How Iran Kept its F-14 Tomcat Flying

[ArashImv]

Salam all,

I uploaded a new vlog on Iran's F-14 and the hunt for spare parts. Hope you like it and would appreciate any feedback.

If you have suggestions for other topics, please let me know.

Description:

Iran Military Vlog episode 4 discusses the IRIAF's endeavor to keep its fleet of F-14As flying. Under the Shah, Iran became the only country in the world authorized to purchase the interceptor aircraft as a joint US-Iranian project to deter habitual incursions by the Soviet Union. Following the Islamic Revolution in 1979, all maintenance support for the Tomcat ended and a sanctions regime denied Iran all access to spare parts. Because the F-14's sensitive maintenance knowledge was denied to Iran as part of the initial deal, the Tomcat was expected to remain non-operational. This vlog problematizes that enduring myth.

 

 

[baradar_jackson]

Nice work.

 

Grumman Corp. was in dire straits. Israel (who, no surprise, know how to manage funds, if you know what I mean) ordered the F-15. There is a reason why the F-14 was only ordered by one country. Grumman invited Mohammad Reza Shah onto a carrier to "show off" the F-14 to him; "mokhesho zadan" and thus, he ordered them. Each one of them costed as much as four F-15s.

 

And of course those military douches in the States have zero respect for Iranian ingenuity. To this day, they say that their sabotages prevented Iran from utilizing the F-14s during the war. Smug [somethings].

[David66]

^ Hello,

I will ignore your childish name calling and just deal with facts.

Iran and Israel had two different military requirements at the time.  Israel, air superiority over a relative small geographic area.  Iran, airspace control over a large geographic area.  For the Iranian mission, the F-14 Tomcat was the best choice at the time.  What made the F-14 special was not the airframe but it's AWG-9 radar system and Phoenix missiles.  The F-14 could control huge geographical areas and destroy aerial targets out to 100 miles.  The F-15 did not have this capability until deployment of the AIM-120 AMRAAM in the late 1980's.  Yes, the F-14 was expensive, but Mohammad Reza Shah chose the best available technology for the mission.

And, your last paragraph is quite perplexing.  The F-14 is credited with shooting down 160 Iraqi aircraft during the Iran - Iraq war while loosing 12 - 16 according to Wiki.  And, it is credited with repelling many aerial attacks by it's mere presence. 

In fact, probably the best F-14 pilot was Iranian, Brigadier General Jalil Zandi.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jalil_Zandi

All the Best,

David

[repenter-gone4awhile]

Irrelevant to the topic or any other points made here, but

This part of the wiki is utter horseraddish........:

 

Quote

While a major, he often clashed with his superior Lt. Col. Abbas Babaei,^[2] who was a poorly skilled F-14 pilot.

Saying Abbas Babaei was a poorly skilled F-14 pilot is like saying Pippen was a horrible basketball player just because Jordan was better....

 

 

On to the topic though. My grandfather whom passed away not long ago, was an electrical engineer at mehrabad aiport for the military. He himself said that they weren't allowed to look at or even ask questions about certain parts of the plane. The only thing they were allowed to "fix" was certain easy to fix electrical parts and maintain them.

[David66]

Hello,

Interesting info.  And, I am sorry to hear about the recent passing of your Grandfather.

On 4/16/2016 at 6:44 PM, baradar_jackson said:

And of course those military douches in the States have zero respect for Iranian ingenuity. To this day, they say that their sabotages prevented Iran from utilizing the F-14s during the war. Smug [somethings].

I didn't quite understand Baradar Jackson's above comment when I read it the first time.  But, in retrospect, I do agree.  Keeping the F-14's operational without factory support was/is a very impressive feat of engineering.  And, I am sure it surprised US military analyst and engineers from Grumman and Raytheon.  There were few military organizations at the time that could have kept such a complex weapons systems operational without factory support.  Kudos to your Grandfather.

Best Regards,

David

 

[repenter-gone4awhile]

Didn't US also shred their own F-14'z at some point in fear of some parts getting into Iranian hands? I think i read that somewhere, not sure if its correct. 

[David66]

^ Hello

Yes, that is what was reported.  Most military aircraft that are not going to be stored for possible future use are cut in half or quarters etc. then sold to s[Edited Out] metal dealers.  But, in the past, some industrious individuals have put together working aircraft from these parts.  To insure this did not happen and to insure no useful parts could be salvaged and sold to Iran the F-14's were not just cut up, they were shredded.

The may have stored some at Davis Montham Air Force Base.  I am not sure.  But, I think possibly all that is left are the F-14's on static displays.

All the Best,

David

[baradar_jackson]

On 5/6/2016 at 4:14 PM, repenter said:

Irrelevant to the topic or any other points made here, but

This part of the wiki is utter horseraddish........:

 

Saying Abbas Babaei was a poorly skilled F-14 pilot is like saying Pippen was a horrible basketball player just because Jordan was better....

 

 

Stupid Tom Cooper also disses Shahid Babaei in his stupid book (which I am sorry to say I used to like).

 

We all know the reason for this. Shahid Babaei kissed a certain someone's hand. They can't distort his image like they do with the other pilot guys. Like Shahid Doran who they hold up as a sort of anti-establishment shill. I have a friend who met with the shahid's wife and he told me that she HATES this way they try to portray him.

[King]

F-14 was a beast of a plane, one of if not the best looking fighter jet ever, was kind of large but had an excellent radar and air to air missile system.

Edited May 8, 2016 by King