A report on History of Iranian military aviation, AIM-54 Phoenix and Iran–Iraq War

Top-left to bottom-right: Iranian child soldier on the frontlines

Iranian soldier in a trench wearing a gas mask to guard against Iraqi chemical attacks

Port quarter view of the USS Stark listing to port after being mistakenly struck by an Iraqi warplane

Pro-Iraq MEK forces killed during Iran's Operation Mersad

Iraqi prisoners of war after the recapture of Khorramshahr by Iranian forces

ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft gun being used by the Iranian Army

Eight major officers of the IIAF, in the 1930s.

Meeting of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Houari Boumédiène and Saddam Hussein (left to right) during the Algiers Agreement in 1975.

An F-86 Sabre from the Golden Crown aerobatic display team, of the Imperial Iranian Air Force.

Ruhollah Khomeini rose to power after the Iranian Revolution.

CH-47C Chinook of the Imperial Iranian Air Force at Issy heliport, Paris, in 1971.

An AIM-54A launched from the NA-3A-testbed in 1966

Location of Khuzestan Province in Iran which Iraq planned to annex

The first F-4D Phantom II squadron of Iran, 1971.

AIM-54 Phoenix seconds after launch (1991)

Iranian President Abolhassan Banisadr, who was also commander-in-chief, on a Jeep-mounted 106mm recoilless anti-tank gun. Banisadr was impeached in June 1981.

Two F-14 Tomcats equipped with multiple missiles, circa 1986

An AIM-54 hitting a QF-4B target drone, 1983.

The Shatt al-Arab on the Iran–Iraq border

The first squadron of Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force F-14 Tomcat pilots, at Shiraz Air Base.

An AIM-54 Phoenix being attached to an F-14 wing pylon before the forward fins were installed (2003).

Iranian F-14 Tomcats armed with multiple missiles, including AIM-54 Phoenix, 1986.

Iranian F-14A Tomcats equipped with AIM-54A, AIM-7 and AIM-9 missiles.

An AIM-54A "Phoenix" missile on display at Grumman Memorial Park in New York State

Resistance of the outnumbered and outgunned Iranians in Khorramshahr slowed the Iraqis for a month.

Map with AIM-54 Phoenix operators in blue with former operators in red

Iranian president Abulhassan Banisadr on the battlefront

A Boeing 707 of the Imperial Iranian Air Force refuels a Boeing 747 of the IIAF.

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and Massoud Rajavi, the leader of MEK and the National Resistance Council of Iran (NCRI) in 1988.

The surprise attack on H-3 airbase is considered to be one of the most sophisticated air operations of the war.

Iranian soldier holding an IV bag during the Iran–Iraq War

Iranian Northrop F-5 aircraft during Iran-Iraq war

Iraqi T-62 tank wreckage in Khuzestan Province, Iran

Iraqi soldiers surrendering after the Liberation of Khorramshahr

An admonitory declaration issued from the Iraqi government in order to warn Iranian troops in the Iran–Iraq War. The statement says: "Hey Iranians! No one has been downtrodden in the country where Ali ibn Abi Ṭālib, Husayn ibn Ali and Abbas ibn Ali are buried. Iraq has undoubtedly been an honorable country. All refugees are precious. Anyone who wants to live in exile can choose Iraq freely. We, the Sons of Iraq, have been ambushing foreign aggressors. The enemies who plan to assault Iraq will be disfavoured by God in this world and the hereafter. Be careful of attacking Iraq and Ali ibn Abi Ṭālib! If you surrender, you might be in peace."

95,000 Iranian child soldiers were made casualties during the Iran–Iraq War, mostly between the ages of 16 and 17, with a few younger.

Iraqi POW who was shot by Iranian troops after they conquered the Iraqi Majnoon oil field in October 1984

Iranian troops fire 152 mm D-20 howitzer

Battle of the Marshes Iran front 1983 rest after exchange of fire 152 mm D-20 H

Operation Earnest Will: Tanker convoy No. 12 under US Navy escort (21 October 1987)

A map indicating the attacks on civilian areas of Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait targeted during the "War of the Cities".

Iraqi commanders discussing strategy on the battlefront (1986)

Iranian President Ali Khamenei on the battlefront during the Iran–Iraq War

Operation Dawn 8 during which Iran captured the Faw Peninsula.

Iranian soldier killed during the Iran–Iraq War with Rouhollah Khomeini's photo on his uniform

The People's Mujahedin of Iran, supported by Saddam, started a ten-day operation after both the Iranian and Iraqi governments accepted UN Resolution 598. Casualty estimates range from 2,000 to 10,000.

Adnan Khairallah, Iraqi Defense Minister, meeting with Iraqi soldiers during the war

IRGC navy speedboats using swarm tactics

An Iranian soldier wearing a gas mask during the Iran–Iraq War.

The Iranian frigate IS Sahand burns after being hit by 20 U.S. air launched missiles and bombs, killing a third of the crew, April 1988

Iranian soldiers captured during Iraq's 1988 offensives

USS Vincennes in 1987 a year before it shot down Iran Air Flight 655

MEK Soldiers killed in Operation Mersad in 1988

Al-Shaheed Monument in Baghdad was erected to commemorate the fallen Iraqi soldiers during the war.

