First privately-owned Su-27 Flankers in the US
 

I read that last week, that the Ukrainian Air Force sold 2 x SU-27 Flankers to TacAir in Reno, for contractor aggressor work and they were delivered stateside in an AN-124.

On that basis, I wonder how long the Russians have had Tomcats.

About two weeks after Ayatollah Khomeini's "election".

Re. F-14's & Iran,

That would make sense as apparently they are still flyable ( well, a few anyway ) - leading to the U.S.S. Vincesses accident - worrying to think they might have Phoenix technology !

Even more worrying that the Phoenix was developed in the days when nuclear warheads to take out approaching bomber squadrons were the in-thing; and what is Iran's current project ?

Since the 1980s!

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s...l2/SovF-14.jpg

Here is the original image of that photoshopped image. It has been doing the round for years. Even Dr Carlo Kopp is still fooled by it!

Sukhoi Flankers - The Shifting Balance of Regional Air Power

The original image shows an Imperial Iranian Air Force F-14 on test in the US.

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/5...6029001tm6.jpg

Iran did not give Russia access to its F-14s. That may have changed since the invasion of Iraq, but it would have been totally contrary to Iran's interests to have done so prior to that.

Mmmm, I stand corrected TEEEJ. TVM.

However, I do not doubt for a minute that Russia got hold of F-14s, or at least evaluated it. This has been all but acknowledged in recent years by a number of Russian sources. Indeed, there is an excellent story of a visit to Zhukovsky by Western military observers where one of the Russian test pilots very enigmatically wore an F-14 patch on his flying suit whilst briefing the visitors!!! Wind up? Maybe. But I doubt it.

Remember that Iran was obtaining weapons from China from the late eighties so the Tomcat may not have gone directly to the Soviets. Similarly, China obtained at least one F-16 from Pakistan and allowed Russia access. However, from the mid 90s Iran was deploying more and more advanced Russian weapons direct from Moscow anyway.

I would suggest that it is naïve to suggest that at least one was not exploited by the Russians.

Regards,
MM

Aim-154
 

Now I am happy to be corrected but I don't think the F-14s that went to the Shah of Iran were ever equipped with Phoenix missiles - sparrow and winder, yes but no Phoenix.

True?

They did indeed get Phoenix and reportedly secured the missile's only kills against the Iraq AF.

http://www.xairforces.com/images/cou...iriaf_0006.jpg

Phoenix shaped lumps underneath, whether they work or not is another thing though.

Thanks to Brewster Buffalo's link to Ares Homepage I found myself reading an onward link to
Red Eagles: America's Secret MiGs - Google Book Search

A very interesting read about MiG evaluation.
The only part that grated was seeing the Royal Air Force described as the "British RAF". Grrrrr ;)

By chance, I later found this rather more recent MiG that's probably now at Area 51 or similar
Mig 25 Foxbat Iraqi Air Force - Flight Image of the Day

THS

That's a photo of a model!

But, yes, Iran got plenty of AIM-54As.

MM

So, you are sure that the Russkies got their hands on the F-14, but only because you heard a rumour about an anecdote, and otherwise cannot imagine them not getting their hands on it?

XV105,

That Iraqi Foxbat was restored and went to the following museum

National Museum of the USAF - Fact Sheet Media

TJ

THS,

Scale models by Fred Shammas.

Iranian Air Force Tactical Aircraft Part 1 by Fariborz (Fred) Shammas

F-14A Tomcat by Fred Shammas (Hasegawa and Academy 1/48)

Some Iranian exercise footage showing AIM-54 uploads onto IRIAF F-14s.

YouTube - IRAN AIR FORCE

TJ

According to Fazod and Bishop's seminal book on the Iran/Iraq war, there were a number of successful AIM-54 engagements. These included a (very unsporting) shot against a Super Frelon and, on a number of occaisions, multiple kills with one shot, due to the Iraqi predeliction for close formations and the warhead size of the Pheonix.

The F-14 had a VERY good war against the Iraqis, and successfully used AIM-9, AIM-7, AIM-54 and M61. They also flew with HAWK SAMs mounted on F14s. Oh, and the F4s had the then very Hush-Hush Combat Tree IFF fitted, and the "Zot Box" designator for LGBs.

There were lots of untrue reports circulated by the like of the US Navy; the combat reports appear to indicate, on the whole, a capable weapon system well employed.

Evaluator

Do the authors give a source for the installation of Combat Tree on the F-4s?

I would be extremely surprised if this was true, not least of all because this is a decidedly 'US-only' system!

My, my Ewan, a tad sensitive aren’t we old chap?!!!:ok:

My point is that from the late eighties China first and then Russia was an increasingly important economic and arms supplier to Iran. The Chinese are always particularly keen to get their hands on technology and Russian and Israeli sources have independently confirmed that Pakistan supplied China with an F-16.

Even if the F-14 didn’t go directly to Russia, I therefore think it is incredibly naïve of anyone to suggest Russia and/or China have never exploited an Iranian F-14. Certainly the vast majority of the USN F-14 guys I’ve met have also assumed that to be the case. Moreover, there were specific mods done on some AIM-54 components based on that assumption.

Regards,
MM