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On April 9, 1972, Iraq and the Soviet Union signed an historic agreement. The USSR committed to arming the Arab republic with the latest weaponry. In return for sending Baghdad guns, tanks and jet fighters, Moscow got just one thing — influence ... in a region that held most of the world's accessible oil.
[...] In neighboring Iran, news of Iraq's alliance with the Soviets exploded like a bomb.[...] The administration of U.S. president Richard Nixon was all too eager to grant the shah's wish in exchange for Iran's help balancing a rising Soviet Union. Nixon and his national security adviser Henry Kissinger visited Tehran in May 1972 — and promptly offered the shah a "blank check." Any weapons the king wanted and could pay for, he would get — regardless of the Pentagon's own reservations and the State Department's stringent export policies.
[...] That's how, starting in the mid-1970s, Iran became the only country besides the United States to operate arguably the most powerful interceptor jet ever built — the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, a swing-wing carrier fighter packing a sophisticated radar and long-range AIM-54 Phoenix air-to-air missiles.[...]Today Iran's 40 or so surviving F-14s remain some of the best fighters in the Middle East. And since the U.S. Navy retired its last Tomcats in 2006, the ayatollah's Tomcats are the only active Tomcats left in the world.
[...] The F-14 was a product of failure. In the 1960s, the Pentagon hoped to replace thousands of fighters in the U.S. Air Force and Navy with a single design capable of ground attack and air-to-air combat. The result was the General Dynamics F-111 — a two-person, twin-engine marvel of high technology that, in time, became an excellent long-range bomber in Air Force service.
[...] But as a naval fighter, the F-111 was a disaster. [...]In 1968, the Defense Department halted work on the F-111B. Scrambling for a replacement, Grumman took the swing-wing concept, TF-30 engines, AWG-9 radar and long-range AIM-54 missile from the F-111B design and packed them into a smaller, lighter, simpler airframe.
[...] Voila — the F-14.
TFA goes on in some depth both about the historical importance of the F-14 as it flew nearly 50 years ago, as well as the challenges Iran has faced in creating an entirely new supply chain, and eventually new upgrades, to keep a fleet of dedicated interceptors from the last century in service.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 10 2018, @03:05AM (4 children)
You are full of shit. F-15 was the straight up the top-dog air superiority fighter, F-15E is the later fighter-bomber version. F-14 was straight-up outmatched in a dog fight against F-15.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Arik on Saturday March 10 2018, @04:38AM (3 children)
Am I?
"F-15 was the straight up the top-dog air superiority fighter"
That's what *you* say.
Here's wikipedia. Not the best source but you understand it's widely considered superior to 'AC pulled it out his arse' so it gives a relevant datapoint.
"The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F-15E Strike Eagle is an American all-weather multirole strike fighter[4] derived from the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle.[...]"
There IS some reference to a conflict of priorities, with pressure from some quarters for more focus on A2A than the plane it replaced (the F-4 Phantom AKA "Flying Brick" which was extremely successful in a similar role - a light bomber that didn't need escorts against second string opponents) but that's absolutely consistent with the picture I painted. They can definitely fill an A2A role.
But when they entered service, the F-15 relied on the AIM-7 "Sparrow" for it's *longer range* A2A ability. This was a small radar-guided missile with an operational range of less than 7 miles. Compared to the 100 mile operational range of the Phoenix.
"F-14 was straight-up outmatched in a dog fight against F-15."
Yes, that's quite true. The F-14 was not designed to dogfight. It was designed to kill you many miles away from dogfight range.
Look, you have an original F-15, you might have gotten 4 sparrows and 4 sidewinders for your loadout. The F-14 was flying with 4 phoenix and 4 sidewinders. If we start the engagement at long range, I can wait till 50 miles out to fire, guaranteeing that my Phoenix's get their chance even if you turn tail and hit the afterburners the moment they're launched. And they'll hit before anything you are carrying can be launched, even if you hit the afterburners and charge straight at me instead.
1 on 1, starting at long range, with original armaments, the F-14 absolutely outclassed the F-15 and you're a ridiculous idiot to suggest otherwise.
As I said already, respective states of upgrades and actual conditions of the engagement might or might not change that outcome.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 10 2018, @05:34AM (1 child)
Also remember the F-14 was not designed to fight F-15. They were designed to fight MIGs. They would have been deployed differently depending on the different stratagies the USSR would use. Quick blitzkrig like attacks you want something like a F-15 to haul ass in there and get on them. For a slower 'see it coming' attack you pick at them from longer ranges like with the f-14s.
(Score: 2) by Arik on Saturday March 10 2018, @05:50AM
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 10 2018, @06:04AM
Your own wall-of-text comment contradicts much of your other wall-of-text comment. And go take a dump.