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F-14 was a very capable plane. Impressive radar combined with the LRAAM Phoenix made it a nightmare for anything in the air in that time. Being able to see and hit the enemy long before they can do the same is a capability the Iranian pilots are used to. It will not be an easy task for Iran to find a modern plane that will give it the same capability. 5th generation F-22 could give same results, but for obvious reasons Iran cannot get it.
The world is already thinking of moving to 6th generation planes. Nations like US, Japan, UK etc are already making moves. Iran needs to do everything it can to procure 5th generation fighter jet technology. The most important component by far is of course the engine. The main long term objective has to be indigenous development and manufacture, this will not be easy. Every other nations working on their stealth fighter are all relying on imports to varying degree. Some nations are even relying on foreigners for aid in the design of their project. This is normal given the complexity of such projects.
Flankers will give Iranian airforce a boost, but the issue with going for 4th generation fighters is that by the time Iran starts getting delivery of them, they may be almost obsolete. Iranian enemies will mostly all be flying 5th generation planes. 4th generation fighters will have their use, but in terms the backbone of Iranian airforce, this has to be 5th generation fighters. Iran does have options. Iran go for joint projects with other nations, for example see if the Russians could take Iran on board their PAK-FA. There are barriers here, and not just political. Iran does not have a good experience when it comes to purchasing from Russia (Read around the S-300 issue). If joint production could not be attained, then at minimum Iran could get delivery of some Russian or Chinese 5th gen planes as a stop gap. This will also allow Iran to reverse engineer if it needs to. In the meantime it will continue working on its impressive UAV industry to develop UCAVs and also on its own manned project.
Above is just my own conjecture. The reality is, we don't really know what the Iranian planners are thinking.
The world is already thinking of moving to 6th generation planes. Nations like US, Japan, UK etc are already making moves. Iran needs to do everything it can to procure 5th generation fighter jet technology. The most important component by far is of course the engine. The main long term objective has to be indigenous development and manufacture, this will not be easy. Every other nations working on their stealth fighter are all relying on imports to varying degree. Some nations are even relying on foreigners for aid in the design of their project. This is normal given the complexity of such projects.
Flankers will give Iranian airforce a boost, but the issue with going for 4th generation fighters is that by the time Iran starts getting delivery of them, they may be almost obsolete. Iranian enemies will mostly all be flying 5th generation planes. 4th generation fighters will have their use, but in terms the backbone of Iranian airforce, this has to be 5th generation fighters. Iran does have options. Iran go for joint projects with other nations, for example see if the Russians could take Iran on board their PAK-FA. There are barriers here, and not just political. Iran does not have a good experience when it comes to purchasing from Russia (Read around the S-300 issue). If joint production could not be attained, then at minimum Iran could get delivery of some Russian or Chinese 5th gen planes as a stop gap. This will also allow Iran to reverse engineer if it needs to. In the meantime it will continue working on its impressive UAV industry to develop UCAVs and also on its own manned project.
Above is just my own conjecture. The reality is, we don't really know what the Iranian planners are thinking.