Iran's F-14 Fleet.

Issue Number 5

(Authors Note: My apologies for the delay in posting Issue Number 5. I wanted to ensure I got the data correct. This issue includes my estimates for numbers of airframes in the Iranian Air Force of the F-14AM Tomcat. Those figures, with the registration numbers, are included after the notes and sources section. (Plus, a surprise) I do not believe you will find a more accurate list of Iran F-14AM Tomcats anywhere else, at least not open sourced. It took me a good long time to make that list. Thank you for reading The Sanford Report, enjoy the data. ~ Steve.)

In the early 1970’s Iran was facing a new threat from the air. With the cold war stand off between the Soviet Union and NATO, Iran was stuck in the middle so to speak. The Shah was still in power, and while Iran shared a border with the Soviet Union, Iran was a staunch ally, and “friend” of the United States. (Some would argue that puppet was the correct word.) At the time Iran was awarded a privilege never given to any nation, and never given since, The Shah was given permission to buy any weapons from the United States that he wished, so long as he paid cash. (Technically Iran could not buy atomic weapons, but all conventional weapons were on the table.) Even the State of Israel, or our mother country of Britain has not been given unlimited access to the full catalog of American weapons.

Foremost in the mind of the Shah, and Iranian defense officials was the urgent threat of the Mig-25 Foxbat. During one flight over Israel an Egyptian marked, and Russian crewed Mig-25 was tracked at a speed of Mach 3.2. Israel couldn’t touch it, and at the time Israel and Iran were both flying the American F-4 Phantom, as well as other American military aircraft. Soviet Mig-25s were violating Iranian airspace on a routine basis, and there was little or nothing that the Imperial Iranian Air Force could do about it. These events set the stage for one of the most infamous weapons purchases in modern history, the sale of Grumman F-14 Tomcats to Iran.

The competition was a fly off between two brand new heavyweight air dominance fighters, the F-15 Eagle, and the F-14 Tomcat. Both fighters were so new they still had that new airplane smell…I’m assuming. The F-15 went first, and while the Shah watched the jet showed what it could do. But… the F-14 was going to fly next and the F-14 pilot had a trick up his sleeve. The pilot did not simply wait for the F-15 to finish, he took active measures. The F-14 was loaded lightly, with no where near a full load of fuel. While the F-15 flew, the F-14 crew started their engines and set a high idle, burning as much fuel as they could to lighten the jet even further. An F-14A can carry just over 16,000 pounds of Fuel, and it weighs about 38,000 pounds empty. Iranian sources claim that their jets have 22,000 pounds of thrust per engine, more than the factory listed 20,900 pounds of thrust per engine.

What all that meant was that as the F-14 finally had it’s turn in the skies and showed the Shah what it could do, it was nearly out of gas and had very close to a 1:1 thrust-weight ratio. With such a light airplane, and so much thrust, the F-14 rocketed into the sky. The pilots made a good show, but don’t be fooled into believing that the Shah had the wool pulled over his eyes by this trick, he didn’t. Yes, he was impressed, but what most people don’t know was that the decision had already been made. Iranian generals had already reviewed the full package of what the F-14 and the F-15 could offer. And what the F-14 could offer was the longest-range air to air missile in the world. Not only did the F-14 have the AIM-54 with the longest range, but it was also an active radar homing missile. There was no option for an active radar homing missile on the F-15 at that time, and the semi active radar homing missiles offered, the AIM-7 Sparrow was much shorted ranged. They needed the F-14 with its AWG-9 Radar and the long range, active radar homing AIM-54.

