13 hours ago
Iranian F-14 ‘Persian Tomcats' Obliterated In Israeli Airstrike
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) posted infrared targeting camera footage of a pair of F-14A Tomcat fighters being destroyed by air-to-ground munitions as they sat outside hardened aircraft shelters at Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran. The strikes were part of Israel's broadening campaign to dismantle Iran's air defense capabilities for good, which includes destroying the Iranian Air Force's fixed-wing fleet.
Since the conflict began, I have been posting on social media how this would likely mark the end of the F-14's operational career. Iran has continued to maintain a small cadre of flyable F-14s two decades after the U.S. Navy — the type's only other operator — put the Tomcat out to pasture.
— Tyler Rogoway (@Aviation_Intel) June 14, 2025
The Israeli campaign to neuter Iran's air defenses in their totality is a major component of the broader air operation. Not only will it allow Israel to operate freely over Iran as it attempts to destroy the country's nuclear and long-range weapons programs, but it will also likely allow Israel to continue to access Iranian skies long after the core mission ends. This will be critical to ensuring Iran does not reconstitute its nuclear or long-range missile programs. This means destroying all aspects of the country's air defenses, including the regime's rickety fighter force.
I actually made a post on X about the two Tomcats in question, just a couple of days ago. These aircraft have been sitting outside the hardened aircraft shelters at the airbase connected to Tehran's international airport for years. Tomcats have provided quick reaction alert (QRA) coverage for Tehran in the past, along with other types, but their main station is the 8th Tactical Air Base at Isfahan. These two jets were in non-flyable condition, as are the vast majority of the survivors of the 79 F-14As delivered to the Shah of Iran back in the 1970s.
Then there are these two outcasts that have been baking out there for a few years….
— Tyler Rogoway (@Aviation_Intel) June 14, 2025
Cannibalizing airframes to keep a small number airworthy has been an ongoing practice since not long after the U.S. embargoed all support for Iran's F-14s many decades ago. Since then, Iran has been incredibly resourceful in developing its own support programs for the notoriously complex jets and smuggling components needed to keep some of them in the air. This has also come at great cost just to keep an aircraft with diminishing capabilities in the air.
Regardless, Iran's dilapidated air force didn't put up much of a fight against the IAF in the opening waves of Israel's attack, at least that we know about. We also haven't heard of the IRAF flying sorties in the east of the country, as Israel worked to gain air superiority. The threat resident primarily in ground-based air defenses, but still, eliminating Iran's tactical jet fleet once and for all is clearly a major goal. Israel has bombed hardened aircraft shelters at multiple bases in order to ensure this.
Imagery from Iran's Hamdan Airbase reveals significant damage after Israel's recent airstrikes – multiple aircraft shelters are compromised alongside cratering on the taxiway & runway
— Damien Symon (@detresfa_) June 15, 2025
In the end, it isn't clear exactly how many F-14s remained flyable, let alone operationally relevant in a mission-capable sense, towards the end. Estimates have ranged wildly from a small handful to around 25 in recent years. You can read our report about a single IRAF F-14 that attempted to participate in the flying program at an Iranian airshow here.
It's also worth noting that, despite various efforts to upgrade the jets locally and to add new capabilities, the Iranian F-14s suffered some high-profile issues throughout their eventful service in Iran, which included the bloody Iran-Iraq war. As we discussed in the past:
'[The] F-14's once-state-of-the-art AN/AWG-9 fire control radar has suffered from low serviceability, with the Tomcat fleet effectively being divided between those with fully functioning radars and those with more diminished capabilities. The current status of any surviving AIM-54 Phoenix and AIM-7 Sparrow air-to-air missiles is also a matter of debate, and Iranian programs to introduce alternative weaponry for the F-14 have had only very mixed results, as you can read more about here.'
The type was slated for replacement, with Russian Su-35s being the long-rumored candidate to do so. This aircraft would be a quantum leap in capability over the old 'Persian Cats,' but they will not capture the mystique and public fascination of the F-14. In the meantime, it appears that the Su-35s once seen to be earmarked for Iran, or at least some of them, have been exported to another Russian client, Algeria, instead.
So it seems clear at this point that if Iran ends up with any air force at all after this is all over, it is very unlikely to include the Tomcat, marking a final end to nearly five-and-a-half decades of continuous service.
Contact the author: Tyler@
