Pentagon will sell F-14 Tomcat parts to Iran

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Pens1566

Lifer
Oct 11, 2005
11,580
8,037
136
Originally posted by: Aimster
Originally posted by: Pens1566
Originally posted by: Aimster
Originally posted by: EagleKeeper
Note that in my comments, I mentioned combat ready

Northrup Grumman was responsible for mainting the A/C in such a state until the Shah fell.

Then NG pulled their people back.

After 20+ years, such critical knowledge has been lost.
Iran for years attempted to purchase illegally, F14 info (parts/manuals,etc) in order to maintain their fleet. They have pretty much failed in that attempt.

Also, they do not have a strong combat pilot training system.

However, again, why should we even consider putting our people in any higher risk by allowing them to have F14s that can be maintained in a combat state?

What do you mean combat ready? They were used during the Iran-Iraq war.

If they can fly why wouldnt they be combat ready? They have even reverse engineered the Hawk missile to fit on the F-14 and they've shown that it works. They probably have R-33 missiles on them now.

Russia trains Iran's air force and supplies the parts. Not saying Russia is great, but good enough to keep Iran's air force in working condition.

So why should we be helping them keep their 14s operational then?????? Please answer the question.

Who said anything about helping Iran?

Are you serious? You do know what thread you're posting in, right? About selling F14 parts to IRAN!!!!
 

Aimster

Lifer
Jan 5, 2003
16,129
2
0
Originally posted by: Pens1566
Originally posted by: Aimster
Originally posted by: Pens1566
Originally posted by: Aimster
Originally posted by: EagleKeeper
Note that in my comments, I mentioned combat ready

Northrup Grumman was responsible for mainting the A/C in such a state until the Shah fell.

Then NG pulled their people back.

After 20+ years, such critical knowledge has been lost.
Iran for years attempted to purchase illegally, F14 info (parts/manuals,etc) in order to maintain their fleet. They have pretty much failed in that attempt.

Also, they do not have a strong combat pilot training system.

However, again, why should we even consider putting our people in any higher risk by allowing them to have F14s that can be maintained in a combat state?

What do you mean combat ready? They were used during the Iran-Iraq war.

If they can fly why wouldnt they be combat ready? They have even reverse engineered the Hawk missile to fit on the F-14 and they've shown that it works. They probably have R-33 missiles on them now.

Russia trains Iran's air force and supplies the parts. Not saying Russia is great, but good enough to keep Iran's air force in working condition.

So why should we be helping them keep their 14s operational then?????? Please answer the question.

Who said anything about helping Iran?

Are you serious? You do know what thread you're posting in, right? About selling F14 parts to IRAN!!!!

I said it as a joke as in Iran's air force has no chance against the U.S .. as to this thread isnt a big deal and nothing to worry about.

Meaning OMG SO WHAT if Iran's air force has F-14s. They can have all the F-14s they want. They will never get a chance to leave the ground.
 

Pens1566

Lifer
Oct 11, 2005
11,580
8,037
136
I'm not into keeping the quote chain going so ...

We're not suggesting they stand a chance, we're asking why increase those chances at all? Even if it is remote, why help at all? It's just assinine. Why don't we sell them some centrifuge parts and Al tubes while we're at it. :(
 

Aimster

Lifer
Jan 5, 2003
16,129
2
0
Originally posted by: Pens1566
I'm not into keeping the quote chain going so ...

We're not suggesting they stand a chance, we're asking why increase those chances at all? Even if it is remote, why help at all? It's just assinine. Why don't we sell them some centrifuge parts and Al tubes while we're at it. :(

I never agreed with the U.S selling anything to Iran.
I was simplying saying it is not something to lose sleep over because the U.S has security flaws in selling spare parts to Iran. Fix those flaws and move on. The media stopped talking about it because it wasn't a OMG WTF Major headline news.

If the U.S was selling Iran technology that Iran doesn't have then YES major concern.

Of course the U.S shouldn't give Iran any parts. I only said that to say it makes no difference at all what Iran has and that an F-14 stands no chance against a shock and awe from the U.S.
To say how weak Iran's air force is I made a little joke about the U.S simply shipping all of the F-14s to Iran.
They can have all the F-14s they want. Their air force is still going to be destroyed in 2 hours.

Iran's not stupid they know this. That is why their military budget is spent on mostly on missiles rather than air force.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if the U.S sends in only F-22s into Iran (which would be smart) how in the world is Iran going to take any of them out if they cannot see the F-22s? Assuming they even have a chance to get any aircraft off the ground.
 

91TTZ

Lifer
Jan 31, 2005
14,374
1
0
Originally posted by: Aimster
Originally posted by: Arcex
Originally posted by: Aimster
so you are saying the F-14 iss actually useful in today's world?

So an F-14 vs an upgrade Mig-29. Who would win?

Better question, an F-14 versus a 747, who would win?

How about we don't give deadly and capable offensive weaponry to a country that is not an ally. If Iran wants the planes, they should start bargaining to become our allies, then we can talk.

Iran's F-14 is not their most advanced aircraft.

My point was an F-14 cannot go up against a Mig-29 which Iran has and which could possibly be upgraded with the recent Russian tech deal. so..wtf is the point of having an F-14 in the U.S fleet if it wont be able to go against an Iranian mig?

