Part Two
Isfahan 8th TAB 1977
In early 1979, during the uprising of the Iranian people against the regime and the mayhem within the military, the F-14 pilots, including 1st Lt. F. AliMazandarani, managed to secure the fighters and relative top secret parts and components from the angry crowd and the American personnel stationed in Khatami AFB, home of the Tomcats at the time. The U.S. personnel left the base weeks before The Shah of Iran was overthrown.
IRIAF
Between February 1979 and September 22nd, 1980, like any other Air Force Bases, the F-14s were flying with very low frequency due to post revolution chaos resulting in purging of personnel. The 8th TFB in Esfahan was filled with different political leaders and groups which had turned this base into the most political military base in the country as well as creating an undesirable atmosphere in The IRIAF. Amidst the chaos, 1st Lt. AliMazandarani decided to resign from the air force and while the base commander was against his resignation, he managed to obtain travel permission to H.Q. to submit his resignation and receive approval along with two of the other F-14 pilots on September 9th, 1980. The same night after returning home late, he found a letter requesting his presence at 03:30am in 8th TFB’s Command Post. Prior to the official attack of Iraq on September 22nd, 1980, there had been some light exchange of fire alongside the boarder as well as Iraqi fighters bombing border villages and cities in Iranian territory. Upon his arrival to the command post with his colleague Maj. Shahram Rostami, they were briefed by base commander, Col. H. Sadeghpour, of an operation inside Iraqi territory presumably in response to the bombing of Iranian border villages and cities. The plan was to escort a strike group of F-4 fighters, as they bombed a Fighter Base deep into Iraqi territory. The operation was called Sultan (King) later on. Only a few hours later and just before dawn, with military discharge papers in hand awaiting final approval, AliMazandarani took off alone from Esfahan 8th TFB with WSO 2nd Lt. M. Reza BenJavad Talebi. The flight leader, Major Rostami, encountered an engine after burner blow out in both jet engines during takeoff roll leaving AliMazandarani’s F-14 as the only support fighter. It was on the return of this flight that the infamous report of mass Iraqi ground forces behind the border was given by 1st Lt. AliMazandarani and passed on to The Joint Chiefs of Staff. After this operation, 1st Lt. AliMazandarani began flying regularly until September 22nd, when the war officially started. His discharge papers were never signed and approved.
Elected President Abolhassan Banisadr visiting Air Force H.Q. shaking hands with AliMazandarani
The Tomcats had increased patrol and needed aerial refueling during the day as well as night; however, the night aerial refueling of the F-14 had not been done by the Americans or the Iranians till that time. The 72nd squadron based in 7th TFB, Shiraz was responsible to work on this project; however, on September 14th, 1980, 1st Lt. F. AliMazandarani & Maj. Mohammad Hashem Ale-Agha acting as WSO, successfully managed to refuel at night in one of their night scramble missions and practiced both dry & wet contacts up to 40 times. Upon return, although Maj. Ale-Agha was an IPSO (instructor), however since the flight was not a training mission, 1st Lt. Ali Mazandarani as the commander of the F-14 was reprimanded by Col. H. Sadeghpour, the base commander, for performing actions against standard flight regulations.But when Col. Javad Fakouri, The IRIAF Commander, was informed of the incident, he immediately ordered to schedule all active pilots in Isfahan Air Base for night refueling check, as well as expunging 1st Lt. AliMazandarani’s reprimand from his personnel file.
Three days later, 1st Lt. Fereidoun AliMazandarani, accompanied by WSO 2nd Lt. Ghasem Sultani, fired his first Phoenix missile with enough overtake from 11 Milles in trail of an Iraqi fighter, a MIG- 23 Flogger, and shot it down over the city of Mehran. This would be the first ever fired Phoenix missile in pursuit of an enemy fighter instead of the standard head on firing profile. On September 25th, he and WSO 2nd Lt. Hassan Najafi flying at an altitude of 24,000 feet and a range of 40Km fired two Phoenix missiles simultaneously downing two Iraqi fighters flying below 100 feet near the city of Yasoudj. One of the pilots ejected after seeing his comrade struck, crushing both elbows during ejection due to his haste.
