Unfortunately some sources are not as optimistic and place the number of operationally ready aircraft at about 13. If it took Iran 12 years to repair and overhaul a single (of course badly damaged) F-14, this would imply that there are still serious issues with spare parts and maintenance. However it was not clear to me if they just overhauled the jet to its previous specifications, or they implemented upgrades along the way. The proposed Grumman's "Super Tomcat 21", rejected by the U.S. Congress in 1994, would have enjoyed superior avionics, radar and strike capabilities. Is Iran envisioning to do with F-14 what it did with the AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter?
You are misquoting the news! The news reports that this particular plane was removed from active duty twelve years ago and was canibalized for parts.
I hear that the F-14 in question is the very one that was damaged during a CAP north of Khark Island. Two F-14s ingaged two Iraqi Mig-23s. This particular Tomcat was the leader of the formation and fired an AIM-9P in a short distance engagement, at the same time its wingman launches a Sidewinder that in that close engagement follows the leader F-14 and heavily damages the structure and both engines. However, the F-14 manages to land, thanks to the pilot's skill. The incident reported is claimed to have happened in spring of 1360 Iranian calender (28 years ago).
In 1385 (Iranian calender), that is three years ago, it was then decided to bring this aircraft to operational status. It took 30,000 hrs of overhaul time to bring it to operational status.
Assuming that this plane was damaged badly and and sitting in storage for twelve years and perhaps many critical parts caniblized, the time to bring it to operational status makes sense and is nothing strange. The exception is that this is the only F-14 that needed a record amount of maintenance ever by IRIAF. That is the point that was lost in the report and those who read this report.
As for its systems, common sense would tell that IRIAF would not spend 30,000 hrs on this aircraft to lack critical systems such as Radar, weapon capability and avionics. Now, you can be sure if there has been upgrades done on other F-14s as suspected, then this particular one must have gone through that process too. I even suspect that this F-14 is perhaps the most upgraded one in the whole inventory since it is the last one going through the process, that is how things work in any air force.
catsoo
Topic: IRIAF F-14 (Read 14007 times)