US F-14 Persian Cat: Iranian Air Force signboard

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In the late 1960s, the US Navy was struggling to find its own new generation oflong-range air defense weapons. From the Grumman design plan, thediscerning military was overjoyed. In the end, this super powerfultwo-seater heavy air superiority fighter became the famous F-14 Pandacarrier-based fighter.

The F-14 prototype

AIM54 undead long-range air-launched missile in flight test.

In 1972, Panda began to replace the previous F4 Phantom fighter and was firstdeployed on a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier such as theEnterprise. Although the navy's original idea was to interceptintercontinental bombers from the former Soviet Union. However, the designof the F-14 was based on the experience of the Vietnam War and thereforeconsidered conventional air combat in pursuit of mobility. Therefore, itsarsenal includes not only AIM-54 undead birds and AIM-7 sparrows, but alsoAIM-9 Sidewinder short-range missiles and M61 Vulcan artillery in response toclose-range threats. The long-range search radar and short-range firecontrol system equipped on the aircraft were the most advanced products of thatera.

Iranian King Pahlavi visited the F-14 fighter

Persian Cat Fleet delivered to the Iranian Air Force.

In order to save production costs and improve the air combat capabilities ofthe main allies, the F-14 was quickly sold to several specificcountries. Not only Japan, the border town in the Far East, but also Iran,a major oil producer in the Middle East. Its biggest competitor is theF-15, the main aircraft chosen by the Air Force during the sameperiod. Therefore, Grumman deliberately let the test pilots start theengine in advance to empty a large amount of fuel in the fueltank. Therefore, it can be loaded lightly and show better airmaneuverability than the F-15. Such an excellent result moved the IranianKing who was watching. With an Air Force license, Pahlavi immediately madea decision to purchase 30 Panda fighter jets for $ 300 million. A fewmonths later, the Iranians ordered another 90 aircraft.

Iran trains Persian cat fighter

in U.S. Iranian Air Force pilot trained in U.S.

A total of 79 F-14s have been delivered to the Iranian Air Force since 1976 andhave been named Persian Cats. Not only are they preparing to use them tocontrol the skies of the Middle East, they are also preparing to confrontSoviet MiG-25 reconnaissance aircraft that have repeatedly violated theborder. The latter often swept the sky at Mach 3, making it difficult forthe Iranian Air Force's original F-4 ghost to intercept. The SovietUnion's daring came to an end until the Iranian Air Force used a Persian cat'sundead missile to target a drone flying at an altitude of 50,000 feet. Dueto consideration of deploying aircraft carriers for its own navy, theland-based version of the F-14 also retained almost all of its offshore landingequipment. However, changes in the political situation prevented theKing's ambitions from developing.

Persian cat fighter launches undead missile

Persian cat becomes the absolute ace weapon of Iranian Air Force

In 1979, Khomeini's revolutionary masses took control of Iran, and a largenumber of pilots and ground staff trained by the United States and British AirForce were washed or fled. The F-14 fleet, which requires high-qualitymaintenance, has also been neglected and has been permanently cut off fromregular parts input channels. If it were not for the invasion of the Iraqiarmy the next year, the Persian cat fleet would turn into a pile of scrap ironin a short period of time. However, with the release of some elite pilotsand ground technicians, the F-14 also quickly ushered in its own gloriousmoment.

Boeing 707 refueled the Persian cat during the war.

Persian fighter jet in flight in

1980. The Persian cat shot down an Iraqi Air Force MiG-24 helicopter and openedits own war record. However, due to the destruction and loss of personnelin the previous year, the Iranian Air Force did not dare to use these aircraftin large numbers. Although the United States acquiesces in Israel's continuedsupply of small parts, it cannot support the F-14's high-intensity combatneeds. As a result, Iranians dismantled many of their stockpiles andbecame the spare parts of a few aircraft that could be dispatched. Formost missions, the Persian cat acts as an early warning aircraft. Use yourown long-range radar to find targets and summon friendly F-4 and F-5 fightersto fight, but rarely personally participate.

