Iran has never got spare parts from the US following the 1979 turmoil
New Delhi:
Over the decades, Iran has struggled to maintain its precious fleet of F-14. This led to cannibalisation of other F-14 in the fleet to ensure at least a decent number kept flying
Here's your 5-point cheatsheet to this story
- The US has retired this legacy fighter jet known for its powerful radar and the long-range air-to-air missile AIM-54 Phoenix, which only the F-14 could carry. The F-14's main role was to protect carrier strike groups from strategic bombers that could launch long-range anti-ship missiles.
- The US sold Iran 79 F-14s in the 1970s when Iran was a key ally in the Middle East. The purchase cemented their friendship. The ties turned sour after the Iranian Revolution and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini replaced Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran.
- Over the decades, Iran has struggled to maintain its precious fleet of F-14. This led to cannibalisation of other F-14 in the fleet to ensure at least a decent number kept flying.
- Iran also reverse engineered some components and manufactured them locally with limited success. At present the exact number of F-14 in Iran is indeterminate. Experts say the F-14 in Iran's arsenal, a mere shadow of their former, potent selves, poses no threat to any American force that arrives in the Persian Gulf.
- The F-14 has seen combat and scored air-to-air kills. On January 4, 1989, near the Libyan coast, two F-14As flying from USS John F Kennedy shot down two MiG-23 fighter jets. One of them was hit by an AIM-7 air-to-air missile, and the other by an AIM-9 heat-seeking missile.
