I refer you to my post 2328…
Iran
And, of course, as shown on IAF videos most, if not all, Iranian F-14s/F-4s/F-5s were destroyed using PGMs.
❗️🇮🇷Iran plans to purchase 🇨🇳Chinese J-10C fighters instead of 🇷🇺Russian Su-35S.
Source:
https://militarnyi.com/uk/news/iran-...kyh-su-35-zmi/
Iran plans to purchase Chinese J-10C instead of Russian Su-35s — media
Iran has intensified negotiations with China on the purchase of lightweight Chengdu J-10C multi-purpose fighters to replace the Russian Su-35. This is reported by
The Moscow Times with reference to Khorasan.
According to the publication, Iran intends to modernize its Air Force as soon as possible, and Chinese aircraft are considered an affordable and cheap alternative to the Russian Su-35.
Iran has been interested in the J-10C for about two decades. In 2015, preparations for the conclusion of a contract for the supply of 150 fighters began, but the deal slipped. China insisted on payment in foreign currency, while Tehran, due to the shortage, offered a barter settlement of oil and gas. The UN arms embargo against the Islamic Republic also interfered.
In 2020, these restrictions were lifted and negotiations resumed. The scale of the deal decreased to 36 aircraft, but the parties again failed to agree on payment. However, after the United States
allowed China to officially buy oil from Iran on June 24 without the threat of sanctions, the situation changed.
Although as of the beginning of 2025, the Iranian Air Force formally had about 150 fighters in service, these were mostly outdated American-made models that had reached the country before the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
These include the F-4 Phantom II (64 units), the F-5E/F Tiger II (35) and the F-14A Tomcat (41). There are also 18 MiG-29A/UB, delivered in the late 1980s and early 1990s, in service. However, these aircraft are not only obsolete, but most of them are in
an unsuitable condition.
In particular, it is known that by the 2010s, the Iranian military carried out a series of modernizations and maintained about 15-20 F-14A Tomcat in operation. In 2022–2024, several F-14s were still recorded in the sky, but there were also reports of accidents.
With an outdated aviation fleet, Iran relied heavily on anti-aircraft missile systems of its own production as the basis of air defense. However, as the events of the "twelve-day war" showed, Israel managed to completely suppress the Iranian air defense and
feel free in the sky.
Therefore, Iran's urgent desire to update its aviation fleet is natural, but simply purchasing a limited number of aircraft, even
equipped with PL-15 long-range missiles, will not solve the problem of air defense.
Plans to purchase Russian Su-35s by Iran
were reported back in September 2022, and in January, an Iranian official
confirmed information about the purchase of Su-35 fighters from Russia. According to the plan, they were to start arriving in the country in the spring of 2023, but no aircraft were handed over.
In March 2025,
it became known that the Su-35 fighters to be delivered to Iran were received by Algeria.