Iran knew all about the limitations of the AIM-7 Sparrow, as they’d been using that very missile on their F-4 phantoms and hadn’t been able to shoot down a Mig-25 with it. My research indicates that 2 Mig-25’s fell to the AIM-7 Sparrow and the U.S. Air Force; both shot down on January 1991 by F-15C’s of the 58th Tactical Fighter Squadron. Israel may have shot down as many as 3-4 more, all Syrian. Yet even as late as the 1991 Gulf War, the F-15 and the AIM-7 Sparrow were having a hard time shooting down the fast Mig-25s. In one incident a pair of Iraqi Mig-25s simply outran F-15s and 10 different missiles fired at them. Incidentally, a Mig-25 is also the only Iraqi Aircraft credited with an Air to Air kill during the Gulf War, shooting down LCDR Scott Speicher in his F/A-18C on January 17, 1991. [1] (BuNo 163484)

The AIM-7 Sparrow simply isn’t the best weapon for shooting something flying at near Mach 3. However, the AIM-54 is very well suited to that task as the missile accelerates to Mach-5 and goes high after launch, coming down on the target from above and at an extremely high velocity. Incidentally I should note that while a Mig-25 has been recorded flying at above Mach-3, it causes damage to the engine and the pilots are not supposed to exceed Mach 2.5 (Up to a limit of Mach 2.82) for more than five minutes because of overheating issues with the airframe and the engines. Blowing one engine in a twin-engine jet while at Mach 3 would probably quickly put the jet into a spin from the asymmetrical thrust. The legend is that after that Egyptian Mach 3.2 MiG 25 flight, both engines were destroyed, and it was considered a miracle that the jet made it back to its base. [2]  

Clearly the Mig-25 Foxbat was a threat to Iran, and Iran needed something to stop the Soviet overflights. The cheeky flight demo of the F-14 with mostly empty fuel tanks only sealed the deal. Iran ordered 80 F-14 Tomcats and AIM-54 missiles. Soon after the First F-14s were delivered to Iran, the Iranian Air Force used the combination to shoot down a target drone replicating the performance of the Mig-25. The USSR got the message and the Mig-25 recon flights over Iran stopped virtually overnight. At the time no one, not even the U.S. Air Force, had a radar/ missile/ performance system comparable to the F-14/ AWG-9 radar/ AIM-54 missile. Only the U.S. Navy of that time, also flying the F-14 was on parr with the capabilities of the F-14A flown by the Iranian Air Force just before the Islamic Revolution.

Above: IRIAF F-14 taking off for a dusk intercept. Image Credit Fars News. Note, this is one of the few images of an Armed F-14 I’ve been able to find that is post Iran-Iraq war. Take note of the light load of missiles, 2 AIM-9, 2 AIM-7 (Or locally produced variants of those missiles.) While I can’t read the registration number in this image, I have reason to believe this jet is either registration number 3-6067 or 3-6045.  

But the F-14 isn’t just a missile truck, it can turn, and it can turn hard. The F-14 can pull a sustained 7-G turn at Mach 2. [3] Nothing in the U.S. Navy inventory can do that. Not the F-35, not the Super Hornet. The U.S. Air Force F-16 cannot do it, though an F-15 and an F-22 might be able to sustain a 7-G turn at Mach 2. Because the U.S. Navy no longer has a meaningful fleet defender, our ships are at risk. And not only to Iran’s small fleet of upgraded Tomcats. For example, a Su-30MKI of the Indian Air Force has an almost comparable flight range to the F-14 and can also launch the BRAHMOS anti-ship missile. Those Indian SU-30MKI jets can launch that missile from farther than U.S. Navy carrier jets can perform combat air patrol. Russia co-developed the BRAHMOS missile with India and uses it as well. Oh, and not only does the BRAHMOS have an exceptionally long range…it’s also the fastest anti-ship missile in active service anywhere in the world.

