Why Does Iran Still Fly the F-14 Tomcat?

The fourth-generation Grumman F-14 Tomcat is one of the most famous American-made jet fighter aircraft of all time, thanks to both the “Top Gun” fictitious film franchise and the venerable warbird’s real-world historical combat performance.

(NOTE: In 1994, Grumman Aerospace Corporation merged with Northrop Corporation to form Northrop Grumman.)

So, imagine the tremendous irony that one of the last three remaining users of the Tomcat is one of the worst enemies of the United States, that being Iran, more specifically the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF), which dubs America as “The Great Satan.”

Iranian-Owned F-14 Initial History and Specifications

According to the World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft, the IRIAF has a total of twenty-six Tomcats, specifically the original F-14A variant, which made her maiden flight on December 21, 1970. The planes were sold to Iran when it was still under the rule of Mohammed Reza Pahlavi (October 26, 1919-July 27, 1980). Mohammed Reza Shah was a staunch ally of both the United States and Israel, and the order for the Tomcats was placed in January 1974; deliveries commenced in January 1976 (when Gerald R. Ford was the U.S. president). 

The Why

So why does the IRIAF still have the battle-proven but now oh-so-antiquated Tomcat in its fleet? (Ditto for the third-generation McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II?) Well, a reason is the fact that Iran has been an international pariah ever since the Iranian Revolution of 1979 overthrew the shah and installed an Islamist and anti-American regime headed by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (May 17, 1900-June 3, 1989) as supreme leader.

Since then, as a state sponsor of terrorism, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been hobbled by sanctions that make it difficult for Tehran to acquire new systems as well as spare parts for existing systems.

Be that as it may, the Iranians have used their now-ancient F-14s quite effectively in combat. The warbird has an all-time air-to-air kill ratio of 135:4 according to MiGFLUG, and the overwhelming majority of those victories were scored not by U.S. Navy Tomcat drivers (sorry, Maverick!), but rather by the IRIAF during the Iran-Iraq War (September 22, 1980-August 20, 1988).

The Way Forward?

As for the prospect of Iran finding a replacement for both its F-14 and F-4 fleets (as well as the Soviet-designed fourth-generation MiG-29 “Fulcrum”), well … the Russians are trying to help them out of that jam, in accordance with Vladimir Putin’s new “axis of evil” with Iran, China, and North Korea, in the form of sales of the Sukhoi Su-35 “Super Flanker.” According to Aero-News Journal, a deal was inked between Tehran and Moscow back in November 2023; this deal would have also included Mi-28 attack helicopters and potentially the S-400 air defense system).

However, that deal has hit a snag. Back on April 21, 2024, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty announced that the Iranian government began denying the previous report:

“Reports in the Iranian media that the country is to receive the latest generation of aircraft in the next few days are incorrect, according to the Fararu news website. The media had referred to a report by the SNN news agency, which is close to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The agency itself denied the report on its Telegram page after consulting with the Defense Ministry, which last year announced that Iran had acquired Mi-28H combat helicopters and [Yakovlev] Yak-130s from Russia in addition to the SU-35 fighter jets.”

To make matters more confusing, the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida had reported the previous week that Iran had indeed already received some of the Su-35s roughly a year prior but was unable to operate them due to a dearth of spare parts. Evidently, the Iranian Defense Ministry is a prime example of the proverbial left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing.

About the Author

Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor for National Security Journal (NSJ). He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He has also been published in The Daily Torch, The Journal of Intelligence and Cyber Security, and Simple Flying. Last but not least, he is a Companion of the Order of theNaval Order of the United States (NOUS).

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