Iranian F-14 Tomcat | The Amazing Story Of How Iran Fly The Iconic American Aircraft

How the U.S. sold 80 F-14 Tomcat Aircraft to Iran. Five years before the 1979 Islamic Revolution transformed Iran, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. A pilot who had earned his wings in 1946 flying a British Tiger Moth, arranged for Iran to purchase 80 Grumman F-14A Tomcats and 633 Hughes AIM-54 Phoenix missiles for $2 billion. (The Iranian deal is credited with saving the F-14 program, which Congress had stopped funding, and by some with saving the Grumman Corporation from bankruptcy.) Iran became the only country besides the United States to fly the big fighter. How useful the F-14 was in the eight-year war that Iran fought against Iraq following the revolution has been a matter of controversy. Many U.S. military analysts have dismissed the significance of airpower in the conflict, but the testimony of the Iranian Tomcat pilots paints a different picture.

Information about the Iran-Iraq air war is difficult to come by. It is impossible to tabulate, for example, how many air-to-air victories were scored by Iranian F-14s because air force records were repeatedly tampered with during and after the war for political, religious, or even personal reasons. Even today, most Iranian pilots will speak about their experiences only on the condition of anonymity. Several pilots quoted here insisted on pseudonyms for their protection.
What is known is that in the 1970s Iran needed an air superiority fighter that could end incursions into its airspace by Soviets flying MiG-25Rs, and the F-14 was up to the job.
By 1979, 120 pilots and radar intercept officers in the Iranian Imperial Air Force (IIAF) had been trained in the United States and Iran, with 100 additional personnel still in training. Simultaneously, maintenance technicians were trained at Pratt & Whitney and Hughes on the engines, avionics, and weapons systems.

“We trained with many U.S. Navy pilots who have, over the years] ‘shot down’ U.S. Air Force and Israeli F-15s and F-16s almost at will in all exercises,” recalls Colonel (then-Captain) Javad. “They trained us well.”
Before the arrival of the F-14s in Iran, a giant air base was built in the central Iranian desert. Khatami Air Base, named after legendary IIAF commander-in-chief General Mohammad Khatami—killed in a paragliding accident in 1975—was to become the main hub for F-14 operations in Iran. By late 1978, 284 Phoenix missiles were also delivered, including 10 ATM-54A training missiles, and the IIAF launched a series of live-fire tests.

General characteristics

Crew: 2 (pilot and radar intercept officer)
Length: 62 ft 9 in (19.13 m)
Wingspan: 64 ft 1.5 in (19.545 m)
Swept wingspan: 38 ft 2.5 in (11.646 m) swept
Height: 16 ft (4.9 m)
Wing area: 565 sq ft (52.5 m2) wings only
1,008 sq ft (94 m2) effective area including fuselage
Airfoil:
Grumman (1.74)(35)(9.6)-(1.1)(30)(1.1) root
Grumman (1.27)(30)(9.0)-(1.1)(40)(1.1) tip
Empty weight: 43,735 lb (19,838 kg)
Gross weight: 61,000 lb (27,669 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 74,350 lb (33,725 kg)
Fuel capacity: 16,200 lb (7,348 kg) internal fuel; 2 × optional 267 US gal (222 imp gal; 1,010 l) / 1,756 lb (797 kg) external tanks
Powerplant: 2 × General Electric F110-GE-400 afterburning turbofans, 16,333 lbf (72.65 kN) thrust each dry, 26,950 lbf (119.9 kN) with afterburner
Performance

Maximum speed: Mach 2.34 (1,544 mph, 2,485 km/h) at altitude
Range: 1,600 nmi (1,800 mi, 3,000 km)
Combat range: 500 nmi (580 mi, 930 km)
Service ceiling: 53,000 ft (16,000 m) plus
g limits: +7.5
Rate of climb: 45,000 ft/min (230 m/s) plus
Wing loading: 96 lb/sq ft (470 kg/m2)
48 lb/sq ft (230 kg/m2) effective
Thrust/weight: 0.88 at gross weight (1.02 with loaded weight & 50% internal fuel)
Takeoff roll: 2,500 ft (760 m)
Landing roll: 2,400 ft (730 m)
Armament
Guns: 1× 20 mm (0.787 in) M61A1 Vulcan 6-barreled rotary cannon, with 675 rounds
Hardpoints: 10 total: 6× under-fuselage, 2× under nacelles and 2× on wing gloves with a capacity of 14,500 lb (6,600 kg) of ordnance and fuel tanks, with provisions to carry combinations of:
Rockets: 7x LAU-10 rocket pods (for a total of 28 rockets)
Missiles: AIM-54 Phoenix, AIM-7 Sparrow, AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles
Bombs:
JDAM precision-guided munition (PGMs)
Paveway series of laser-guided bombs
Mk 80 series of unguided iron bombs
Mk 20 Rockeye II cluster munition
Other:
Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance Pod System (TARPS)
LANTIRN Targeting System (LTS) pod (AN/AAQ-14)
2× 267 US gal (1,010 l; 222 imp gal) drop tanks for extended range/loitering time
Avionics
Hughes AN/APG-71 radar
AN/ALR-67 radar warning receiver
AN/AAS-42 infrared search and track, AAX-1 TCS
AN/ASN-130 Inertial navigation system
Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receiver (ROVER) upgrade

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