Forum: Military Aircraft of the Cold War

I read they were flying them in an AWACS (and recon) roll due to the advanced radar and TCS system in the nose (and also probably because of a lack of fire control parts).

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At least some are flying indeed.

darkvarkguy wrote:

I read they were flying them in an AWACS (and recon) roll due to the advanced radar and TCS system in the nose (and also probably because of a lack of fire control parts).

Iranian F-14s were delivered without TCS and only had the ALQ-100 blister. some didn't even have that. The Shah was interested in TCS, but the revolution came before such a sale took place.

Where are they getting their spares?

slicktry wrote:

Where are they getting their spares?

Wherever they can. That's why when the US retired the Tomcat, they were scrapped so quickly and/or extensively gutted when flown into museums. The US has demonstrated a chronic inability to keep those parts out of their hands otherwise. In addition, either with outside help or totally on their own, they are manufacturing as many of their own spares as they can. You can do that when you have essentially unlimited labor.

Supposedly, only around 14 Tomcats remain in Iranian service. Would be interesting to know their weekly/monthly sortie generation, weapons capabilities, G-limitations, and how long until Iran pulls the plug on the program.

Not to mention the time between overhaul of their Pratt&Whitney TF30 engines. Which the U.S. Navy upgraded over the years to improve their reliability, while Iran (to my knowledge) doesn't have access to those upgrades. Such as a containment ring to try to prevent turbine blade failures from taking down the entire aircraft.

FlightDreamz wrote:

Not to mention the time between overhaul of their Pratt&Whitney TF30 engines. Which the U.S. Navy upgraded over the years to improve their reliability, while Iran (to my knowledge) doesn't have access to those upgrades. Such as a containment ring to try to prevent turbine blade failures from taking down the entire aircraft.

Don't sell the Iranians short. Yeah, they're stuck with those sorry TF30s (one of the reasons the US rapidly descended on any F-14B/D going to a museum, don't want an F110 to get away). But, they've repeatedly shown that they're more industrious and capable of difficult undertakings than we would have given them credit for. There are advantages, don't forget, to having essentially unlimited labor.

Let's face it, we have no way of knowing what they have in them at all. Who says they even still have the AWG-9? Who says they are using TF30s? We just don't know. I don't have any idea about the resources that Iran would have to maintain/upgrade Tomcats. They could be on the verge of falling apart and have a 0.8M and 2.5G limitation, or they could be fully capable with near F-14D equipment.

TC wrote:

The knowledge of Iranian military equipment actually goes both ways. The IRIAF does indeed have approx. 17 Tomcats which remain in flyable condition, but exactly in what condition, is unknown. However, stories and numbers of Iranian combat experience in the Tomcat have also been inflated and/or exaggerated over the years.

At various times, some will suffer from engine, avionics, hydraulic, or weapon problems, or any combintation thereof. Parts are continuously rebuilt, reverse-engineered, canned, swapped, and even jury-rigged.

Iran indeed has Tomcats, F-4s, F-5s, and Cobras which still fly. Flyable condition, however, is far from combat-capable condition. A four ship of Eagles, Vipers, or Raptors would eliminate their entire fleet of Tomcats. This is, assuming they could even get off of the ground before the initial strike. Suffice it to say, that the IRIAF as we know it would not survive the first day of the war.

I completely agree (and not just because you're a moderator)! Very Happy

I just don't understand this fear of the Iranian Air Force and their small fleet of ancient Tomcats and other 3rd gen jets. I love the cat as much as the next guy and hated to see such an iconic and sexy airplane retired from US service but come on. Those aren't USN driver's in those birds. I'd be surprised if they got any of them airborne on the first day of a shooting war.

When we have assets that take out parking ramps and runways before the initial strike even makes "Feet Dry", I don't feel very threatened by the thought of facing a small number of Cold War-era aircraft in questionable condition.

True, We can eliminate airfields before anyone knows we have assents in theater (B-2)

Indeed. Send in B-2s with JDAMs, B-52s with CALCMs and Submarines with Tomahawks and all air bases that the F-14's operate out of would have been destroyed by the time our own fighters enter in.

All this talk about how many are flyable and what you need to see is they could now have alot more. I think in 27 year they could have cracked the codes and added new weapons. Their not stupid. The tomcat could still be a beast with new weapons. TSFG

You're right, they're not stupid. I have no doubts, however, that it would be a turkey shoot (pun intended) and not to mention a good excuse to use our Raptors in combat. I don't care what weapons they might be able to hang from those ancient Tomcats, you can't shoot what you can't see.

Forum: Military Aircraft of the Cold War

Iran and their Tomcats (and U.S. surplus parts)