IRIAF has upgraded the avionics, fuselage, airframes, radars and weapons systems on all remaining 50+ F-14A Persian Cats. (Iran has retained over 66 airframes out of the 79 aircraft delivered prior to 1979). 30 airframes had been put in storage and upgraded after local spares and weapons systems production was ramped up.
Noteworthy that IRIAF F-14s can carry several types of
air-to-air missiles.
In fact along with the M61A1 Vulan 20mm internal cannon,
AIM-54 Phoenix radar-guided long-range air-to-air missile, AIM-7 Sparrow medium-range semi-active radar homing air-to-air missile and
AIM-9 Sidewinder short-range air-to-air missile, Iranian Tomcats can be loaded also with the
Fakour-90 air-to-air missile, the lethal Iranian made AIM-54
BVR air to-air-missile. The
Fakour-90 is an Iranian
air-to-air missile based on the
AIM-54 Phoenix It is solely deployed on Iran's
F-14 Tomcats.
Iranian fleet have reportedly received over 250 modifications and upgrades each, including the provision of new radars, cockpit displays, electronic warfare suites and other critical avionics.
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The significance of a growing Iranian fleet of heavily upgraded F-14 fighters is not to be underestimated, and has considerable implications for the country’s aerial warfare capabilities. With most of the country’s Tomcats having seen well under a decade of service, some under five years, before a lack of parts placed them in storage, these airframes are essentially brand new and, with the supply of new parts, can be fielded in considerable numbers - with 40 F-14 fighters currently in active service, and some estimates putting this figure much higher. With the Fakour-90 inheriting and improving on the high precision of the AIM-54, and using a more effective fuel composite reportedly developed with Russian assistance, the missile has a range of little under 300km - slightly less than that of its Russian analogue the R-33. This gives Iranian Tomcats, with a steady supply of indigenously manufactured munitions, an engagement range approximately four times that of the American 75km range AIM-120B, the main long range air to air missile of most U.S. clients, and almost three times that of the more advanced AIM-120C. Indeed, in the event of a regional war Iranian Tomcats can
safely shoot down fighters over Saudi Arabia without leaving Iranian airspace - and even target jets over Israel if crossing a little over the Iraqi border. The Fakour-90 is very likely to have inherited the Phoenix's hypersonic speed, making it both faster and longer ranged than the AIM-120 deployed by Saudi and Israeli F-15s.