One Iranian F-14 pilot told the story of a dog fight he went into. His jet’s master arm failed as he went into the fight, leaving him unarmed despite a load of missiles and cannon ammunition. He maneuvered for his life, outnumber at least 4 to 1. He lived. When he landed, the G-meter on his tomcat was broken, and locked at 11.5 G. [4]

Since the United States does not have an aircraft system comparable to the F-14AM (AM= A, Modernized, the current version used by the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force.), we need to know how many of those jets they have and what the modernization includes. Of course, the primary assets of the F-14 apart from a large combat radius and a heavy weapons load, was the AWG-9 radar. The AWG-9 radar was the tracking and targeting system that enable the F-14 to fire the long-range AIM-54 at…whatever it wanted. Prior to the 2006 retirement of the F-14, some U.S. Navy Tomcats did get new radars and still retained the ability to fire the AIM-54. This new radar is known as the AN/APG-71. In brief the primary difference between the AWG-9 and the AN/APG-71 was the replacement of the old analog parts and low power CPUs with new digital components. The digital version of this radar is technically capable of extremely long-range detection and tracking…but this is limited by the overall size of the radar antenna. Even with the limitations due to antenna size, the radar still could track targets near 300km away. (If a Pair of F-14Ds data linked they could boost their tracking range to 600km.)  

Above: IRIAF F-14AM with glove vanes exposed.

One of the claimed improvements of Iranian F-14 Tomcats to the AM standard is a local replacement of old CPUs and analog parts on the AWG-9 radars with digital components. This honestly doesn’t surprise me, and I believe it to be well within Iranian manufacturing capability. Many digital components are easily available on the consumer electronics market. Meaning that if Iran is only replacing old parts with newer digital processors, they probably won’t have much trouble finding dual use parts on the consumer electronics market. China is one of the largest manufacturers of electronic components, and unlike the United States, China is on good terms with Iran. It might be that the very factory which made your smartphone also made the parts that Iran is putting in their F-14 radar systems. When the Tomcats were originally made, very few nations could make the complex components, but free trade, China, and cheap labor moved many of those industries to nations which don’t mind selling a few microchips to Iran for use in a new missile or radar system. There is simply too much crossover between military and consumer electronics today to stop the transfer of technology and advancement.

In addition to the digital upgrades to the AWG-9 radar, Iran also claims to have given the radar an improved look down-shoot down capability as well as a synthetic aperture mapping mode. [5] The original Tomcats were designed to operate from U.S. Navy carriers and over water, the A model and the AWG-9 radar always had trouble with finding targets in ground clutter. Thus, an upgrade to a synthetic aperture mapping mode would be a massive upgrade to the capabilities of the F-14AM in Iranian service. Furthermore, the new synthetic aperture mapping mode and look down-shoot down capability will better enable the F-14AM to perform ground attack missions. Though I should add that Iran was dropping bombs from their Tomcats as early as 1982, they simply did it the old fashion way.

I have seen small mentions of something about Iran’s Auxiliary power Units used on the F-14AM, but I don’t know exactly what the upgrade here is. It is possible that Iran began manufacturing more of their own APUs for the Tomcats, but I haven’t been able to find out. Either way, sometimes in a press release or statement someone briefly and offhandedly mentions the APU, so Iran did probably do something with those. Perhaps someone out there worked on Tomcats during their navy service and knows what improvements Iran could have made in this area? (Let me know if you have information in this topic. scsanfordwritting@gmail.com)

Next on the upgrade list is the Airborne Missile Control Computer. Iran claimed to have integrated “domestically produced weapons” into the AMCC on the Tomcat, which probably means the Fakour-90 (Iranian improved version of the AIM-54). Furthermore, there are claims that the AMCC has also been altered (or replaced, rebuilt, digitalized, etc.) to work in the air to surface mode. I don’t believe they are talking about bombing here. One of Iran’s major security concerns is ships. Iran domestically produces an anti-ship missile known as “Noor.” There is certainly the possibility that arming Tomcats with anti ship missiles, or cruise missiles would be something Iran would consider, or at least build into their upgrade program.

Iran is also rebuilding/ restoring their F-5 and F-4 fleets. According to Iranian F-14 Tomcat Units in Combat, [6] Iranian F-14s are not re engined but are still using restored and reworked original TF-30-P-414A engines. Iranian sources claim that the TF-30 engine produced 22,000 pounds of thrust, not the factory listed 20,900 pounds of thrust. (While the engine is operating at zone five reheat.)

