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| IRIAF F-14AM ("Modernized") local variant painted in edged three-tone "Asia Minor II" camo pattern. Modernization claims consist of structural refurbishment, new ECM (electronic counter measures) system, new RWR (radar warning receiver), new INS (Inertial navigation system integrated with GPS), and Multifunction Liquid Crystal Displays for pilot and the WSO. Also the F-14AM can reportedly carry a wide range of US, Iranian, Chinese, and Russian Air-to-Air missiles |
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| Access panels open enabling service to (left to right): coolant, liquid oxygen and AN/AWG-9 radar electronics. |
Iranian experts have mounted new radar and weapons systems on the aircraft to optimize F14 fighter jets for future missions.
Deputy Commander of Air Force 8th Air Base Colonel Asqar Shafiyee told FNA on Sunday that Iran has mounted its hi-tech home-made radar system on its F14 fighters.
He added that the new radars are under durability tests.
"We have equipped the F14 fighters with air-to-ground missiles and with bombing capability to prepare the fighter for assault missions" Pilot Shafiyee added.
Iran still operates some Tomcats that are being modernized to extend their operative life. Domestic upgrades include
- avionics,
- air to air missiles adapted to the aircraft’s fire control system
- R-73E,
- AIM-54A+ “Fakkur”,
- AIM-54A,
- AIM-7E and
- AIM-9J.
Background
IRIAF F-14 Tomcat in CombatGrumman F-14 Tomcat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The sole foreign customer for the Tomcat was the Imperial Iranian Air Force, during the reign of the last Shah (King) of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In the early 1970s, the Imperial Iranian Air Force (IIAF) was searching for an advanced fighter, specifically one capable of intercepting Soviet MiG-25 reconnaissance flights. After a visit of U.S. President Richard Nixon to Iran in 1972, during which Iran was offered the latest in American military technology, the IIAF narrowed its choice between the F-14 Tomcat or the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle. Grumman Corporation arranged a competitive demonstration of the Eagle against the Tomcat before the Shah, and in January 1974, Iran ordered 30 F-14s and 424 AIM-54 Phoenix missiles, initiating Project Persian King, worth US$300 million. A few months later, this order was increased to a total of 80 Tomcats and 714 Phoenix missiles as well as spare parts and replacement engines for 10 years, complete armament package, and support infrastructure (including construction of the Khatami Air Base near Esfahan).
The first F-14 arrived in January 1976, modified only by the removal of classified avionics components, but fitted with the TF-30-414 engines. The following year 12 more were delivered. Meanwhile, training of the first groups of Iranian crews by the U.S. Navy, was underway in the USA; and one of these conducted a successful shoot-down with a Phoenix missile of a target drone flying at 50,000 ft (15 km).
Following the overthrow of the Shah in 1979, the air force was renamed the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) and the post-revolution interim government of Iran canceled most Western arms orders. In 1980, an Iranian F-14 shot down an Iraqi Mil Mi-25 helicopter for its first air-to-air kill during the Iran–Iraq War.[56]
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