Iran AF F-4/F-5/F-14

MikeD

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Pretty cool video. Some interesting things, besides just the aircraft:

1. IRIAF is like a 1980s USAF, tactics-wise, aircrew equipment-wise, the older HGU-33 helmets, the colorful helmet decorations, etc. Effective, but you can easily see both the dated but heavy USAF influence. If one didn't know any better, these guys carry themselves in nearly every way like USAF pilots/WSOs, since that heritage is still how they are trained and is still passed down......because it works. They do nearly everything the USAF did in that era and with those aircraft, including day/night aerial refueling from both their KC-707s as well as their one-of-a-kind KC-747s.

2. The old-school ordnance. The reworked AIM-54 Phoenix on the Tomcats, the Electro-Optical A/B model AGM-65 Mavericks on the F-4s as well as the AIM-9J/P models. Mk-82 bombs with Snakeye high drag kits (no longer used by USAF, ballute kits used instead). And very interesting are the modifications, such as the 4-abreast Mk-82s carried on the two forward AIM-54 Phoenix fuselage racks by an F-14 taxiing out. The aft-facing video of the F-4s doing a laydown of Mk-82SEs in ripple/single and ripple/pairs on targets, is still pretty cool......

3. The F-4Es with the US-style sharkmouth's on them.

 
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Impressive for a country that is ruled by a crazy old wizard.

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Good show I like it. Except the book over head episode...

Impressive for a country that is ruled by a crazy old wizard.

Yeah.....thats the influence that came from the change from IIAF, to IRIAF.....unfortunately. Still, I think these guys still possess a certain level of autonomy in their thinking and their manner and how they carry themselves; standard fighter pilot traits and the passdown of the USAF methodology.
 
Where do they buy a left side con snuter valve that fits only F4's?

Their F-4 parts and support came from the Israelis and Turks, brokered by us, and brought to you by the Iran Contra affair. All the Iranians had to do was pay the cash directly to the Contra's group in Nicaragua, since the US Congress forbade the Reagan Administration from doing so.
 
But where do they get one today? They are still operating the the type right?

F-4D and E models, as well as RF-4, yes. They reverse engineer and produce their own parts there that they need. That's how the Phoenix missiles are still in operation and reworked. The old Bell Helicopter factory used to build AH-1 Cobra and Bell 214 helicopters there prior to the fall of the shah.........and they still build them. In that factory. Their R&D and ability to maintain and produce parts they need, is pretty impressive.
 
Mike, Did Iran ever really have a couple of F-16's? The rumor always has been that after the Shah kicked the bucket and his orders for them were nixed, that two somehow wound up there.
 
Mike, Did Iran ever really have a couple of F-16's? The rumor always has been that after the Shah kicked the bucket and his orders for them were nixed, that two somehow wound up there.

Shah had put F-16s on order, but never received them due to the overthrow. He wanted to be one of the first export countries for the F-16 (which started in USAF service the year prior to the overthrow), as he always wanted the latest and greatest for his military, hence the F-14 at the time and being the only other operator of the F-14 than the US Navy, and still operating them today.....now the ONLY country operating them.. The Iranians love them. At one time, Iran was the most westernized of the middle east nations, and traveling to/from there was no more difficult than going to/from Canada.

We should've sold our remaining F-14s to Iran, rather than scrapping them at the Tucson boneyard here. We could've used the money, for one; and we'd know exactly their capability, for two.
 
F-4D and E models, as well as RF-4, yes. They reverse engineer and produce their own parts there that they need. That's how the Phoenix missiles are still in operation and reworked. The old Bell Helicopter factory used to build AH-1 Cobra and Bell 214 helicopters there prior to the fall of the shah.........and they still build them. In that factory. Their R&D and ability to maintain and produce parts they need, is pretty impressive.
In addition to indigenous production of spares, there's a pretty large global market for parts. Not counting former U.S. and Navy aircraft, we exported over a thousand Phantoms and God knows how many J79's were exported or licensed for production.

Still, I think these guys still possess a certain level of autonomy in their thinking and their manner and how they carry themselves; standard fighter pilot traits and the passdown of the USAF methodology.
A number of years ago, I met an Iranian F-14 pilot in Oman. From my brief encounter I got the idea that a great deal of the Iranian military is just punching a ticket because it's a good gig. The pilot I chatted with at length didn't seem especially political ... or religious and he knew how to drink. I imagine that there are quite a few Americans that would wave the Jehovah’s Witnesses flag if it meant they could fly a military jet.
 
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Shah had put F-16s on order, but never received them due to the overthrow. He wanted to be one of the first export countries for the F-16 (which started in USAF service the year prior to the overthrow), as he always wanted the latest and greatest for his military, hence the F-14 at the time and being the only other operator of the F-14 than the US Navy, and still operating them today.....now the ONLY country operating them.. The Iranians love them. At one time, Iran was the most westernized of the middle east nations, and traveling to/from there was no more difficult than going to/from Canada.

We should've sold our remaining F-14s to Iran, rather than scrapping them at the Tucson boneyard here. We could've used the money, for one; and we'd know exactly their capability, for two.
Thanks.
 
Cool stuff, as usual on this subject. The only complaint I have is the puzzling dearth of Awesome Moustaches.

IMS, the Persians have been rocking some badass staches since europeans were shaving with flint knives and wearing blue paint (well before that, even). Add that to a 70s/80s US Fighter Pilot culture, and you should have a Perfect Storm of Stache!
 
Speaking of Iran, I wish somebody would write a book about Project Dark Gene. Joint American-Iranian crews flew Iranian RF-4's and RF-5's over the U.S.S.R. in the 60's and 70's.
 
The Iranians scored 100+ kills in the F-14 Tomcat, 50 or so in the F-4 and many in the F-5E Tiger II as well. I'm not sure if the F-5 scored air to air kills anywhere else.
 
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