Zandy, the ace fighter

who shot down 11 enemy aircraft with Persian cats. Most Persian catpilots were washed before the war.

However, as the war intensified,

a handful of Persian cats in the Panda fleet were a nightmare forIraqi pilots.

Of course, due to the lack of effective guidance from the national air defenseradar system and hunting traps set up in Iraq, the Panda fleet also lost 12-16fighters in the war. Only three of them were acquired with high hopes forthe Phantom F1. Most of the rest are mechanical failures caused byinsufficient maintenance. Four aircraft were even destroyed by random firefrom the National Air Defense Forces.

The Persian cat fighter

, which uses two different long-range missiles, is faster than thePersian cat. It is an AIM54 undead long-range missile purchased from the UnitedStates. For this reason, Iranian pilots can only fire cautiously, and inmany cases choose to use a sparrow or rattlesnake missile. This resultalso increased the risk of F-14 being countered by enemy fire. Whenproblems such as expired fuel occurred in the original inventory, Iranian groundcrews tried to inherit the Soviet-made R27 medium-range missile for the Persiancat. Therefore, such attempts are not only very difficult, but alsocriticized for their effectiveness.

Strange combination of bomb eagle missile engines.

We are using an air-launched Hawks Persian fighter.

As a result, they found that Hawker surface-to-air missiles were a naturalalternative to undead air-launched missiles. Therefore, a Persian cat thatcould have installed 6 long-range missiles could only fire 2 long-range bulletsat a time. Even after problems with the Hawker missile inventory, it stilltried to integrate early guided bombs into the missile engine, creating amiracle in the history of human military industry.

After the Iran-Iraq war, Persian cats are still a trademark of the Iranian AirForce.

After the Russian-Russian aircraft could not replace the Persian

-Israeli war, members of the Iranian Air Force's F-14 crew were suppressed andcleaned again. However, as the absolute trump card in the Air Forcearsenal, the Iranians have never been able to announce the retirement of theremaining Persian cats. Since no third country chooses such equipment, thepossibility of importing spare parts on the black market is almostzero. Major countries outside the United States also do not have therelevant manufacturing technology and cannot make fake copies forthem. Therefore, the remaining maintenance methods are to reduce training,not easy to deploy while on duty, and to take more aircraft disassembly,disassembly and supplementation.

In recent decades Persian change the appearance of the coating

deployed in the Persian fleet

In 2006, the US Navy retired all F-14 fleets. To prevent Iranian spiesfrom getting the parts, they spared no expense to destroy all aircraft. Inthe distant Middle East, the surviving Persian cat fleet is still used as afacade to maintain the Iranian air force. Despite continued small-scaleimprovements, its number has been steadily declining.

The Persian cat flew the MiG 29 in

2015. The Persian cat escorted the Tu-95 bomber

around 2010, and only 7-12 aircraft could take off immediately. However,as long as there is an airplane flying, the Persian cat is exposed from time totime to show that the Iranian Air Force still has the most basic maintenancesystem. In November 2015, another Persian cat was sent to the sky toescort a Russian plane to Syria for a bombing mission.

The Su-27 prototype T-10 also borrowed Persian cat technology.

However, the story of the F-14 family will not completely end with the fall ofthe Persian cat. Because as early as the Iran-Iraq war, Iran presented aPersian cat fighter to the Soviet Union for weapons and technicalassistance. At that time, the Sukhoi Design Bureau was working hard todevelop heavy air superiority models capable of countering the F-14 andF-15. If they get the best, they will soon re-sculpt the dismantlingPersian cat technology, producing a T-10 prototype with inter-erasignificance. However, due to the backward concept of the Soviet militaryindustry and the failure of processing technology, the performance of theprototype at this stage is very low, and it can not be compared with theoriginal American products that cross the southern battlefield.

Su 33 aircraft carrier battle group also has the influence of pandas.