there in comparison to that back at
the 8th TFB.
The 62nd TFS was disbanded in 2007
with six airworthy F-14As on strength
— serials 3-6019, 3-6021, 3-6025, 3-6026,
3-6030 and 3-6058. The remaining jets
were grounded due to excessive
corrosion in their landing gear, control
surfaces and electrical components. It
spurred a further round of IACI
overhauls; serials 3-6036 and 3-6037 are
known to have been handled by IACI
between 2007 and 2011.
According to the IRIAF’s deputy
director of operations, just 16 of the
remaining 63 Tomcats assigned to the
62nd and 82nd TFS and the 83rd TTS(Tactical Training Squadron) were
operational in 2006. Just five of them
were fully mission-capable. Six more jets
were in overhaul — three with IACI and
three at the 8th TFB’s Tomcat overhaul
center — while 29 were declared as
NORS (not operational ready for supply).
The remaining 12 were all but dead and
were being cannibalized for spares.Renewed fortunes
It was around the same time that the US
Navy was getting out of the Tomcat
business. As VF-31 ‘Tomcatters’ and
VF-213 ‘Blacklions’ were parking their
last F-14Ds in September 2006, several
Iran-linked companies began procuringF-14 spares from storage facilities. Many
of the valuable parts reached Iran.
Indeed, in January 2007 the US Congress
ratified a bill to prohibit direct and
indirect sales of F-14 spares. In order to
prevent further items from falling into
Iranian hands it was ordered that all
stored Tomcats should be scrapped. A
shredding machine cut 154 aircraft into
small pieces by August 2009, leaving
just a handful of ex-US Navy Tomcats
in museums.
However, Iran was already well under
way with the restoration of grounded
Tomcats. New spares enabled IACI to
complete the overhauls of serial 3-6020
in March 2008, 3-6002 in June 2008,IACI is only responsible for airframe and engine overhauls; anything related
to avionics and armament falls to the experts at Isfahan. Therefore, all
Tomcats overhauled in Tehran will emerge with their AN/AWG-9 radars untouched
Bottom: F-14A
3-6008 inside its
shelter at Isfahan.
Babak Taghvaee
Below: An
impressive line of
seven Tomcats for
the Tehran parade
of 2008. The
aircraft comprise
3-6021 (now
stored), 3-6062
(lost January 26,
2012), 3-6078
(active), 3-6045
(active), 3-6033
(stored), 3-6041
(under overhaul)
and 3-6058
(stored).
Rahim SharafiThe famous F-14A 3-6002, which
belly-landed at Isfahan in June
2008, back in action after being
repaired. Keyvan TavakkoliTYPE REPORT // IRANIAN F-14A
46 June 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net
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