Combat aircraft

Recent action

On September 5 and 6, 2015, the IRIAF

held the  fth instalment of its ‘Devotees

of Velayat’s Territory’ exercise at Isfahan.

The  rst day saw F-14A 3-6061  ying

combat air patrols and receiving fuel

from a KC-707 tanker, while 3-6036

conducted dissimilar air combat training

(DACT) with a MiG-29UB.

In October 2016, six F-14s were among

the 60 participants,  ying top cover

armed with AIM-9Js and AIM-7Es as well

as escorting strike packages. In addition,

at least four of F-14A pilots had the

chance to  re live AIM-9J Sidewinders

and AIM-7E Sparrows at Karrar target

drones, marking the  rst time in a

decade that such actions had been

undertaken.

In the face of international sanctions,

the F-14 has soldiered on and still

makes a useful contribution to Iranian

air defense. While Iranian ingenuity

has led to the innovative use of

limited upgrades, it has also been able

to overcome fatigue concerns,

especially with the TF30-P-414A

turbofan engines. It has used its

engineers to good e ect to redesign

the compressor and turbine blades on

the engines to prevent compressor

stalls, which were common in

low-thrust and low-speed regimes.

With the improved engines, upgraded

avionics and armament system as well

as life-extended airframes, these

Tomcats look set to remain in active

duty with the IRIAF until possibly the

mid-2030s.

Top: 3-6014

landing at

Mehrabad

International

Airport, Tehran.

The aircraft

is currently

grounded pending

overhaul.

Babak Taghvaee

Above right: A

vic formation of

F-14As (3-6073,

3-6010 and

3-6063) during

the Military Day

parade in 2017.

Keyvan Tavakkoli

Right: An

impressive,

if somewhat

weathered,

cocktail of

weapons

— AIM-54A,

AIM-7E-2 and

AIM-9J air-to-air

missiles on an

alert F-14A of

the 81st Tactical

Fighter Squadron

at Isfahan in

April 2014.

Keyvan Tavakkoli

http://www.combataircraft.net // June 2018 49

44-51 IRIAF F-14 C.indd 49 19/04/2018 15:40