The F-15 Eagle in Iranian Service

[+allenjb42]

Looking for an evental replacement for their extensive F-4 Phantom fleet, Iran was an early partner (and major finacier) of the development of the F-15. The Imperial Iranian air Force was the first overseas customer for the F-15 in 1973, beating even those loyal allies Israel and Japan.

The IIAF purchased extensive numbers of both single- and two-seat versions, with the F-15As (soon upgraded to F-15Cs) being primarily operated in the air to air role, and the F-15B/D versions taking the the strike, CAS, SEAD and other air to ground roles.

The F-15C squadrons had a friendly rivalry with the F-14A Tomcat squadrons over who could make the most intercepts of Soviet MiG-25 overflights, and gained the type's first kills, shooting down 2 Iraqi MiG-21s for no loss in a brief clash over disputed Shatt-al-Arab waterway soon after coming into service. 

The Iranians also took delivery of a number of the new FAST packs and those F-15Ds permanently fitted with them were termed the F-15D+

With the revolution in 1979 and the subsequent war with Iraq the plans for shelving the F-4s were dropped and as attrition of all types took it's toll, both single and dual seater F-15 versions of the renamed IRIAF fought hard in all of the roles given to them.

the F-15D+ was especially sought after for SEAD missions and long range strikes deep into Iraqi territory, and ultimately became legendary in Iranian media and culture after it's part in the precision strike on the H3 airfield complex. 

As the Iranian F-15 fleet soldiered on into the 1990s and then the new century with international sanctions continuing to bite, a combination of Iranian espionage against US companies (leveraging the relationships between Iranian and US aerospace engineers going back to before the revolution), component purchases from China, a daring operation by Iranian Special Forces to recover the wreckage of a USAF F-15E downed over Iraq during OIF, and the defection of a Saudi pilot with his F-15S (and the body of his WSO, killed in his seat by the pilot as he leaned over to help strap the WSO in) enabled the Iranians to replicate, in looks if not full capability, the sensor/targetting pods of the F-15E Strike Eagle on their F-15D+ models. The upgraded aircraft were termed F-15D++ or 'double plus'..

In the late 2010s and into the 2020s the fleet was further upgraded with additional ECM and weapons capabilities and, like the rest of the IRIAF's combat aircraft, received a new grey camouflage scheme...

At the time of writing the IRIAF F-15 fleet continues to serve, and negotiations with both China and Russia for it's relacement by a package of either J-10/J-16/J-20 or Su-30/Su-35/Su-57 respectively are still ongoing...

[Spinners]

Shar-p!

[bazillius]

Funny bit this Iranian camo fits F-15. it looks good. Interesting story fiction.

[+daddyairplanes]

wickedly awesome.

the historian /alt history purist in me has a few nitpicks on the story but the skins are great

[bazillius]

2 hours ago, daddyairplanes said:

wickedly awesome.

the historian /alt history purist in me has a few nitpicks on the story

Why do not to tell how it really was I like fiction hostory disussions, ha-ha

[+daddyairplanes]

true, but a first rule of alt history is to make the initial change as minor as possible

in this case, i would've had the Eagle selected over the Tomcat rather than both serve together

also the C/Ds wouldve been coming online right about the time of the revolution and probably wouldnt have been delivered. but one could go around that saying the FAST packs were originally developed for the IIAF, then later carried over to the USAF C models and say that some of those were delivered

again, its great skin work and i know im counting ficitous rivets.

[+allenjb42]

I did debate on whether or not to eliminate the  F-14 from the story, but I figured that with huge oil money spending power the Shah may have opted to hedge his bets and go for the long range AIM-54 advantage of the F-14 as a counter the MiG-25 overflights as in real life. However, the Tomcat's radar/missile package plus the variable geometry wings in a fighter were largely new technology, so the F-15s were a backup in case that didn't work out and, of course, were primarily purchased with an eye on replacing the F-4 fleet.  

As to timelines on when the various models were delivered, maybe the massive Iranian investment enabled the F-15 development programme to be more accelerated than in reality,  such that the C/D models came on-stream a little earlier than 1979.

Hope that satisfies any alt-history anomalies   

[+daddyairplanes]

little side note on the F-14/F-15 flyoff: the Tomcat team cheated

the F-15 went first. while they were doing their demo the Tomcat team burnt off fuel at high engine settings so that when they took off they only had enough in the tanks for the demonstration plus about 300 lbs. it made them several tons lighter than the F-15 and made them seem much more sporty than the Eagle

the Eagle was more mature and the better technical pick for their need. but the Tomcat/Phoenix potential, mixed with some superior showmanship, won the day

[Viggen]

Just goes to show the old Iranian desert pattern (Was it called Asia Minor?) works on anything!

[bazillius]

2 hours ago, daddyairplanes said:

true, but a first rule of alt history is to make the initial change as minor as possiblein this case, i would've had the Eagle selected over the Tomcat rather than both serve together

But according to the rules for making minimal changes, the F-14 should remain. Well, i beleive nobody want delete all F-14s from the mod folder. They are so beautiful in Iranian camouflage!  Besides, what should we do with all those Hawk missiles taped to the Tomcats? Nooo, I can't exclude Tomcats

[+daddyairplanes]

8 minutes ago, bazillius said:

But according to the rules for making minimal changes, the F-14 should remain

not change in your mods folders

the simplest, most minor alteration to the timeline would be to have the Shah pick the Eagle over the Tomcat.  in reality not even the Shah's pockets were that deep

but this is Allen's world, and in it those pockets were deep enough. not how i'd have gone, but it is how he went

[bazillius]

2 hours ago, daddyairplanes said:

Eagle

Well, we need to write a story based on what we have in the mod folder! And don’t just take it from your head!