1st Lt. AliMazandarani and WSO 2nd Lt. Ghasem Sultani provided air cover at the border for four F-4E Phantoms on September 30th, when they attacked and bombed Osirak Nuclear Plant successfully. On November 13th, 1980 he got into an intense dogfight with a Mig-23. Both skilled pilots tried to get each other in their respected gun sight and in a proficient display of aerial combat, both aircrafts started descending from 24,000 feet at high speed in a tight spiral scissor like maneuver. 1st Lt. AliMazandarani requested repeated altitude check and an alert at 300 feet above ground level from his WSO, 2nd Lt. Yousef Ahmadi, as he only managed to fire two bursts of gun, while the Iraqi pilot skillfully dodged the 20mm rounds. Once they hit 300 feet, AliMazandarani pulled up and inverted his aircraft observing the Mig-23 crash into the ground before the formidable adversary had a chance to eject. He later requested from the search and rescue team to check the identity of the Iraqi pilot only to find out his rank, a Major, possibly one of the Squadron Commanders of Al-Shoeibieh Base in Iraq.
On November 30th, another two Iraqi fighters were shot down while 2nd Lt. Ebrahim Ansareen acted as his WSO over Khor Mosa in The Persian Gulf, firing two Phoenix missiles. April 24th, 1981 flying with WSO 1st Lt. M. FarrokhNazar, they shot down an Iraqi fighter using their Phoenix missile. In February of 1984, he and WSO 2nd Lt. M. Sezavar Shokouh shot down a Mirage using guns in Northeast of Boubian Island. On March 24th, 1985, while flying with limited amount of fuel (Bingo Fuel), he and his WSO, 1st Lt. Abbas Sanatkar, were ordered to engage 13 aircrafts heading for the numerous loaded oil tankers anchored next to Kharq Island in The Persian Gulf. Outnumbered and low on fuel, they managed to defeat several incoming air to air missiles launched from the escort fighters causing the bombers to drop their load in the water, break formation and return frantically with their escorts. Not being able to pursue the enemy due to extremely low fuel, they returned to hook up with the B-707 tanker. As a result of this engagement at altitudes below 50ft over the water, it was discovered later by the listening posts that 3 out of 13 aircrafts, 2 Mirage F-1EQs & 1 Mig-27, never made it back, most likely crashing into the water.
During the war, Iraq had devised a few tactics to shoot down Iranian F-14 Tomcats. One of these methods was attacking from several directions with multiple aircrafts. For this type of strategy, the Iraqis would usually use the Mirage F-1EQ and its modern Super Matra air to air missiles, known to the Iranian pilots as the “Red Head” to hunt the F-14s. During Capt. AliMazandarani’s annual stand check flight and CAP mission southwest of Kharq Island area, he and WSO Maj. Javad Shokraei, an F-14 IP (instructor) himself, encountered two groups of three and two Iraqi fighters coming towards them from two different directions. Flying below 50ft over The Persian Gulf and at a speed of 690 Knots, they engaged the fighters when they realized that the Master Arm switch had failed. At the same time the Iraqi fighters had fired six Super Matra missiles towards them. Defenseless, the F-14 had no choice but to perform hard and extensive maneuvers to defeat the missiles. Finally, one of fighters, a Mirage F-1EQ, was seen by the crew to hit the water and shortly after, the rest fled back to their base. On the way back to the base, they were advised by radar and ELINT posts that only 3 out of 5 aircrafts had returned, indicating a second loss of an Iraqi fighter. However, as a result of these maneuverings and high G turns of up to 11.5Gs, Capt. AliMazandarani cracked his helmet from hitting the canopy and ripped his G-Suit due to sudden increase in pressure. Maj. Shokraii suffered neck injury from checking their six o’clock during the maneuvers and had to wear a neck brace for six months after this flight. After retiring, AliMazandarani was forced to perform two extensive knee surgeries on both his knees, minor surgery on his wrists and a heart surgery. Later he lost motor function on the right side of his body that required spinal surgery and a protease implant in his cervical spine, mainly to this and other CAP missions. The crew was not the only casualty of this flight. Non-destructive Inspection (NDI) analysis of the F-14 showed 19 cracks and fractures along the longitudinal axis of the aircraft which put the aircraft out of service for almost two years.