An Iranian soldier's funeral in Mashhad, 2013

An Iraqi Mil Mi-24 on display at the military museum of Sa'dabad Palace in Iran

President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H. W. Bush work in the Oval Office of the White House, 20 July 1984.

USS Stark (FFG-31) listing following two hits by Exocet missiles.

Victims of the 1987 chemical attack on Sardasht, West Azerbaijan, Iran

Damage to a mosque in Khoramshahr, Iran, the city that was invaded by Iraq in September 1980

The AIM-54 has been used in 62 air-to-air strikes, all by Iran during the eight-year Iran–Iraq War.

- AIM-54 Phoenix

Consequently, it also became the only other operator of the AIM-54 Phoenix air-to-air missile.

- History of Iranian military aviation

After the 1979 Iranian revolution, some of these planes were not in working order due to a lack of necessary spare parts, because of an American arms embargo and damage sustained on the aircraft during the Iraqi invasion (Iran–Iraq War).

- History of Iranian military aviation

On January 7, 1974 as part of Project Persian King, the Imperial Iranian Air Force placed an order for 424 AIM-54As, later increasing it by 290 missiles that June.

- AIM-54 Phoenix

The only qualms the Iraqis had were over the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (formerly the Imperial Iranian Air Force).

- Iran–Iraq War

Meanwhile, Iraqi air attacks on Iran were repelled by Iran's F-14A Tomcat interceptor fighter jets, using AIM-54A Phoenix missiles, which downed a dozen of Iraq's Soviet-built fighters in the first two days of battle.

- Iran–Iraq War

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A U.S. Navy F-14D conducts a mission over the Persian Gulf-region in 2005.

Grumman F-14 Tomcat

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American carrier-capable supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft.

The F-111B was designed to fulfill the carrier-based interceptor role, but had weight and performance problems, and was not suited to the types of aerial combat that were predominant over Vietnam

Grumman's VFX entry was designed around the TF30 engine, AWG-9 radar and AIM-54 missile intended for the F-111B; this eventually became the F-14A

VFA-143 "Pukin Dogs" F-14B and F/A-18E Super Hornet in 2005

An F-14D launching an AIM-7 Sparrow; a GBU-10 Paveway II is also carried.

An F-14D(R) from VF-213 flying over Iraq on last Tomcat deployment with LANTIRN pod on starboard wing glove station and LGB underneath fuselage.

F-14 Tomcat with wings in asymmetric sweep during testing for this possible in-flight malfunction

Rear view of the F-14 showing the area between the engine nacelles

An F-14D prepares to refuel with probe extended.

F-14 Tomcat carrying an AIM-120 AMRAAM during a 1982 test.

Two Iranian Tomcats equipped with multiple missiles, circa 1986, in the midst of a project to adapt I-Hawk surface-to-air missiles for F-14s

An F-14A of VF-84 Jolly Rogers, in a 1970s color scheme

An F-14A from VF-114 intercepting a Soviet Tu-95RT "Bear-D" maritime reconnaissance aircraft.

An F-14A of VF-32 during Operation Desert Storm with a KC-135 Stratotanker and two EA-6B Prowlers in the background

A Navy F-14D flying over the skies of Afghanistan on a precision bombing mission in November 2001.

The last F-14 launch from a carrier, USS Theodore Roosevelt on 28 July 2006

Iranian ace Jalil Zandi is credited with shooting down 11 Iraqi aircraft during the Iran–Iraq War, making him the highest scoring F-14 pilot.

Formation flight of Iranian Tomcats, 2008

Close-up view of the distinctive afterburner petals of the GE F110 engine

An upgraded F-14D(R) Tomcat with the ROVER transmit antenna circled with USS Theodore Roosevelt in the background

Grumman's proposed F-14 Interceptor for USAF Aerospace Defense Command in 1972 with the simulated "Buzz Code" and Aerospace Defense Command livery and emblem on the tail

F-14 Tomcat operators as of 2014 (former operators in red)

An IRIAF F-14 Tomcat landing at Mehrabad, Iran.

F-14A Tomcat of NFWS (TOPGUN) NAS Miramar c. 1993

Front view of an F-14A at Yokota Air Base, Tokyo, Japan, 2003

F-14A BuNo 162689 at the USS Hornet Museum in Alameda, California, 2009

An F-14A on display at Grumman Memorial Park in New York

F-14A BuNo 160661 on display at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center's Aviation Challenge facility in Huntsville, Alabama, 2009

F-14B at the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum

F-14A of VF-84 "Jolly Rogers" at the Museum of Flight

F-14A of VF 111 "Sundowners" (USS Carl Vinson)

F-14B from the VF-211 Fighting Checkmates carrying six AIM-54 Phoenix missiles.

In the 1980s, F-14s were used as land-based interceptors by the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force during the Iran–Iraq War, where they saw combat against Iraqi warplanes.

The F-14 remains in service with Iran's air force, having been exported to Iran under the Pahlavi dynasty in 1976.

The VFX's air-to-air missiles would be either six AIM-54 Phoenix or a combination of six AIM-7 Sparrow and four AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles.