Key Points and Summary – The F-14 Tomcat, iconic in U.S. Navy service, actually saw its most intense combat not with America, but in Iranian hands over Iraq and Iran.
-Iran’s U.S.-supplied F-14s, with their powerful AWG-9 radar and long range, gave Iranian pilots a decisive edge in the early Iran-Iraq War, allowing long-range engagements and brutal dogfights.
F-14D Tomcat at Smithsonian. Image Credit: Dr. Brent M. Eastwood/National Security Journal.
-Yet sanctions, maintenance shortfalls, and pilot shortages steadily shrank Iran’s operational fleet.
-The U.S. retired its own F-14s in 2006 as too costly and outdated. Today, Iran’s remaining Tomcats are largely symbolic, outclassed by modern fighters and hard to keep flying.
Why the F-14 Tomcat Fought Hardest for Iran, Not the U.S. Navy
The F-14 Tomcat was the cornerstone of the U.S. Navy’s combat aviation during much of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Made famous outside of defense circles by Tom Cruise and the Top Gun films, the jet is easily identifiable thanks to its swing-wing design.
Compared to the jet that the F-14 replaced, the venerable F-4 Phantom II, the Tomcat offered significant advantages. The jet’s then-advanced AN/AWG-9 allowed F-14s to find and track multiple moving targets simultaneously, and the jet’s variable wing geometry allowed it to quickly sprint to intercept adversary aircraft or spend a great deal of time on-station.
Even compared to today’s combat aircraft, the F-14’s range was remarkable. At 1,600 nautical miles, it outclasses the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet, and even today’s F-35C, the naval variant of the F-35. Those jets have ranges of 1,275 and 1,200 nautical miles, respectively, although with their modern sensors and weapons they are more capable platforms.
Range is an attribute other services seem keen to boost. An infographic shared by the U.S. Air Force indicates the upcoming F-22 Raptor replacement, the F-47 air superiority fighter, will have a range of more than 1,000 nautical miles, a significant improvement compared to previous aircraft.
F-14 Tomcat Fighter U.S. Navy. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
The F-14 and the Iran-Iraq War
In an ironic twist of fate, the American-built F-14 Tomcat would see a punishing amount of combat in the Middle East—but not with the United States. Instead, the Tomcat saw extensive use during the nearly decade-long Iran-Iraq War.
Smithsonian Magazine writes about the war, and in particular Iranian pilots’ combat experience with the remarkable combat jet. The magazine wrote that “the most intense periods of air combat were the first two months of the war.”
Smithsonian goes on to explain that one Iranian pilot “who was involved in the early actions against the Iraqi air force recalled, ‘There was little on the ground to stop the massed Iraqi Army from rolling east. Our air force intercepted Iraqi fighters over the border, bombed the Iraqis on the ground, and launched air strikes deep into enemy airspace.”
The Iranian pilots were at a distinct advantage against their Iraqi adversaries, in large part because of the F-14. Those jets, Smithsonian explains, were “equipped with the AWG-9 pulse Doppler radar, the Iranian pilots could hit an enemy aircraft from 100 miles away, but the pilots also appreciated the airplane’s fighting abilities close in.”
The article quotes another Iranian pilot who described the jet’s remarkable aerial capabilities. “The capability of the F-14A to snap around during the dogfight was unequalled,” the pilot, Major Farhad, said. “After only 100 hours of training, I learned to pitch the nose of my Tomcat up at a 75-degree [angle of attack] in just over a second, turn around, and acquire the opponent either with Sidewinders or the gun.”
Baghdad and Tehran both preserved their fighter and bomber fleets as best they could. During the conflict, both sides’ combat aircraft fleets played a deterrent role not unlike the role nuclear weapons played for the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Iran and Iraq husbanded their fighter jets, loathe to sacrifice them in combat.
F-14 Tomcat Photo Taken on August 24 2025. Image Credit: Jack Buckby/National Security Journal.
Fighters were often kept in reserve, held back for cases of extreme need.
Smithsonian writes that initially Tehran “attempted to keep some 60 Tomcats in operational condition, but intensive flying and lack of qualified maintenance personnel—not the lack of spare parts, as is commonly believed—forced it to scale back the number of operational F-14s to 40 by 1984, and to 25 by 1986.”
Out to Pasture
The F-14 was retired from U.S. service in 2006. The U.S. Navy cited the jet’s relatively expensive and intensive maintenance requirements as one of the primary reasons for its retirement.
Additionally, by the mid-2000s, the Tomcat had limited ability to incorporate new technologies; it had reached the end of its usefulness to the Navy. And while Iran continues to count the jet in service, the Tomcat’s role there is likely largely symbolic.
Given that the jet first flew around half a century ago, modern fighters outclass the Tomcat. Iran has a limited ability to sustain its fleet of F-14s as well, thanks to the embargo of military aid to that country.
Today in Iran, Tomcats are considered combat-ineffective, given the advancements in combat aviation since the jet debuted.
About the Author: Caleb Larson
Caleb Larson is an American multiformat journalist based in Berlin, Germany. His work covers the intersection of conflict and society, focusing on American foreign policy and European security. He has reported from Germany, Russia, and the United States. Most recently, he covered the war in Ukraine, reporting extensively on the war’s shifting battle lines from Donbas and writing on the war’s civilian and humanitarian toll. Previously, he worked as a Defense Reporter for POLITICO Europe. You can follow his latest work on X.
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