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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Iran unveils refurbished F-14's |
| 2010-04-21 |
| The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) says it currently possesses a new generation of F-14 fighter aircrafts with domestically-built radars and refurbished engines. The Iranian fleet of Grumman F-14 Tomcat aircraft was purchased from the United States during the reign of the deposed Shah of Iran. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the US has placed an arms embargo on Iran, which includes the sale of new F-14 aircraft to the country. Aziz Nasirzadeh, a top IRIAF official, described the current Iranian fleet of F-14 as "completely overhauled" aircraft. He also said the aircraft have been improved so that they are now equipped with a new generation of bombers that could not be installed before. The US announced in January 2007 that sales of spare parts for F-14s would be suspended due to concerns that they could end up in Iran. Nasirzadeh said Iran was now capable of producing radars for the F-14s and improving the aircraft's engine without dependence on imports. He added that Iran was now moving on the road to "independence" in producing aircraft parts as the country does not expect foreign countries to provide it with needed supplies. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #16 Over under? Vegas line is Zero. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2010-04-21 23:26 |
| #15 Looks like an Iranian won the thread today. |
| Posted by: gorb 2010-04-21 21:38 |
| #14 Maybe one of you has an Evil Twin, Whiskey Mike. Great comments at the site, btw. This one is almost Rantburgesque: Is Shatan afraid of a fair fight. ... Why do they fear the FACT that real men WILL achieve military parody? The Iranians have achieved military parody. I can't do better than that! |
| Posted by: SteveS 2010-04-21 13:24 |
| #13 Heh, someone over in the article's comments copied my comment. Or else Scott is weird too. |
| Posted by: Whiskey Mike 2010-04-21 13:07 |
| #12 40 year old airplanes, Iranian knockoff parts, Inshallah aircraft maintenance. What could go wrong? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2010-04-21 11:59 |
| #11 What is the over/under for the number of these making off the ground and surviving long enough to get to altitude? |
| Posted by: No I am the other Beldar 2010-04-21 11:53 |
| #10 If I'm reading this right, it means that they've refurbished aging air-superiority two-seaters into bombers by duck-taping crap radar and rebuilt engines onto the surviving airframes. This has been the final use of about every fighter produced once it was obsoleted (cf use of P51 Mustangs in Corea and F6Fs Hellcats in Indochina by the French) |
| Posted by: JFM 2010-04-21 09:25 |
| #9 "#8 I wonder how these stack up to the Raptor (which hopefully we will start producing again)? I'm thinking that air to air it would take about 4 Raptors to take out these new and improved F14's." All of them. BTW, did anyone read the comments that were accompanied by that article, wow.... |
| Posted by: Keeney 2010-04-21 09:22 |
| #8 I wonder how these stack up to the Raptor (which hopefully we will start producing again)? I'm thinking that air to air it would take about 4 Raptors to take out these new and improved F14's. |
| Posted by: Keeney 2010-04-21 09:17 |
| #7 If I'm reading this right, it means that they've refurbished aging air-superiority two-seaters into bombers by duck-taping crap radar and rebuilt engines onto the surviving airframes. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2010-04-21 09:16 |
| #6 Iran uses them mostly as AWACS due to the powerful radar. |
| Posted by: gromky 2010-04-21 04:59 |
| #5 Duct tape is my copilot. |
| Posted by: Whiskey Mike 2010-04-21 04:23 |
| #4 Well, I guess we know where the "missing" engines from Malaysia ended up. |
| Posted by: Lone Ranger 2010-04-21 00:47 |
| #3 the aircraft have been improved so that they are now equipped with a new generation of bombers that could not be installed before. In an in-your-wildest-dreams best scenario, they'd have about 40 of the original 79. There were 20 or so flyable-ones last year. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2010-04-21 00:31 |
| #2 Kinda gives that Highway to the Danger Zone song new meaning... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2010-04-21 00:12 |
| #1 "completely overhauled" Over here, it's called "repainting". |
| Posted by: gorb 2010-04-21 00:08 |