This image: A 72nd
TFS Su-24MK gets
airborne toting
two Kh-25MT
TV-guided missiles.
Hamed Ataei
Below left to right:
A young F-4E
pilot completes
paperwork prior to
heading out to drop
a live Mk80 slick
bomb.
Akbar Tavakkoli
Captive-carry
TGM-65A
Mavericks enabled
F-4E crews to
practise AGM-65A
launches.
Ehsan Jazini
Recently
overhauled F-7N
3-7503 taxies out
laden with four
LAU-3/A rocket
launchers and
2.75in (70mm)
rockets. Abbasi
An F-5F is prepped
for a mission to
fi re 2.75in rockets.
Hamed Ataeilaser-guided missiles at their targets.
Then two F-5E Saeghes, two F-5E/Fs,
and two FT-7Ns dropped Mk83 bombs
on their objectives. After these bombing
missions, two F-7Ns, two F-5E/Fs, an
F-5E Saeghe and an F-5F Saeghe II, each
armed with two to four LAU-3A rocket
launchers red a total of 171 2.75in
(70mm) rockets in two passes. They
returned and carried out gun stra ng
on ground targets during another
two passes.
Two Karrar targets were launched from
a nearby drone air eld. They were shot
down by two AIM-7E-2 AAMs launched
by an F-4E and an F-14A. Meanwhile,
F-5F serial 3-7167 launched a TDU-11/B
infra-red target that was downed by an
R-73E (AA-11 ‘Archer’) short-range AAM,
red by the pilot of MiG-29UB serial
3-6306 over the Anarak range.
Under the top cover of two more
F-14As, each armed with two AIM-9Js
and two AIM-7E-2s, three C-130E/Hs
conducted their missions. C-130E serial
5-8507 ying from TFB.1 Lashgari at
Mehrabad International Airport, Tehran,
dropped two Mk84 2,000lb (907kg)
unguided bombs on ghting positions
and hideouts belonging to imaginary
terrorists of the so-called Islamic State
(IS). Then C-130H serial 5-8552 operating
from Tehran air-dropped cargo including
weapons and food supplies. Airborne
commandos from the Islamic Republic
of Iran Army Ground Forces’ 55th
Airborne Brigade rounded proceedings
o by using a C-130E ying from TFB.7
Dowran at Shiraz for a parachute jump.
After the exercise, four F-14As received
fuel from KC-707 serial 5-8304, and two
of the Tomcats were used to provide
HAVCAP for KC-747 serial 5-8103, which
in turn refueled four F-4Es from TFB.3
on their return to their home base
at Hamedan. The other two Tomcatshttp://www.combataircraft.net // February 2018 47
42-49 Iran Exercise C.indd 47 13/12/2017 14:41