US Government Bans F-14 parts for Iran

In an effort to prevent Iran from keeping its F-14's in the air the US government is banning all sales of F-14 parts, but will still allow airframes to go to museums.

WASHINGTON - The House took steps Thursday to make it harder for Iran to acquire parts for its aging F-14 fighter jets, voting to ban the Pentagon from selling leftover spares from its retired Tomcat fleet to anyone but museums.

Originally a separate measure called the "Stop Arming Iran Act," the ban was added to a $646 billion bill to fund the military in the budget year that starts Oct. 1. The House approved the legislation Thursday. A Senate vote is still needed.
F-14 Ban

Bans like this time has been announced several times in past time, but seem to be never executed well.

[edit on 17-5-2007 by emile]

I wonder how long it will be until we hear about a new museum popping up that's doing several f14 restorations?

hopefully the tomcats that go to museams are just shells only.
and hopefully a cleaning crew cant come in and clean parts off the tomcat.
just use A models only and if any pieces where to go missing it would be
obvious.


[edit on 18-5-2007 by Jezza]

Well you would have to wonder why Iran hasn't reverse engineered F-14 parts by now its not like the F-14 is a new aircraft. Iran could also reduce the number of F-14 in service and canabilize existing aircraft. So the ban is only effective if Iran hasn't figured out how to reverse engineer the F-14.

Originally posted by xpert11
Well you would have to wonder why Iran hasn't reverse engineered F-14 parts by now its not like the F-14 is a new aircraft. Iran could also reduce the number of F-14 in service and canabilize existing aircraft. So the ban is only effective if Iran hasn't figured out how to reverse engineer the F-14.

Actually the Iranian F-14s underwent an upgrade programme fairly recently with the help of Russian backing.

Iran isnt as dependant on these parts from the US as people would like to think.

Originally posted by Jezza
hopefully the tomcats that go to museams are just shells only.
and hopefully a cleaning crew cant come in and clean parts off the tomcat.
just use A models only and if any pieces where to go missing it would be
obvious.


[edit on 18-5-2007 by Jezza]

Any aircraft on static display or in a museum has all the usable parts removed. They take the parts for either any flying birds or to put into the giant parts storage area. They strip them way down before they allow them to be put on display.

As Zaphod said, most static displays are simply hulks with all avionics all but gone. I doubt that any could be put back into flying shape even with an unlimited budget.

Many SR-71 in museums had thier wings cut to fit on trasports and put back together for display. Aicraft like that woul dnever take off again no matter how well they re attach the wings.

According to the artlice there are thousands of parts that are common between the F-14 and other aircraft so IMHO that part is pointless but if it makes them sleep better than what the heck.

Also the Iraninas have been adept at reverse enginnering parts wheen the need arises so I think they may have more F-14 flying that we might think.

Just to add, Iran has been cannibalizing it's F-14 parts for a while now which is why they have only a fraction of the original buy still flying. Still though, they may be able to fit non western systems on it and produce some locally but without the original tools, resources, know how, manufacturing systems and techniques it is difficult to reverse engineer an entire airplane. There is only so much fatigue the F-14 can take before it literally falls apart (or takes an insane amount of man hours per flight hours to fix). I suspect Iran rarely fly's them (unless they have to) for this very reason.

they use russian engines and avionics - the airframe may well look like an F14 but i bet good money that its russian inside - and they have far more flying than anyone thinks

Yeah this debate cropped up on an aviation forum where i reside and there were Iranian members. They fly a lot of F-14 sorties still. The avionics are still Western including the Hughes radar targeting system for their Phoenix missiles.

Don't forget they gained a huge stockpile in the Iran arms for contra deals as a bribe for releasing the US embassy hostages.

The Iranian F-14 threat is minimal when compared to any US force application scenerio against the Iranian Air Force.

Originally posted by Seekerof
The Iranian F-14 threat is minimal when compared to any US force application scenerio against the Iranian Air Force.