Above: And Iranian F-14AM escorting a Russian Tu-95 on a mission to bomb ISIS in Syria. (reportedly in 2015)

Basic specifications of the F-14A

Power Plant. 2 Pratt & Whitney TF-30-P-414A turbo fans. Rated at 20,900 pounds thrust each. (*Iranian sources claim these engines produced 22,000 pounds of thrust each.)

Weight: Empty 40,104 pounds (18,191 kg) Full war load of 6 AIM-54 overload 74,349 pounds.

Fuel: Normal internal Fuel load 16,200 pounds plus possible 2 drop tanks +3800 pounds. With full weapons load, fuel reduced to 14,500 pounds.

Range: Max range with full fuel 1735 nautical miles. Combat Radius with 6 AIM-7, 4 AIM-9, 665 Nautical miles.

Wingspan: 64 ft 1.5 in. (Full spread) 38 ft, 2.5 in. swept.

Length: 62 ft 8 in.

Height: 16 ft. tailplane spread 32 ft. 8.5 in.

Armament: One MK-61A1 Vulcan 20mm cannon with 675 rounds.

Normal war load in Iranian service. My research has indicated two preferred war loads in the F-14 tomcat. First, if the F-14’s mission was intercepting high and fast Mig-25, the jet would be loaded with only 4 AIM-54 missiles. For normal Combat Air Patrol missions, the preferred war load seems to have been 2 AIM-54, 2 AIM-7, and 2 AIM-9.

In November of 1980 an F-14 flying from the 8th Tactical Fighter Base fired an AIM-54 missile at an unconfirmed type of Iraqi jets flying in close formation. The single missile brought down 2 jets and is reported to have damaged a third. These were probably Mig-23s but might have been Mig-21s. The F-14 pilot never got close enough to see them… Any survivors from the flight turned tail and ran. It’s important to note that Iranian F-14 crews flew under very strict rules of engagement, and were prohibited from chasing Iraq jets, and except for some rare occasions, were also prohibited from firing BVR missiles at Iraqi jets flying in Iraqi airspace. [4, again.]

On July 21st, 1982 an F-14 pilot listed as “Toufanian”, and again flying from the 8th tactical fighter base, scored a double with a single AIM-54. He shot down 2 Mig-23MS of the Iraqi Air Force. While Iranians F-14 tagged a number of Kills with the AIM-54, the first aerial victory ever achieved in an F-14 wasn’t with a missile. The first F-14 kill in history is claimed by a “name withheld” Iranian pilot on September 7th, 1980. The victim was a Mi-25 helicopter shot down with the 20mm cannon. A large number, over half, of Iranian F-14 victories are listed as “name withheld”.  Unlike the United States military, the Iranian Air Force only lists the pilot flying the F-14 on the kill sheet, I’ve never found a RIO on the lists. [4]

The Iranian air force always had trouble training the numbers of pilots they needed to fly F-14s, but this paled in comparison to the active number of RIO’s at any given time. Sometimes only 50% of trained F-14 pilots could fly with a qualified radar intercept officer in the back seat. Sometimes they a senior F-14 pilot would fly, with a junior pilot in the backseat acting as a RIO. Later in the Iran-Iraq war the training programs were intensified, and many more qualified radar intercept officers were produced. In 1986 and later Iran had higher numbers of qualified flight crews, but at the same time the numbers of air worthy airframes were declining due to a lack of spare parts. Prior to the revolution only 120 total personal were trained as Pilots or Radar Intercept Officers, only enough to crew 60 aircraft.

You need more than a pilot and a co-pilot to keep any airplane in the air. Trained maintenance crews are just as, if not more important that pilots. (Pilots can’t fly jets without engines, fuel, etc.) The Tomcat is a complicated bird, and the number of qualified maintainers of the F-14 in Iran were always low. Every pilot interview of Iranian F-14 pilots, they all praise the skill, dedication, and work ethic of their maintainers. The low numbers of ground crews were, in my opinion, always the limiting factor in the numbers of F-14’s that Iran could put in the air at any given time. Iranian sources say that each F-14A delivered required 18-20 ground crew to keep it flying, where the older F-4 required only about 6-8. Only 100 qualified maintainers were trained by the united states prior to the revolution.  

