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The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) deployed its aging American-made F-14 interceptor jets during the 12-day war with Israel last June, a documentary aired by the Islamic Republic’s state TV on November 10 revealed.
Iran received at least 79 F-14A/AM from the United States in the 1970s. By the time Israel launched its attack on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program on June 13, only 40-20 of the jets were still in service.
The documentary “Unequal Battle,” which was produced by the media division for the Islamic Republic of Iran Army “Artesh,” revealed that these jets, despite major difficulties, took to the sky with the start of the war with the main task of intercepting Israeli drones.
Israel didn’t just send its drones over Iran during the war to carry out reconnaissance, but also employed loitering munitions and larger combat drones to conduct strikes mainly against radar systems, air defenses and ballistic missiles launchers.
In the documentary, IRIAF officers admit that Israel employed electronic warfare with much success. Still, the F-14s managed to intercept multiple drones, including three during one sortie.
One of the scenes from the documentary reveals that the Iranian jets were mainly armed with AIM-7E-2 Sparrow and AIM-9J/P Sidewinder air-to-air missiles.
The AIM-7E-2 is guided via semi-active radar and has an engagement range of 50 kilometers, while the heat-seeking AIM-9J/P has a range of around 18 kilometers. Just like the F-14, both missiles are considered to be outdated. Thus, shooting down even a drone using them is a real feat.
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It’s worth noting that IRIAF officers acknowledged during the documentary that the air force is largely outdated and in need of an upgrade.
The documentary provides an answer as to why Israel destroyed five of the IRIAF’s F-14 on the ground at the 8th Tactical Air Base in Isfahan. Apparently, the Israeli Air Force saw the operations of the interceptors, which are equipped with the AN/AWG-9 radar with a range of up to 370 kilometers, as a credible threat.
The F-14 can launch the semi-active radar guided AIM-54 Phoenix air-to-air missile, which has a range of over 180 kilometers. It is unclear if Iran is still in possession of any of these missiles, but the country claimed to produce a copy, the Fakour-90, with a range of 150 kilometers.
All in all, the documentary provides an interesting insight into the war, which ended on June 24, right after the U.S. joined in and attacked Iran. That was another sign that Israel began to face some problems.
Several recent reports from Iranian media and other sources suggest that the Islamic Republic is now working to upgrade the IRIAF as fast as possible. Meanwhile, tensions are already mounting up again with Israel, and the two sides could clash again soon.
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f-14s didn’t do them any good. their nuclear sites that took iran decades to build & cost them 100s of billions were obliterated. stupid iranians have now acknowledged they are not enriching uranium as a result of the airstrikes. israel, azerbaijan & the us sheeted all over them & iranians just bent over, took it & then go around falsely claiming they won the 12 day war. now israel has complete control of lebanon, jordan, syria, azerbaijan & iraq airspace.
porque israel se apressou em pedir o cessar-fogo aos eua? porque não estavam aguentando levar a surra de mísseis do irã. você faz vista grossa pra isso, finge que não sabe.
after capturing borovskaya andreevka and consolidating their position in the southeastern part of boguslavka, the units expanded the breakthrough to the second defensive line close to borova……………………… https://bitly.cx/ujgxb
then why not start by “bombing” the nuclear sites if that was the plan all along, rather that try and fail to kill the leadership ?
because what you say is all bullsh*t, that is why.
and control over airspaces didn’t prevent the missile rain that made them cry uncle.
i see ‘seinfeld’ is after his 7000 buckaroos from mileikowsky. must be the end of the month….
joo walter mitty fantasy world. jooz do have complete control of western whore media and whore politicians and their global pimping and swindling empires.
i get it. this is a comedy cut from your old canceled tv show. thanks for the laugh. you zionists have the funniest lies. but, i have to tell you, using projection as a comedic ploy, doesn’t really work. i mean everyone (and i do mean everyone) has seen all your old reruns and it’s the part where you get your ass kicked that’s the best part. it keeps the world laughing like never before. can’t wait for the final episode, i heard it ends with a bang.
it’s just a nonsense set up to make trouble for moslems and jews
tomcats were designed and built when america had some talent. the junk they fob off on their allies today can’t hold a candle to that generation of aircraft. just ask maverick 🤓
hundred percent true and confirmed
that is right. they haven’t even scratched one of those tomcats f-14s.
another clash is inevitable. the isreali apartheid regime will make sure of it. personally i cannot wait for the isreali apartheid regime to overstep the mark yet again. the missile tech the iranian admin has is way beyond anything the isreali apartheid regime can match. even the us and its nato poodles cannot supply anything so advanced. tehran isn’t going to be another gaza.
iran will have to rise to the moment. the war is upon them. all nations that do not allow usury are in the same boat. venezuela is very similar. great energy reserves with no central bank cartel to rule and exploit the nation by charging monetary interest on all transactions. funding over throw from within.