Even most of Iran's neighbors have little to fear from their F-14 threat. Besides having equal, and in most cases superior fighters, they also have highly capable pilots and support systems, unlike Iraq in the 80's...



[edit on 27-5-2007 by WestPoint23]

its a near well known fact that the iranians use them in the shepard and sheep role - the RAF do(or rather can do) the same thing with Tornado and hawk groups.


so instead of thinking -F-15/ F-18 against tomcat - you should be thinking , where has the squadron of F-5`s and Shaqfah gone that the F-14 is directing?

The Iranian do like to use the F-14 in a "mini-AWACS" role but against a well equipped force which actually has AWACS and very capable fighters/pilots/tactics such use would be futile. Any increased level of SA which the F-14's might be able to provide the F-5's etc... will not be enough to overcome a superior force. Both the F-14 and F-5 are highly visable platforms and will be seen by AEW systems from a good distance, giving enough SA to dictate the terms...

As of 2000 it was estimated that only 40 of the 132 F-4Ds, 177 F-4Es and 16 RF-4E. Phantoms delivered before 1979 remained in service. At that time, approximately 45 of the 169 F-5E/Fs delivered are still flying, while perhaps 20 F-14A Tomcats of the 79 initially delivered were airworthy. Another 30 F-4s, 30 F-5s and 35 F-14s have been cannibalized for spare parts. One report suggested that the IRIAF can get no more than seven F-14s airborne at any one time. Iran claims to have fitted F-14s with I-Hawk missiles adapted to the air-to-air role.

www.globalsecurity.org...

Anyway, I can positively confirm that IRIAF F-14s (armed with AIM-54s too) were encountered over the Persian Gulf by USN F-14s several times in winter and spring 2005. Also, AIM-54-armed Iranian F-14s are still very much on threat-lists of any decent Western air force - so also the USAF, USN, and the USMC.

Now, painting somebody with radar, or obtaining a lock-on, as you certainly know, is considered an aggressive act - especially when one is flying fighters with a reach of an F-14. But, there were other kinds of "confrontations".

www.tomcat-sunset.org...

Although hard-pressed to maintain their fleet of American-built fighters, Iranian ground crews kept as many as 60 Tomcats mission capable throughout much of the war, despite a lack of parts, normal attrition, and dwindling
supplies of material and munitions. Iranian F-14 crews clashed repeatedly with Iraqi MiGs and French Mirage F-Is as the Iraqis attacked Iranian oil platforms and storage facilities. The fact that many of these highly skilled, aggressive Iranian crews had been in prison after the revolution makes their story all the more remarkable. These crews are responsible for the only kills scored by the highly touted Phoenix missile, which, along with the AWG-9 nose-mounted radar, was at the heart of the F14's weapons system. Throughout the book, the Tomcat's capabilities are highlighted in a way not seen in accounts of U.S. Navy operations and are nearly too much to be believed. Iraqi MiG-21 and MiG-23 pilots didn't stand a chance against the big American swing-wing fighter. The equally large and powerful MiG-25-some flown by Soviet instructor pilots-had to rely on its eye-watering speed to disengage from a flight of IRIAF Tomcats.

IRIAF Tomcats scored the F-14's first kills a full year before the U.S. Navy's Fighter Squadron 41 Libyan MiG killers, and if the book is to be believed, went on to gain more than 150 victories against the Iraqis. According to the list of individual kills in the book's appendices, there appear to be two or three IRIAF F-14 aces, one of whom scored at least nine confirmed kills.

This book's photos and text abound with surprising details and accounts little known in the Western press, which the authors say was sadly misinformed as to the status and operational readiness of the IRIAF's Tomcat fleet. One unfortunately confusing aspect of the text is the authors' assertion that the names of the pilots whose experiences are featured in the text are not their true identities. Thus, as we read about a particular pilot's success or consult the appendices for details on Tomcat kills, we wonder who the Iranian aviator really was. However, I have since learned that the names given in the list of kills are the actual names. A little confusing, but at least we have some idea of these successful crews' identities.

