Israel-Iran war: How did Iran get American F-14 'Tomcats' fighter jet, and why is it still flying them years after US retired them?

WionewsJune 18, 2025Read original

Iran’s possession of American-made F-14 Tomcat jets, decades after they were retired by the US Navy, remains one of the most curious stories in military aviation.

These fighter aircraft were originally sold to Iran under very different political circumstances, long before the 1979 Islamic Revolution transformed Iran’s relationship with the West.

In the mid-1970s, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, then the Shah of Iran and a key US ally, wanted to modernise Iran’s air force. As part of a landmark arms deal worth $2 billion, the United States agreed to sell Iran 80 F-14s along with hundreds of Phoenix air-to-air missiles. This agreement, known as Project Persian King, was at the time the largest foreign military sale in American history.

Alongside the jets, the US Navy trained Iranian pilots, many of whom were sent to San Diego’s Miramar Naval Air Station to learn the ins and outs of the Tomcat.

After the Shah was overthrown in 1979 and Ayatollah Khomeini came to power, Iran suddenly became America’s adversary. The Islamic Republic seized the US Embassy in Tehran, and relations collapsed. Initially, the new regime grounded the F-14s and imprisoned many of the pilots who had been trained in the US.

But that soon changed. When Iraq invaded Iran in September 1980, launching both ground and air assaults, Iran needed every capable aircraft it could deploy. The F-14s were quickly brought back into service, and their pilots were released from jail.

Despite sabotage by departing American technicians and the absence of support from Grumman Aerospace, Iran managed to return the Tomcats to the skies.

The United States Navy retired the F-14 in 2006, making Iran the only country still flying the aircraft. According to the Military Balance 2024 report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Iran had up to 10 F-14s in its inventory at the start of 2024, although it is unclear how many of those were actually airworthy.

Iran also possesses other aircraft such as MiG-29s and F-4 Phantoms. But the continued visibility of the ageing Tomcats, most recently seen in Israeli drone strike footage from 16 June 2025, suggests Tehran still considers them a strategic asset.

Keeping the F-14s operational has been extremely difficult for Iran. The jets rely on complex American-made systems such as the AN/AWG-9 radar and advanced missiles like the AIM-54 Phoenix. Over time, as sanctions tightened, Iran turned to a black market network of smugglers and arms dealers to acquire spare parts, some even sourced from within the US.

In a surprising twist, early in the 1980s, Israeli arms dealers are believed to have sold F-14 parts to Iran despite the official hostility between the two nations. This covert supply chain eventually collapsed once Iran-backed Hezbollah began attacking Israel.

Iranian F-14s played a major role during the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War. Using superior radar and missiles, the Tomcats reportedly shot down over 100 Iraqi aircraft, including MiG-21s and MiG-23s. According to military historian Tom Cooper, during that war, “the Iranian F-14 pilots scored 159 total kills.”

In contrast, US Navy F-14 pilots shot down only five enemy aircraft across 34 years of service.

Despite operating in near-total isolation for decades, Iran has managed to maintain a small fleet of F-14s. However, their operational readiness remains questionable. During a planned air show in late 2024, Iran showcased only one F-14, while many other aircraft were either absent or reportedly in poor condition.

Even so, the Tomcat’s endurance in Iranian service, almost 50 years since it was first delivered, is a testament to the lengths Iran has gone to preserve one of the most advanced fighters of its time.