How Iran got the F-14 Tomcat and kept it flying for decades

[Talyn]

The United States sold Iran 80 of its F-14s in the 1970s. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the regime somehow kept the fighter flying for decades.

IRIAF HAS UPGRADED AN F-14 TOMCAT

The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) says it has upgraded a Grumman F-14 Tomcat and return it to service

theaviationgeekclub.com

https://taskandpurpose.com/tech-tactics/iran-f14-tomcat/?

When the war with Iran began on Feb. 28, one of the early goals was to hamstring the Iranian air force, which boasted a smattering of aircraft. This included French Mirage F1s, Soviet MiG-29s, and American F-4 Phantoms, F-5 Tiger IIs, and the beloved F-14 Tomcats. In satellite imagery and released footage, we can see the effectiveness of that campaign, with Tomcats smoldering on tarmacs.

It appears that the F-14 Tomcat, retired from the U.S. Navy in 2006, has finally come to the end of the runway.

BONUS

The Tomcat’s Six Pack: The F-14 Six on Six Phoenix Test

Designed for fleet air defense, the F-14 was armed with a potent long-range missile and, with a powerful new radar, could engage multiple airborne targets

theaviationist.com

 

[Shibadog]

F14 was a heck of an aircraft. Expensive to operate, big, but darn effective

 

[Cedric]

As the article says, our remaining F-14s were shredded at the big boneyard, but not before selected avionics and othe components were removed and secured. How secured I don't know. There were active parties in L.A. for example which were trying to acquire said parts on the down-low. How successful they were I also don't know. What I do know is that Iran's attempt to reverse engineer ground systems has resulted in mediocre to downright dangerous to their own troops. But they don't care about that.

 

[Talyn]

Some of the gutted F-14s were retained for museums.

 

[Shibadog]

F14 avionics and systems were extremely high tech. Politics killed the F14, not lack of capability.