This work is an entertaining look at an air force and arena that have seldom seen any in-depth exposure.

[Author Affiliation]
By Cdr. Peter B. Mersky, USNR (Ret.)

www.acig.org...

It does Tom Cooper and Farhad Bishop a disservice to compare this book to any other on the aerial aspects of the Iran-Iraq War. The aircraft enthusiast community is a competitive and often bitchy environment, but an attempt to detract from this book should be treated with the contempt it deserves.

The book is meticulous yet written with great passion. Literally dozens of forgotten episodes of this fascinating air war are brought to light for the first time. Only serious investigative research, including exclusive primary evidence gathered during in-country interviews, can generate the level of detail and colour contained in this book. Cooper and Bishop maintain an enviable contact book that many aviation journalists can only dream of. In a profession of bluffers, they are real experts. This is the reason for much of the criticism they face.

I can attest that the book is slowly getting read and recommended onwards amongst military and regional specialists in Washington and throughout the US military community. The reason is obvious. The book shows, in detail, how developing world countries (and particularly Iran) can use the higghest levels of military technology and even improve on their employment through local innovation. If you were wowed by laser-guided bombs and electronic warfare in the wee hours of 17 January 1991, then spare a thought for those who were fighting that kind of war from 1980-1988. This is what Cooper and Bishop have so expertly done.

Dr Michael Knights
Washington Institute for Near East Policy

www.amazon.com...

Here some original takes from the large-scale air-naval exercise held by IRIAS (Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces), last December (2005).

Of special interest are two places, one showing a row of IRIAF F-14s rolling for take off, and another (somewhere around minute 2:06), showing four AIM-54s mounted bellow a Tomcat:

www.iribnews.ir...

The Iranians got a fleet of about 80 Tomcats back in the day and they were going to manufacture F-16's and Cobra's locally. The planes were extensive used in the Iran-Iraq war ( Iran did not use them offensively in over border operations) for strategic defense and according to at least some sources they were shooting down Iraqi planes on quite regular basis.

We know that third parties have been selling them vital parts for a long time but we also know that their personal were trained how to maintain and operate such a large fleet of aircraft and that they received all the technical specifications on how to manufacture engines and the like. Based on visual information alone Iran can still operate at least two dozen f-14's on a given day and i would not be surprised if they still have as many as two thirds of those F-14's in mission capable conditions. They were after all not flying them from carriers ( a precarious and airframe destroying business on the best of days) and have a relatively large core of experienced pilots they can select from to man these vital and precious platforms.

For further reading i suggest the following thread which have a good number of interesting contributions related to F-14's in Iranian service.

www.tomcat-sunset.org...

Stellar

westy - then why does (or rather did until recently) the usaf and usn fly F-5`s against everything else in disimilar combat training - and frequently wooped a55?

they are small , agile wvr fighters with a relatively low RCS - and awacs is not 100% accurate all the time.

Originally posted by Harlequin
westy - then why does (or rather did until recently) the usaf and usn fly F-5`s against everything else in disimilar combat training

Because an aircraft was needed that was easy to acquire, was relatively small (which is always better in WvisualR ACM), which was not a primarily front line US fighter, which was very maneuverable/agile and capable (speed, alt ect...) in a clean training configuration and which visually resembled a Soviet fighter.

Originally posted by Harlequin
- and frequently wooped a55?

Because they were being flown by highly experienced/trained weapons school instructors who are going up against relatively new US pilots flying AC not really apt for extreme ACM.

Originally posted by Harlequin
they are small , agile wvr fighters

Things to consider, BVR, combat load, HOBS, JHMCS, SA, AIM-9X etc...

Originally posted by Harlequin
with a relatively low RCS - and awacs is not 100% accurate all the time.

Says who? There is nothing VLO about the F-5, just because it's physically small does not mean it's RCS is low enough to where an E-3, E-2 and AESA can't detect/ track it at extreme ranges.