s, instead of being sent to one of the big airplane "boneyards" out in the deserts of Arizona and such, were scrapped & crushed to make sure nothing could be retrieved. Spy vs Spy, black market cat & mouse, all over parts, its wild.

This is a bit of a long read, but worth it imo if you're interested in the history: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/irans-air-force-flies-american-made-f-14-tomcats-24750

P.S. There's some UFO-y stuff at the end, that or Uncle Sam has been holding out about his new toys

So what? It's just a machine. Man makes machine. Machine does not make man.

 

[Ultima Thule]

So what? It's just a machine. Man makes machine. Machine does not make man.

When inducted by Iran Soviet/Russian MIG-25 spy plane overflight had stopped because F-14 and Phonix lethal combo @undertakerwwefan

 

[Tokhme khar]

The IRIAF has claimed well over 400 kills in 8 years of war. Even if half are credited, it is a humongous total, if the F-4 and F-5 kills are included!

In addition, Iranian ground defenses shot down a similar number of IqAF warplanes.

Most of the F-14 kills were BVR kills using the Aim-7E and the Aim-54.

It still strikes me as funny that the F-14, long synonymous w/ American aerial might (in no small part thx to a certain Tom Cruise movie), didn't actually do that much for the US in battle. Instead it was Iran of all countries that benefited the most from its capabilities during the Iran-Iraq war. The most kills, the top aces, all Iranian.

"In eight years of combat, Iran’s Tomcat crews claimed some 200 aerial victories against Iraqi planes, 64 of which the Iranian air force was able to confirm. One F-14 pilot named Jalil Zandi reportedly claimed a staggering 11 air-to-air victories, making him by far Iran’s deadliest fighter pilot of the war."

The F-14 was so successful, it got to where Iraqi pilots would break off and scram as soon as they heard the rumor that a Tomcat might be around. Iran made such good use of them that ever since, the US has been scrambling to block F-14 spare parts from ever reaching the Iranians, to the pt that retired F-14s, instead of being sent to one of the big airplane "boneyards" out in the deserts of Arizona and such, were scrapped & crushed to make sure nothing could be retrieved. Spy vs Spy, black market cat & mouse, all over parts, its wild.

This is a bit of a long read, but worth it imo if you're interested in the history: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/irans-air-force-flies-american-made-f-14-tomcats-24750

P.S. There's some UFO-y stuff at the end, that or Uncle Sam has been holding out about his new toys

 

[AlohanAkua]

So what? It's just a machine. Man makes machine. Machine does not make man.

Moving into the philosophical, but that was a cool clip

The IRIAF has claimed well over 400 kills in 8 years of war. Even if half are credited, it is a humongous total, if the F-4 and F-5 kills are included!

In addition, Iranian ground defenses shot down a similar number of IqAF warplanes.

Most of the F-14 kills were BVR kills using the Aim-7E and the Aim-54.

From what I heard, Iranian ground forces were having a tough time of it early on, but a bright spot was the air force. A lot of those pilots had been jailed by the post-Revolution gov, but when called to do their duty, they defended their homeland in spite of everything

 

[Tokhme khar]

The jailing of pro Shah supporters was one thing, the elephant in the room was the total cut-off from western suppliers and sanctions.

Operating a fleet of 80 F-14A's, 200 F-4's and a similar number of F-5's on a total embargo was not easy. We did ok.

Nobody on this planet has more confirmed BVR kills than Iran.

Moving into the philosophical, but that was a cool clip
From what I heard, Iranian ground forces were having a tough time of it early on, but a bright spot was the air force. A lot of those pilots had been jailed by the post-Revolution gov, but when called to do their duty, they defended their homeland in spite of everything