Iranian state media released footage on June 10 showing an Iranian F-14 Tomcat returning from an operational mission during the Iran-Iraq War.
The plane, which might as well be an antique by today’s standards, remains a point of curiosity among American audiences because Iran is still using it.
F-14 Tomcat on Flight Deck of USS Intrepid. National Security Journal Photo.
On board USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75).
An F-14B Tomcat assigned to the”Swordsmen” of Fighter Squadron Three Two (VF-32) launches off of one of four steam powerd catapults on the flight deck. The Harry S. Truman carrier strike group is on a six-month deployment in support of the global war on terrorism and is currently conducting carrier qualifications of the east coast of the Untied States. US Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate Airman Ryan O’Connor. (Released by HST Public Affairs)
According to Military Watch Magazine, the footage shows an F-14 from Iran’s Eighth Tactical Fighter Base deploying near Isfahan, the principal home of Iran’s remaining Tomcat fleet.
That footage represents the first publicly released footage showing an Iranian F-14 landing after a combat sortie.
The Last F-14s Flying
Iran is today the only country in the world that still flies the F-14. The United States retired its Tomcats in 2006.
Iran bought 79 F-14s when the Shāh ruled there.
Then the Islamic Revolution of 1979 occurred, and the United States cut the Islamic Republic off after the hostage crisis of that year and the subsequent years of hostilities with Tehran that followed (indeed, from that moment the path to the current war was charted over the course of 47 years).
F-14 Tomcat. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Because of the sanctions the US imposed on Iran, Tehran had to extend the lifespans of its US-provided F-14s and create its own supply chain to maintain these legendary warplanes (made famous in the original Top Gun film).
One question that comes to mind when considering that the Iranians were facing the fourth-and fifth-generation warplanes of the United States and Israel air forces is, why would Iran commit such a rare and valuable aircraft to wartime operations?
What Good Is the F-14 Today?
Per the original Military Watch Magazine piece exposing the presence of Iran’s F-14s, Tehran was using the F-14s in their traditional roles of long-range air defense, airspace patrols, command-and-control functions, and employment of long-range air-to-air strikes, rather than trying to engage modern Western fighters in close combat.
But let’s get real.
The Americans and Israelis were relying upon their beyond-visual-range (BVR) capabilities to strike Iran throughout the more than 100-day war.
So, Iran’s antique F-14s would not have been anywhere near as effective as the US planes were at BVR warfare.
Tehran was deploying these birds publicly with the hope that Western media outlets would capture the planes in operation, further humiliating the Trump administration, which has insisted for weeks that it destroyed Iran’s Air Force.
These photos stand in stark contrast to the administration’s hollow claims.
US Intelligence Got It Wrong (Again). Iran’s Air Force Still Flies
Anyway, the footage indicates that the Islamic Republic still had combat-capable F-14s at a time when Western analysts had long assumed the Iranians had only a handful of these old planes operational, even before the war.
Iran’s maintenance system is clearly more resilient, too. Keeping these antique fighters operational after nearly 50 years of sanctions is an extraordinary logistical achievement.
Here’s another troubling thing for US and Israeli forces, which might eventually resume warfare against Iran.
Contrary to the claims of the Trump administration, Iran clearly has preserved more of its air-defense network than what Western publics were told.
That Iranian F-14 is an indicator of a massive intelligence failure in the conduct of the Iran War. If Washington got the destruction of the Iranian Air Force wrong, what else did they get wrong?
We Love Taking Pictures of the F-14 Tomcat: A Short Sample of Our Original Photos
We have spent many hours photographing the F-14 Tomcat over the years. Below, we have included a brief sample of some of our work over the years to give you a little more context about this fighter.
F-14D National Security Journal Photo.
F-14D Tomcat at Smithsonian. Image Credit: Dr. Brent M. Eastwood/National Security Journal.
F-14D Tomcat NSJ Image. Image Credit: Taken by Jack Buckby on 9/18/2025.
F-14D Tomcat Up Close on USS Intrepid. Image Credit: National Security Journal.
About the Author: Brandon J. Weichert
Brandon J. Weichert is Senior National Security Editor. He also manages The Weichert Brief on Substack. Weichert also hosts “National Security Talk” on Rumble. He is the author of four bestselling national security books, the most recent of which is A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine (Encounter Books). Follow him via Twitter/X @WeTheBrandon.