Aircraft parts that might have been impossible to make in 1985, are suddenly a simple project for 3-d printers and CNC machine tools. The consumer electronics industry has exploded in the last forty years, in case you missed it. I’m almost sure than my 3-year-old daughter’s tablet probably has more computing power than the original electronics in the AIM-54A. Most consumer electronics are easy to obtain from the open market, and China is more than happy to sell unlicensed iPhones to Iran. All these things factor into how many Tomcats Iran can keep flying, and how modernization efforts would develop.

Therefore, before you believe the propaganda which claims that the F-14 is too advanced for Iran to keep flying, remember it is basically 1960s technology. The rapid advancement of the consumer electronics industry worldwide, and technology in general, means that Iran can realistically build newer more advanced systems, which weigh less, and perform better, than the original equipment in the F-14A. This isn’t even new. In 1986 Iran produced an upgraded version of the AWG-9 radar which slightly improved the performance of the original and weighed 14 pounds less. Initially Iranian F-14 pilots refused to fly the Tomcat with “homemade junk.” Their commanders had a clever solution, they simply lied and told the pilots that the radar was the original. The pilots flew, and found the new radars had higher performance.

“The Fakour-90 not only matches the capabilities of the AIM-54 but improves on them considerably - with Iranian sources putting the range at 300km and Western experts estimating a range of around 220km - compared to the original platform’s 180km range. Like the original platform, the Fakour-90 retains a guidance system capable of providing a radar lock independently of the launch aircraft’s own radar - a key capability lacked by modern Western combat aircraft and most of those fielded by Russia which makes Iran’s F-14 fleet potentially highly lethal in beyond visual range engagements. According to Iranian Defence Minister Amir Hatami, who attended the ceremony for the beginning of mass production of the new missile, the platform its set to be used by a variety of aircraft - indicating that aircraft other than the F-14 will for the first time be equipped with the Fakour-90. With the F-14 serving as the only high-end air superiority fighter or interceptor in the Iranian military, should other aircraft be equipped with the missiles they will almost certainly deploy them in smaller numbers. Iran’s indigenous Saeqeh twin engine fighter is a leading candidate for deployment of the missiles, though its limited payload means it is unlikely to deploy more than two compared to the F-14's six.” [3]

Multiple pilot interviews I have read or heard from actual Iranian pilots aces who flew in the Iran-Iraq war clearly state that they didn’t ever fly the F-14 with 6 AIM-54 missiles (except for the occasional photo op), and rarely ever flew with 4. They considered 2 AIM-54 missiles all they would need to get them within gun range so they could work with the cannon, which they preferred. These pilots complained that a load of 6 or 4 AIM-54 missiles made the Tomcat to sluggish, but they claimed it could do anything you asked of it if you only put 2 AIM-54s on it. Granted they would also usually carry a pair of AIM-9 Sidewinders, and occasionally, rarely, also a pair of AIM-7 sparrows.

(Authors Note: Iran initially used the AIM-9 P Sidewinder on their F-14 Tomcats. I presume they have made minor improvements to the P model over the years. Iran probably received the AIM-7E2 and possibly the AIM-7F Sparrow variants, though I can’t confirm this.)

