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Gr.Viper

So, Iranian Tomcats can fly after all

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RIP to the brave crew - those F-14s should be in a museum!

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Aviators around the world no matter what side deserve respect. RIP.

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How well could these jets have been serviced? The certainly could not get parts from the US (legally). Spit and bailing wire will only get you so far with something like an F-14.

 

Agree with Dave. Condolenses to the families. Sad to see any pilot go down.

Edited by DoctorQuest

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RIP to the crew as to the Tomcats there are probably birds out there in worse shape... But to the Iranians keeping the Tomcats airborne is a priority issue...

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But to the Iranians keeping the Tomcats airborne is a priority issue...

Yes, the area where it happened seems to be in the province with the nuclear reactor.

 

The guys who fly them (30 years without manufacturer support?) must have incredible guts and sense of duty.

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RIP to the crew! :salute:

 

Nowadays IRIAF is a sort of museum with Tigers, F-14s, Mirages F-1EQ, etc...

 

I've read that Iran used with success the Tomcats during 80's but I don't know if this is the truth!

 

Coupi

Edited by Coupi

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what Dave said,

 

RIP :salute:

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RIP to the crew! :salute:

 

Nowadays IRIAF is a sort of museum with Tigers, F-14s, Mirages F-1EQ, etc...

 

I've read that Iran used with success the Tomcats during 80's but I don't know if this is the truth!

 

Coupi

Yes they used the Tomcats in the 80's against the Iraqi Air Force with such effectivness that the Iraqi's would not come anywhere near if they picked up the AWG-9 signals some of the Iranian Jets launched without full operating Radar systems and only had Sidewinders such was the effectivness of the Jet...

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Article on Iran's Air Force

 

Don't under estimate Iran's Gov't. If they can build a nuclear reactor they certainly can maintain thier fleet of F-14 and other planes.

Edited by MAKO69
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I respect this Iranian aircrew as I will those that will get their brave asses flamed by the USAF and USN <IF> push comes to shove in the days ahead too.

 

SA-LUTE.

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Article on Iran's Air Force

 

Don't under estimate Iran's Gov't. If they can build a nuclear reactor they certainly can maintain thier fleet of F-14 and other planes.

Surely, IRIAF, USAF, and all of air forces in the World including Vatican's Seraphs, may now use the same Chinese-built cheap junk spare parts! :no:

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Surely, IRIAF, USAF, and all of air forces in the World including Vatican's Seraphs, may now use the same Chinese-built cheap junk spare parts! :no:

 

They've been cannibalising and manufacturing spares for a long time to keep the lion's share airworthy, but their biggest problem is their inability to manufacture all the components, particularly engines. The Saeqeh and Azarakhsh programmes have done a lot towards advancing Iranian knowledge in developing a capable aircraft manufacturing industry and probably has done more to keep the remaining 25 Tomcats and 60+ Phantoms in the air (and in the Phantom's case, incrementally upgraded) than anything else. But I do keep seeing these articles claiming the IRIAF has been covertly sourcing F-14 spares through several sources including Israel as recently as 2001, maybe even later which is odd considering...

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Easy as sending one plane to China for some inverse engineering, and there you have your spare parts.While most of their military prowess are mainly badly photoshoped images and fantasy claims targeted for internal consumption rather than international deterrence, the IRIAF´s capability to keep the tomcat operational is nothing to underestimate.To my knowledge, Tomcats are not falling from the sky every year, and operational accidents happens in every air force.Now, what should be under the looking glass is the military value of tomcats in current world´s air warfare, which, i personally, doubt very much, they pose a real threat..other than a fast AWACS.

R.I.P. to the aviators who lost their lives, no doubt, doing what they loved most, flying...regardless of their nationality.

 

Best regards

 

Prowler

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Easy as sending one plane to China for some inverse engineering, and there you have your spare parts.While most of their military prowess are mainly badly photoshoped images and fantasy claims targeted for internal consumption rather than international deterrence, the IRIAF´s capability to keep the tomcat operational is nothing to underestimate.To my knowledge, Tomcats are not falling from the sky every year, and operational accidents happens in every air force.Now, what should be under the looking glass is the military value of tomcats in current world´s air warfare, which, i personally, doubt very much, they pose a real threat..other than a fast AWACS.

R.I.P. to the aviators who lost their lives, no doubt, doing what they loved most, flying...regardless of their nationality.

 

Best regards

 

Prowler

 

Even China who is trying to show the world how developed they are have difficulty producing a modern fighter engine. They've been working on their WS-6 forever and a day and so far the its just going to be an afterburning turbofan with a low hour rework. Not very advanced at all considering they've only just started replacing all the AL-31s they've been buying from Russia.

 

Iran has an ability to make things happen-a lot of their projected ability is subterfuge- 10 tomcats in the air aren't anything close to 10 battle ready tomcats. They do have an unmatched ability to rework and locally manufacture whatever possible. If anything conventional ever happened with them, I believe their F-14s would be limited to Sparrow shots at best as whatever AIM-54s they could make work are way to old to be anything near reliable, and the MIM-23 Hawk conversion AAM has a horrible hit rate- as far as the public knows anyway.

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Iran has an ability to make things happen-a lot of their projected ability is subterfuge- 10 tomcats in the air aren't anything close to 10 battle ready tomcats. They do have an unmatched ability to rework and locally manufacture whatever possible. If anything conventional ever happened with them, I believe their F-14s would be limited to Sparrow shots at best as whatever AIM-54s they could make work are way to old to be anything near reliable, and the MIM-23 Hawk conversion AAM has a horrible hit rate- as far as the public knows anyway

 

Exactly my point! cheers!

 

Prowler

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as Dave said, it doesn't matter where they came from

they died doing something they probably loved and honored which some of us can only wish we could do

that's why they deserve our respect

 

<S>

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as Dave said, it doesn't matter where they came from

they died doing something they probably loved and honored which some of us can only wish we could do

that's why they deserve our respect

 

<S>

"The first guy who painted a roundel on a plane was a bastard."

( A Tempest pilot, quoted by P. Clostermann in his book "The big show" )

:salute:

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I'm sure they have a lot more flying Tomcats than they have fighting Tomcats. Just because the thing can take off and act like a 2-man business jet doesn't mean it's survivable against an enemy. Do the RWRs still work? Are they updated to handle modern threat radars? Do the radars work right if at all? Without new supplies, how old an AAM can you have and still be usable? Will a 30 yr-old Sparrow or Sidewinder do anything more than threaten the launching aircraft? How many of those missiles did they get on the black market that might be in better shape?

 

In short, a flypast of F-14s only proves they're airworthy, not that they're still a threat.

 

 

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Do the RWRs still work? Are they updated to handle modern threat radars?

 

they probably don't detect anything othe than 70's and 80's threats (if they are the same than those delivered in the 70's)

Edited by Murphy'S

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Not too long ago, our police dismantled an illegal factory near Madrid making spare parts for the Iranian Tomcats. They keep trying to keep the aircraft serviceable, no matter how.

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Interesting that it was in Spain. Wouldn't have guessed that.

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