Iranian F4 in Iraq...
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I was rather surprised by how much American aluminum Iran still has in the air.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Republic_of_Iran_Air_Force#Aircraft_inventory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Republic_of_Iran_Air_Force#Aircraft_inventory
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As in the case of the Cuban Air Force, I have to wonder if they have enough spare parts to keep even the more modern aircraft in their fleet aloft. Without spare parts, and know-how to keep the proper maintenance up, those aircraft are just fodder for air strikes or cruise missile strikes in the event THAT days comes.
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It's VERY dubious that the F-14s in Iranian inventory are effective fighting aircraft at this late date. They were always difficult and expensive to keep flying and the parts embargo has doubtless added to the problems.
Typical of the region the rulers of Iran think parades and fly-bys are evidence of military might. Back in the days of the Shah's military build-up, the Iranian military drafted a few dozen cab drivers of Tehran and made them RH-53D minesweep helo pilots, with minimal training, because of the shortage of men who knew anything about means of transportation above the donkey level.
Typical of the region the rulers of Iran think parades and fly-bys are evidence of military might. Back in the days of the Shah's military build-up, the Iranian military drafted a few dozen cab drivers of Tehran and made them RH-53D minesweep helo pilots, with minimal training, because of the shortage of men who knew anything about means of transportation above the donkey level.
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Some of the tech reps that Grumman had in Iran when the revolution happened apparently did a fair amount of "irreversible adjustments" to various systems in the F-14s before they were PNG'd...the planes would fly, but as fighting aircraft they were left at the "Kamikaze" effectiveness level. Iran did replace the radars and fire control with French help in the mid-80s though, but they seem to have only used their F-14s as reconnaissance platforms since then, when they used them at all. I'll take odds a fair number of those planes in inventory turn out to be ramp queens, towed around often enough to look like they've been flown on satellite imagery.
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Sort of like the Soviet fighter planes you can see in the weeds off the runway at Jose Marti airport outside Havana.
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Iran still had at least one F-4 flying in 2009 when this happened. One less Il-76 though:
"Iran Air Force Ilyushin IL-76MD AWACS crashing during a flyover of a military parade on September 22, 2009.
All seven crewmembers were killed in the crash, which reportedly was initiated when the IL-76 collided with a HESA Saeqeh fighter jet escort. The footage was apparently shot from the back of a refueling aircraft.
The incident occurred during a flyover of an annual military parade, which celebrated President Ahmidinejad’s scheduled address to the United Nations General Assembly the following day. The Russian-built jet crashed near the tomb of Ayatollah Khomeni.
In an odd twist, the downed jet was actually built for Saddam Hussein in the 1970s. Iraq flew it to Iran for safekeeping during the second Gulf War, and Iran kept it, possibly getting some radar upgrade help from Russia before putting it into service. It was Iran’s only AWACS-capable aircraft at the time."
"Iran Air Force Ilyushin IL-76MD AWACS crashing during a flyover of a military parade on September 22, 2009.
All seven crewmembers were killed in the crash, which reportedly was initiated when the IL-76 collided with a HESA Saeqeh fighter jet escort. The footage was apparently shot from the back of a refueling aircraft.
The incident occurred during a flyover of an annual military parade, which celebrated President Ahmidinejad’s scheduled address to the United Nations General Assembly the following day. The Russian-built jet crashed near the tomb of Ayatollah Khomeni.
In an odd twist, the downed jet was actually built for Saddam Hussein in the 1970s. Iraq flew it to Iran for safekeeping during the second Gulf War, and Iran kept it, possibly getting some radar upgrade help from Russia before putting it into service. It was Iran’s only AWACS-capable aircraft at the time."
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Iran has about 29 active and 29 inactive F-14 airframes about 7 F-4D and 44 active and 27 inactive F-4E's and 51 active and 15 inactive F-5E-F Tiger II airframes. As of 2000. So take a few off from accidents and lifetime running out on the airframes by 2011.
The Iranians rotate the Tomcats every 5 years at the IACI Iranian Aircraft Industries complex outside Tehran 29 on active duty and the inactive get completely refurbished. The Tomcat is probably going to fly for the IRIAF until about 2025 when some of the wing pivot points on some airframes begin to crack. In fact they incresed the range of the AWG-9 in 1982 by replacing the systems with solid state sets thanks to the Techs from IACI. The new sets could almost see to the Jordanian border 25 miles in Iranian airspace! And they had to be sneaky and put US mfg tags on them, so that the old guard aircrews would use them. Since they only trusted USA made parts for their aircraft.
Plus the Iranians was the first to make the bombcat in 1983 by fitting bomb racks to them. But they was such a valuable air to air asset that the Iranian high command didn't use it that much. And risk the F-14 to unnecessary ground fire and hazards like trees, buildings, and antennas!
May I suggest the book Iran-Iraq War in the Air Tom Cooper, and Fazzad Biship Schiffler Military History. And also F-14 Tomcat Aces by the same gentelmen but I don't remember who the publisher book company was. It'll open your eyes on how the Iranians was able to keep their high tech airforce operational while being almost 100% isolated from the rest of the world.
The Iranians rotate the Tomcats every 5 years at the IACI Iranian Aircraft Industries complex outside Tehran 29 on active duty and the inactive get completely refurbished. The Tomcat is probably going to fly for the IRIAF until about 2025 when some of the wing pivot points on some airframes begin to crack. In fact they incresed the range of the AWG-9 in 1982 by replacing the systems with solid state sets thanks to the Techs from IACI. The new sets could almost see to the Jordanian border 25 miles in Iranian airspace! And they had to be sneaky and put US mfg tags on them, so that the old guard aircrews would use them. Since they only trusted USA made parts for their aircraft.
Plus the Iranians was the first to make the bombcat in 1983 by fitting bomb racks to them. But they was such a valuable air to air asset that the Iranian high command didn't use it that much. And risk the F-14 to unnecessary ground fire and hazards like trees, buildings, and antennas!
May I suggest the book Iran-Iraq War in the Air Tom Cooper, and Fazzad Biship Schiffler Military History. And also F-14 Tomcat Aces by the same gentelmen but I don't remember who the publisher book company was. It'll open your eyes on how the Iranians was able to keep their high tech airforce operational while being almost 100% isolated from the rest of the world.
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