Below… Mig-29 test firing a Fakour-90. The missile was dropped from the inboard-starboard weapons station of the jet. Remember, you heard it here first, the Mig-29 can Launch a Fakour-90. (At least technically…)

The potential for the Iranian Mig-29 to carry the Fakour-90 brings up a few questions. First, what radar is installed in the previously pictured Mig-29 to enable it to target or provide mid-course guidance to the Fakour-90? Some sources claim that all Iranian Mig-29’s have been upgraded to Mig-29 9.12. An upgrade package of the first-generation MiG-29s containing enhancements intended for the MiG-29M. The cockpit has an enhanced HOTAS design, two 6 × 8-inch color liquid crystal MFDs and two smaller monochrome LCDs. However, if the Iranian aircraft followed that standard 9.12 upgrade path, leading their jets to be equivalent to a Mig-29M, they would have used the Zhuk-ME radar. Furthermore, if that radar was used, the Iranian’s would need to create a solution for the Fakour-90 to data link compatible with the Zhuk-ME radar, as well as the modified AWG-9 radar they run in their F-14s. (If the same weapon, and same model of missile is used in both.) The Mig-29 test firing of the Fakour-90 might also indicate that Iran has put a Russia radar in their F-14’s, though I personally don’t believe they did, or would. I believe it is more likely that Iran put their home built version of the AWG-9/IDM (Iranian Digital Modernized)

In the accounts that I have read of Iranian pilots during the Iran-Iraq war, most of those who flew F-14’s did so with a much smaller load of missiles than the jet could carry. The pilots felt that in any possible combat situation they would likely be outnumbered and required to perform extreme maneuvers. Because of the weight of the AIM-54, and the limited stocks of the weapon, most pilots flew with only 2 of the AIM-54 mounted. They would then add a pair of adapted AIM-7E’s and AIM-9L’s (possible AIM-9 model confused, FYI.) The pilots would use the AIM-54 first and claimed that on most occasions one AIM-54 detonation of an Iraqi jet usually ended the fight.

The Iraqi pilots would yell “F-14, flee, flee!” over their radio and turn for home. If the fight progressed from there, the F-14s would fire their AIM-7’s, which they claimed were garbage in the F-14 because of data link problems, and then the maneuvering would begin with the Iranian pilots preferring to close into gun range and obtain kills with the cannon. The Iranian pilots mostly didn’t consider the Iraqi pilots as dangerous, with most accounts reading like the Iranians felt they were in the sky to teach the Iraqi pilots the basic rules of air combat maneuvering, or sometimes basic flight maneuvers. The Iranian pilots of the 1980’s were very dismissive of anyone else’s ability to dog fight. The Iranian flight crews only began respecting the Iraqi pilots’ abilities when Iraq sent pilots to train in France on the Dassault F-1EQ and those jets/ pilots entered service in the last half of the war.  

I take this with a grain of salt; however, I’ll tell you anyway. One recently retired Iranian air force officer who flew the F-14 in combat claimed that today Iranian F-14 crews are averaging 500-700 hours of F-14 flight per year. Furthermore, he claimed that each F-14 in flying service is logging about 3800 flight hours a year. Those are claims, and while I don’t know if I believe them, it will tell us two things. First, the days of having more F-14’s than trained flight crews are over in Iran. The flight hours indicate that each jet might have 3-5 flight crews staffing it. Second, it would mean that Iranian F-14 crews are flying 3-4 times as much as a U.S. military pilot. Of course, the type of flying that is being done matters, as flying a set route in daylight and not performing any maneuvers is very different than mock dog fighting, night flying, and such. I have no sources who are willing to talk about what types of flight training Iranian pilots receive, sorry. Like I said, take it with a grain of salt, but those are the claims.

A basic autopilot/ flight control computer which takes inputs from a radar system isn’t the most complicated part of a missile from what I’ve been told. And remember the Iranians already have access to the computer code and autopilot on the AIM-54. They are not cloning the missile from a picture on Pinterest, they can take the damn things apart. Now, add in off the shelf components ranging from micro processers to autopilots and rocket engines and we have got the workings of a real missile. Throw in the Iranians taking part every other missile they have access to, and they can combine the best features of each. They have detailed information on the Super 530 from France, the Kh-31, R-37 from Russia, and the AIM-54, AIM-7, and AIM-9 from the United States. I’ve already shown you pictures of what is probably a Fakour-90 launching from a Mig-29. To me this says that the Fakour-90 has gotten some of its DNA from the Kh-31? Or parts of the data link that enables the missile and the airplane to talk to one another? Or, as I said, maybe the Mig-29’s have the AWG-9/IDM radar in them?

