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| Top Gun: Maverick |
International Military - Recently a film starring famous actor Tom Cruise entitled Top Gun: Maverick, in the film appears Tom Cruise flying an F-14 Tomcat fighter. There is a story behind Iran's persistence which still flies F-14 Tomcat fighter jets. The US is apparently involved in the story. Even the US has had less luck in this story.
As odd as it may seem, the F-14s that fly in Top Gun and Top Gun: Maverick are still flying to Iran. A strange fact that many people are not aware of. So how did US adversaries like Iran get their hands on the F-14 Tomcat?
Iran flies F-14 Tomcats, the same aircraft that Tom Cruise piloted in the original Top Gun. A complicated history leads to how Iran acquired US-made warplanes and how they kept old planes flying.
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The American-made Northrop Grumman F-14 Tomcat fighter jet was well known when the platform debuted in the 1986 film Top Gun. As the most powerful and lethal interceptor jet ever built at the time, the F-14 Tomcat fighter jet was a true icon of the blockbuster. classic.
The Tomcat entered service with the US Navy in 1972 and was intended to replace its predecessor the F-4 Phantom fighter. The Tomcat features many upgrades, including advanced dog fighting abilities, agility, and the ability to perform long-range interception and air superiority missions.
Tomcat F-4 Phantom Coming to Iran
This series of missions became very important in the 1970s when US-Soviet tensions began to escalate. Eager to garner support from the region, President Nixon visited Iran's head of state, Mohamed Reza Shah, and struck a deal that would provide Imperial Iran with 79 operational Tomcats.
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Reporting from 19fortyfive.com, the F-14 fighter jet is the ideal aircraft for Iranian pilots, as it effectively challenged Soviet MiG-25R Foxbat jets on Iranian soil. The Tomcat is on par with the current F-22, the most superior and advanced aircraft in the sky.
Tomcat F-4 is Getting Old But Iran Keeps Upgrading
The US immediately regretted allowing Iran to be the only other country operating fourth-generation fighter jets. In 1979, the monarchy was suddenly crushed in Iran when fundamentalist Shia clerics took control of the country under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Kohmeini.
The Islamic revolution led to the collapse of US-Iran relations. Going forward, the US will work tirelessly to try and land their enemy jets. However, the Islamic Republic of Iran has continued to maintain its F-14 fleet despite the eight-year Iran-Iraq war and arms embargo imposed by the US.
In fact, the Iranian Air Force has actually increased the number of operational airframes in Iran. the past few decades and has advanced the electronics and weapons systems of fighter jets.
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According to reports, Iranian technicians may have developed nearly 300 separate modifications to the supersonic fighter. Iran's remaining fleet of Tomcats now feature new cables, avionics and sensors.
Since the US stopped Iran from acquiring F-14 missiles, the regime modified its fleet to carry Soviet R-27 and R-73 missiles. More recently, Iran has successfully reverse engineered parts for the F-14 airframe and the AIM-54 missile, ultimately resulting in an original developed variant of the original F-14 Phoenix missile.
Iran's current self-sufficiency priority is complemented by its arms smuggling allowing the regime to keep the fighters operational. In 1988, an Iranian-American was arrested by federal agents in New York after being charged with trying to buy parts for a Tomcat engine.
A series of similar arrests followed closely, increasing in scope after the US grounded its last F-14 in 2006. The US made concerted efforts to block Tomcat parts from falling into Iranian hands.
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Despite American efforts to wipe out all remnants of the F-14 from the world, Tehran continues to fly the aging fighter. In fact, the remaining 40 Iranian F-14 fighters are the only active Tomcats in the world.
In addition, this upgraded supersonic jet remains the best fighter jet in the region.
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