In early 1987, due to shortage of Phoenix missile coolants & batteries, the IRIAF was in search of suitable and reliable air to air missiles. As a result, Project SEDJIL was initiated. The team, directed by Maj. AliMazandarani, was tasked to find proper missiles available in the Iranian Armed Forces’ arsenal and as a result the MIM-23 Hawk surface to air missile was selected.
Upon the completion of the program, the final test was to be performed on an actual enemy aircraft in form of live test and in real combat scenario. As a result, after 3 days of alert status, Maj. Fereidoun AliMazandarani, scrambled his F-14 from Busher AFB with his Sedjil teammate, WSO 1st Lt. Ebrahim Ansareen, and headed towards the targets over The Persian Gulf. The first missile failed as the ground crew had loaded a bad rocket used for the initial tests on his F-14. Quickly the target was reacquired by radar and locked on. The second Hawk missile (renamed Sedjil) was fired at a range of 20 miles striking its target dead on. The downed fighter was later confirmed to be the French made Super Etendard that was able to carry the infamous Exocet anti ship missiles. After the successful operational test, it was immediately ordered to equip several of the F-14s with the modified MIM-23 missile, renamed SEDJIL.
Col. Fereidoun AliMazandarani flew over 540 sorties and logged in over 2,800 hours of flight time during the 8 year war up to his retirement; a total of over 650 sorties and almost 3,000 hours on The Tomcat, making him one of the most successful pilots during the history of this superior interceptor.
AliMazandarani saluting the fallen IRIAF commander, Col. Abbas Babaii, K.I.A. by friendly AAA fire.
Commemoration of the war, 1993
No. 6, AliMazandarani, No.10, Abolfazl Mehreganfar, No.12, Fazlollah Javidnia, No.14, Jalil Zandi
Besides being a fighter pilot, Col. Fereidoun AliMazandarani had been assigned to several other responsibilities during the war period and post war period. These responsibilities included supervising the affairs of the air force personnel (K.I.A., P.O.W. and Veterans) from Jan. 1981 to November 1995, active duty in Operations Training Management, Air Force Operations & Mission Planning Supervisor, Biweekly, alternate operation flights, between Isfahan, Shiraz, Bushehr and Omidiyeh AFBs until the end of the war and afterwards, Special Investigator to some of the air force aircraft accidents during the war, air force permanent representative in the “P.O.W. Support Committee”, The Armed Forces’ representative to the P.O.W. exchange negotiation team, Deputy to the M.I.A. Committee of Joint Chiefs of Staff, Deputy to the Air Force Operations Intelligence (Nov.1995-Mar. 1999), the establish, setup and running of Safat Airlines and chairman of the board of directors from 1993-1999.
Besides being a fighter pilot, Col. Fereidoun AliMazandarani had been assigned to several other responsibilities during the war period and post war period. These responsibilities included supervising the affairs of the air force personnel (K.I.A., P.O.W. and Veterans) from Jan. 1981 to November 1995, active duty in Operations Training Management, Air Force Operations & Mission Planning Supervisor, Biweekly, alternate operation flights, between Isfahan, Shiraz, Bushehr and Omidiyeh AFBs until the end of the war and afterwards, Special Investigator to some of the air force aircraft accidents during the war, air force permanent representative in the “P.O.W. Support Committee”, The Armed Forces’ representative to the P.O.W. exchange negotiation team, Deputy to the M.I.A. Committee of Joint Chiefs of Staff, Deputy to the Air Force Operations Intelligence (Nov.1995-Mar. 1999), the establish, setup and running of Safat Airlines and chairman of the board of directors from 1993-1999.
Return of P.O.W. F-4 Pilot Davood Sehati
Return of P.O.W. F-4 Pilot Mohammad Seddigh
Return of P.O.W. F-4 Pilot Houshang Azhari
Colonel Fereidoun AliMazandarani served the Iranian Air Force for 27 years and 4 months and was retired from The IRIAF on March 22nd, 1999, thirty two months sooner than the 30 year norm. He is currently country manager for Emirates Industrial Lab in Iran as well as a consultant and inspector for commercial airliners interested in purchasing commercial and cargo planes.
Retired Col. Fereidoun AliMazandarani
Retired AliMazandarani visiting the Antonov Factory