Aircraft and weapons systems are not simply bolted together, it’s not a simple thing to equip an aircraft with a new and untested weapon, or even tested weapon used on other craft. Therefore, it is very exciting, and very telling to see actual pictures of the Fakour-90 being launched from a Mig-29. It is a big accomplishment that Iran can, and should be proud of. It is also something that the U.S. Military should pay attention to. One version of the Kh-31 is used to shoot down AWACs, as I’ve said. And the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Israel are all users of large slow AWACS planes. If some part of the Fakour-90 was taken from the Kh-31, it might well be the home on track feature of the anti-radiation missile.

(According to the United States Defense Intelligence Agency, Iran is seeking to purchase SU-30 4++ generation fighters from Russia, versions of the T-90 main battle tank, and the K-300P Bastion-P coastal defense missile system with land attack capability. [11] )

There is much more I could write about the Iranian Tomcats, their combat service, or the Iranian air force in general. However, there is a data limit for Substack to email these posts to you. I hope this was informative. I am sure the list of registration (Found in the notes and sources section), numbers I’ve included isn’t 100% accurate, but I believe it is probably the most accurate open-source list out there.

And lastly in this Issue Number 5 of The Sanford Report, there is something I haven’t yet mentioned, which is important. I’ve shown you pictures of an Iranian MiG-29 launching a Fakour-90. I’ve shown you a few different pictures of Iranian Tomcats. Here is what I didn’t find. I didn’t find any pictures or any video of an Iranian F-14 launching a Fakour-90 that is dated after 2010. I can’t find pictures of Tomcats carrying heavy AIM-54 or Fakour-90 missiles. So... there is the real possibility that the Fakour-90 wasn’t ever intended for Iran’s F-14s. It could simply be a smoke screen for the use of the missile on the MiG-29 or even the Su-24 Fencer. I wanted to point it out. I honestly can’t find anything which indicates that Iran’s F-14s are armed with anything other than the AIM-7 or the AIM-9. What that say’s, I don’t know. But I believe the claims of improved performance of older systems based on digitizing old analog components. As I said, most of the technology for these weapons systems can be adapted from available consumer electronics.

If your smart phone can unlock with facial recognition, it isn’t a great leap to adapt that same technology, which Iran can easily obtain, to improving the performance of weapons systems. Contrary to the way the United States does things, Iran doesn’t have the military industrial complex dictating every move their military makes. In Iran the government owns the military industries, the United States…well we do things differently. They have bureaucracy, corruption, and graft, but so do we. They can just shoot people who do not perform, we don’t. Though if I’m honest, the F-35 would probably be a far better airplane if the engineering staff who screwed up got promoted to martyrdom for their failures…

My apologies for the delay in submitting this post. It was a lot of work that involved several months. I wanted to give you the best possible picture of Iranian F-14 fleet numbers. Thank you for your support and stay turned for issue number 6 of The Sanford Report.

Notes and Sources about Iranian F-14 Tomcats:

[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20090604224140/http://128.121.102.226/aakill.html

[2] Wings of the Red Star documentary on the MiG-25 Foxbat.

(Highly informative, old Discovery Wings Production.)

[3] F-14 Design Evolution

 (Highly worth watching!)

[4] Combat aircraft pilot: Interview with sixteen kill Grumman F-14 Tomcat Ace. (Watch this, the pilot has particularly good stories.)

[5]Radar Synthetic Aperture Mapping Mode https://www.radartutorial.eu/20.airborne/ab08.en.html

[6]Iranian F-14 Tomcat Units in Combat. Tom Cooper and Farzad Bishop. ISBN 978-1-84176-787-1

[7]Falour-90 enters serial production in Iran.  https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/the-iranian-air-force-s-greatest-asset-lethal-fakour-90-air-to-air-missiles-put-into-mass-production

[8]Air Combat Memoirs of the Iranian Air Force Pilots. Kash Ryan. ASIN: B018AEDLNA (kindle only edition. Sadly, the author has not published a paperback edition, which I prefer. Nevertheless, I recommend reading this book.)

