The Iranian Air Force exercises all the best! F14 is still the trump card, MiG 29, F4, F-7 all enter the battle

As a major country in the Middle East, Iran's every move has attracted much attention.

On November 2, local time, the Iranian Air Force held a rare large-scale annual air force exercise code-named "Fadaiiane Harime Velayat" in the central region of the country. During the two-day exercise, the Iranian Air Force’s elite fighters almost collectively appeared.

Iranian Air Force spokesman Brigadier General Farhad Gudaz revealed on November 2 that various fighter jets, (combat) bombers, transport aircraft, and refueling of the Iranian Air Force were held during exercises at 7 air bases near Isfahan. Aircraft, reconnaissance aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles will all fly. He revealed that Russian-made Su-24 fighter-bombers and F-14, MiG-29, F-4, and F-4s that have been "overhauled" by Iranian Air Force experts will participate in the exercise. Fighters such as F-5 and J-7 almost cover all the main fighters of the Iranian Air Force.

▲"Persian Cat" F-14 strikes

Judging from the photos released by Iranian media such as the Fars News Agency, the Grumman F-14 Tomcat fighter jet purchased from the United States that year is still the number one ace fighter in the Iranian Air Force. Currently, it can fly about 20. frame.

▲MiG-29 and F-14

But from the picture, these "Tomcats" did not carry AIM-54 "phoenix" long-range air-to-air missiles. Although Iran launched its domestic imitation version of Fakour-90, which entered service in 2018, it seems that it has not formed combat effectiveness. The beyond visual range combat capability of the Tomcat is irreplaceable for the Iranians.

▲The current combat effectiveness of the Iranian F-14 is now a question mark

Taking into account the US Navy's aircraft carrier task force, it may strike Iran from the Arabian Sea. The Iranian Air Force also dispatched two American-made aerial tankers this time, Boeing 707 and Boeing 747. The latter is the world’s largest aerial tanker. They were bought during the Pahlavi dynasty and used to refuel the F-14. This is also a very targeted method of warfare.

▲The world's largest Boeing 747 tanker

According to information disclosed by the Iranian military, the use of precision-guided air-to-ground weapons by Iranian fighters in this exercise has reached a new level. On the first day of the exercise, the Su-24 "Fencer" fighter-bomber dropped 500 kilograms of "smart aerial bombs". On the second day of the exercise, the US-made F-4 "Phantom" fighter jets projected similar AGM- to the intended target. 65 "Mavericks" Yasin TV-guided air-to-surface missile.

▲F-4 "Phantom" carrying Yasin air-to-surface missile

▲Iranian F-5 "Tiger" fighter

Except for the F-14 and a small number of MiG-29s that fled from Iraq in 1991, the second-generation aircraft is still the absolute main force of the Iranian Air Force.

In this exercise, Iran dispatched US-made second-generation aircraft such as F-4 and F-5, as well as the "Lightning" (Saeqeh, sometimes called Lightning 80) fighter jets with double vertical tails developed on the basis of F-5. The J-7N and J-7N fighters that Chengfei exported to Iran during the Iran-Iraq War also appeared again. It is worth mentioning that we also specially developed the Pili-7 infrared combat air-to-air missiles for these J-7Ns. The legal "magic" missile.

▲Iranian J-7N fleet

Although the domestic aviation industry is still developing, Iran has attached great importance to the value of drones in aerial reconnaissance and strikes after fighting with U.S. drones several times. Iranian media disclosed that this time, Iran used a domestically-made Kaman-12 UAV to conduct reconnaissance on ground targets, and the Iranian Air Force’s RF-4 reconnaissance aircraft also used a domestically developed reconnaissance camera to accurately destroy other fighters. The target provided intelligence, and Iran even "copyed" the captured US-made RQ-170 "Sentinel" stealth flying-wing drone.

▲Kaman-12 drone

As the U.S. Air Force has many modern fighters in the Middle East, the quality of the Iranian Air Force is at a disadvantage, and the number is not dominant. It is their major strategy to control the air by ground.

In October, Iran has held the "SkyGuard-99" air defense exercise. Its self-developed "Faith-373" medium- and long-range surface-to-air missile hit the target for the first time. This is a launcher similar to the "Patriot" missile. The surface-to-air missile, which is between the US-made "standard" and the Russian-made "Buk" (Buk), is guided by a phased array radar, representing the highest level of Iran's surface-to-air missile, and has a range of up to 200 kilometers.

▲"Faith-373" surface-to-air missile

Since the United States has not changed its hardline stance on Iran and continues to deploy ships and planes in the Middle East, the Iranian Air Force has acted so vigorously to prevent problems.