Combat aircraft

PARTICIPANTS IN THE

‘DEVOTEES OF VELAYAT’S

TERRITORY’ EXERCISE

Type Unit Number attending Mission Serials

1.TFB Lashgari

MiG-29UB 11th TFS 1 Interceptor 3-6305

Boeing 707-3J9C Tanker Squadron 1 Support 5-8304

Boeing 747-131F Tanker Squadron 1 Tanker 5-8103

C-130E 11th TAS 1 Bombing 5-8507

C-130H 12th TAS 2 Support/air-drop 5-85385-8552

ELINT Boeing 707-3J9C ELINT/SIGINT Squadron 1 ELINT/SIGINT 5-8316

Falcon 50EX ELINT/SIGINT Squadron 2 EW 5-90125-9013

RC-130H ELINT/SIGINT Squadron 1 SIGINT 5-8554

2.TFB Fakkuri

F-5E 21st TFS 4 Close air support

3-7320

3-7324

3-7333

3-7342

F-5F 21st TFS 1 Close air support 3-7167

F-5E Saeghe I 23rd TFS 3 Close air support

3-7366

3-7367

3-7370

F-5F Saeghe II 23rd TFS 1 Close air support 3-7182

MiG-29UB 22nd TFS 2 Interceptor 3-63013-6303

3.TFB Hamadan/Nojeh

F-4E 31st TFS 5 Ground attack/interceptor

3-6566

3-6650

3-6652

3-6675

3-6687

RF-4E 31st TRS 1 Reconnaissance 2-6509

4.TFB Vahdati

F-5E 41st TFS 1 Ground attack 3-7307

F-5F 41st TFS 4 Ground attack

3-7155

3-7160

3-7166

3-7181

6.TFB Yassini

F-4E 61st TFS 3 Ground attack/interceptor

3-6525

3-6528

3-6646

7.TFB Dowran

Il-76TD 71st TAS 2 Support 5-82065-8210

C-130E 72nd TAS 1 Airdrop 5-8518

C-130H 72nd TAS 1 Support 5-8515

Su-24MK 72nd TFS 3 Ground attack

3-6809

3-6855

3-6861

Bell 214C SAR Group 1 SAR/medevac 4-9444

8.TFB Babaiee

F-14A 82nd TFS 6 Interceptor

3-6029

3-6030

3-6061

3-6067

3-6073

3-6078

F-7N F-7 CCT Squadron 2 Ground attack/interceptor 3-75013-7503

FT-7N F-7 CCT Squadron 3 Ground attack/interceptor

3-7705

3-7719

3-7725

Mohajer-3 UAV Squadron 2 Surveillance -

Mohajer-4 UAV Squadron 1 Surveillance -

Karrar UAV Squadron 2 Target drone -

9.TFB Abdol-Karimi

F-4E 91st TFS 4 Ground attack/interceptor

3-6543

3-6602

3-6649

3-6674

Clockwise from

top left: Live

Mk80 iron bombs

are loaded on

F-4E triple ejector

rails. Abbasi

The F-5s and

Saeghes fl ew with

19-tube LAU-3/A

launchers for

2.75in (70mm)

training rockets.

Mhosen

Ranginkaman

F-14A Tomcat

serial 3-6036

taxiing with

a pair of live

AIM-7E Sparrows

attached and live

AIM-9Js out of

shot. It was not

taking part in the

exercise but was

on QRA at Isfahan.

Hamed Ataei

61st TFS F-4Es

carry a distinctive

shark’s mouth.

This one totes

a captive-

carry TGM-65A

Maverick.

Ehsan Jazini

20mm

ammunition is

loaded into the

F-5E’s single-

barrel M39A2

cannon. Mhosen

Ranginkaman

air base at Anarak, a gunnery and EW

range near Isfahan. The night bombing

mission involved two Su-24MKs and six

F-4Es, with top cover from two F-14As

each armed with pairs of AIM-9J infra-

red-guided air-to-air missiles (AAMs)

and AIM-7E-2 semi-active radar-guided

AAMs. That night the F-4Es bombed

their targets using Mk81 iron bombs,

with the aid of  ares launched by other

F-4Es, while the Su-24MKs dropped

their 100kg (220lb) FAB-100 bombs

with the assistance of their on-board

targeting system equipped with an

infra-red camera.

All missions were carried out in a

jamming environment created by the

Falcon 50EX. On returning to their

bases, the TFB.3 F-4Es and the two

F-14As received fuel from KC-707 serial

5-8304, one of two  yable examples in

the  eet. This tanker was overhauled by

Iranian Aircraft Industries (IACI) and re-

entered IRIAF service in June 2017. After

refueling at an altitude of 997ft (304m)

the Tomcats returned to the exercise

area to provide top cover, or high-value

asset combat air patrol (HAVCAP), for

the KC-707 and a C-130H  ying from

TFB.1, the latter performing a night

cargo air-drop.

Second day

On November 1 the participants

used live air-to-air and air-to-ground

munitions including precision-guided

bombs and missiles, ‘dumb’ bombs,

rockets and guns. Targets were engaged

on the 1:1-scale air eld at Anarak. At

the same time, the EW Falcon provided

jamming while the EC-707 was again

engaged as an airborne command post.

Pilots of TFB.9’s F-4Es who had

employed precision-guided munitions

in previous exercises only carried out

toss-bombing and level-bombing using

Mk82 and Mk83 live dumb bombs,

while two F-4Es from TFB.6 and a third

example from TFB.3 launched three

AGM-65A Mavericks against three

moving targets. These objectives

been detected by IRIAF Mohajer-3

and Mohajer-4 UAVs  ying over the

exercise area. Another F-4E  ying from

TFB.3 dropped a GBU-78/B TV-guided

bomb on a large target. Thousands

of feet above the F-4Es, two F-14As

providing top cover were engaged in air

combat with two MiG-29UBs  ying as

aggressors.

As well as the Phantoms, two

Su-24MKs launched two Kh-25ML

http://www.combataircraft.net // February 2018 45

42-49 Iran Exercise C.indd 45 13/12/2017 14:41