[9]The Encyclopedia of World Military Aircraft. David Donald and Jon Lake ISBN: 0-7607-22-8-0 (Questionable data, some of it was clearly incorrect, nevertheless, I did reference the book so I’ve included it here.)

[10]Modern Air-Launched Weapons.  Martin J. Dougherty ISBN 978-1-4351-2702-9 (Does not list the F-14, I used this work for information on various weapons systems.)

[11]Wiki page of F-14 victories during Iran-Iraq war. (May not be correct…it’s Wikipedia.)  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Iranian_aerial_victories_during_the_Iran%E2%80%93Iraq_war

[12]YouTube Video F-14 Tomcat- Destination Iran - Stock Footage (Highly worth watching.)

[13]The Economy of Iran

(This is simply an interesting video on Iranian Economy.)

[14]IRAN MILITARY POWER: Ensuring Regime Survival and Securing Regional Dominance. U.S. Government Publishing Office (DIA 2019 report) ISBN 978-0-16-095157-2

[15] YouTube video

[16]Synthetic Aperture Radars https://descanso.jpl.nasa.gov/SciTechBook/series2/02Chap1_110106_amf.pdf

Iranian Air Force F-14 Registration numbers: (That I can confirm.) 

1) 3-6001 First F-14 built for Iran. Two claimed kills in Iran Iraq War.

2) 3-6002

3) 3-6005 (? I’ve found few some limited evidence of it flying, it may have crashed or been damaged.)

4) 3-6007 

 5)3-6008

 6)3-6012

7) 3-6014

8) 3-6017

9) 3-6020 Reported that this aircraft has at least 11 kills. Reported to be first upgraded to AM standard.

10) 3-6022

11) 3-6023

12) 3-6024 Several reported kills including a Mirage F1EQ.

13) 3-6028

14) 3-6029

15) 3-6030 Sometimes this jet flies to Kish Island airshow.

16) 3-6032 Reported 4 Mig-25 kills [1]

17) 3-6039 Reported 1 F1EQ kill with AIM-54 on 2/20/1987.

18) 3-6041

19) 3-6042

20) 3-6045

21) 3-6049 (sometimes flies to Kish air show, flew in Iranian propaganda film. Only brown jet.)

22) 3-6050

23) 3-6052 One reported Mig-25 kill in February 1986.

24) 3-6061

25) 3-6062

26) 3-6066 

27) 3-6067 Credited with kills during Iran-Iraq war.

28) 3-6069

29) 3-6073 Participated in Project Sky Hawk.

30) 3-6076

31) 3-6079 Reported kills include a Mig-21, a Mig-23 and three F1EQ.

32) 3-6080 (Used in propaganda film, flying condition.)

Total F-14AM Fleet = 32

 (possibly more in unflyable condition or being upgraded.)

Known Iranian MiG-29 numbers sourced from: (<— The Surprise.)

Famous Russian Aircraft: Mikoyan MiG-29/MiG-35 (page 600).

3-6102

3-6103

3-6104

3-6105

3-6106

3-6107

3-6108

3-6109

3-6110

3-6111

3-6112

3-6113

3-6114

3-6115

3-6116

3-6117

3-6118

3-6132 Mig-29 Ex Iraqi Air Force # 29032

3-6133 Mig-29 Ex-Iraqi Air Force # 29038

3-6301 Mig-29UB

3-6302 Mig-29UB

3-6303 Mig-29UB

3-6304 Mig-29UB Crashed on June 25th, 2016 with loss of crew.

3-6305 Mig-29UB

3-6306 Mig-29UB

3-6307 Mig-29UB Ex-Iraqi Air Force # 29004

Total MiG-29 Fleet = 26