Forget Iran, what about all the other nations with Su-27s, etc. F-14 stands no chance.

F-14 was great , but it is not great in 2007.
Unless I am missing something about how wonderful an F-14 is against Russian aircraft.

Well, being that Iran has Mig-29s and can buy Su-27s, they seem to want to keep their F-14s for a reason.
 

91TTZ

Lifer
Jan 31, 2005
14,374
1
0
Originally posted by: Aimster
so you are saying the F-14 iss actually useful in today's world?

So an F-14 vs an upgrade Mig-29. Who would win?


It depends on the armament. The F-14 has a better radar and longer range missiles.

I don't think that Iran uses the F-14 as a dogfighter, they use it as an AWACS due to its powerful radar.
 

MadRat

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
11,910
238
106
The F-14D took approximately 40 hours of maintenance per flight hour during Operation Enduring Freedom. It was double what it took during the first gulf war. Why? Because it was allowed to fall apart. If the F-14's were maintained during peacetime they'd of held up much better and not had so many proken parts when it came to crunch time. But to keep the squids moving out and the flattops at sea they sacrificed the smaller parts of the whole. The whole fleet took alot of abuse the years between the frst gulf war and oef due to a declining budget. You have to remember alot of these programs came about during a drive to bankrupt the soviet union and were never intended to be maintained forever. Only the program myths outlived the cold war and the navy was stuck paying for something it could not.

In my opinion the entire F-14 fleet should of been developed into F-14D's and the super hornet program should of never happened. Quite frankly the F-14 had legs and capability that will not be even remotely replaced until the 2012-14 timeframe when F-35's get onboard in numbers.
 

EagleKeeper

Discussion Club Moderator<br>Elite Member
Staff member
Oct 30, 2000
42,591
5
0
Originally posted by: MadRatIn my opinion the entire F-14 fleet should of been developed into F-14D's and the super hornet program should of never happened. Quite frankly the F-14 had legs and capability that will not be even remotely replaced until the 2012-14 timeframe when F-35's get onboard in numbers.
If the F-35 gets there?

Remember that the project is on hold for now due to problems.
It may end up getting reworked, adding 5-10 years to the cycle.

 

imported_Lothar

Diamond Member
Aug 10, 2006
4,559
1
0
Originally posted by: EagleKeeper
Originally posted by: MadRatIn my opinion the entire F-14 fleet should of been developed into F-14D's and the super hornet program should of never happened. Quite frankly the F-14 had legs and capability that will not be even remotely replaced until the 2012-14 timeframe when F-35's get onboard in numbers.
If the F-35 gets there?

Remember that the project is on hold for now due to problems.
It may end up getting reworked, adding 5-10 years to the cycle.

What is the F-35 project on hold for? What problems?
 

EagleKeeper

Discussion Club Moderator<br>Elite Member
Staff member
Oct 30, 2000
42,591
5
0
Originally posted by: Lothar
Originally posted by: EagleKeeper
Originally posted by: MadRatIn my opinion the entire F-14 fleet should of been developed into F-14D's and the super hornet program should of never happened. Quite frankly the F-14 had legs and capability that will not be even remotely replaced until the 2012-14 timeframe when F-35's get onboard in numbers.
If the F-35 gets there?

Remember that the project is on hold for now due to problems.
It may end up getting reworked, adding 5-10 years to the cycle.

What is the F-35 project on hold for? What problems?
Look for the F-35 thread started by Kirk

 

imported_Lothar

Diamond Member
Aug 10, 2006
4,559
1
0
Originally posted by: EagleKeeper
Originally posted by: Lothar
Originally posted by: EagleKeeper
Originally posted by: MadRatIn my opinion the entire F-14 fleet should of been developed into F-14D's and the super hornet program should of never happened. Quite frankly the F-14 had legs and capability that will not be even remotely replaced until the 2012-14 timeframe when F-35's get onboard in numbers.
If the F-35 gets there?

Remember that the project is on hold for now due to problems.
It may end up getting reworked, adding 5-10 years to the cycle.

What is the F-35 project on hold for? What problems?
Look for the F-35 thread started by Kirk

I looked and didn't see anything saying the project is on hold or that they were getting into problems.
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...&STARTPAGE=1&FTVAR_FORUMVIEWTMP=Linear

Maybe I need glasses.
 

EagleKeeper

Discussion Club Moderator<br>Elite Member
Staff member
Oct 30, 2000
42,591
5
0
I looked again - the information that I was thinking about was not in that thread.

Last fall, Lockheed had problems meeting target deadliness and the goverment stepped in.
They supposedly put a hold on the project for 18 months, wanting an extensive review.

This is information that showed up in Lockheed's website and a few other avionics sites.
It caused Lockheed to shuffle manpower (in Tx at least) that was being sidelined . People on the project were given layoff notices
 
D

Deleted member 4644

Originally posted by: Aimster
Originally posted by: Arcex
Originally posted by: Aimster
so you are saying the F-14 iss actually useful in today's world?

So an F-14 vs an upgrade Mig-29. Who would win?

Better question, an F-14 versus a 747, who would win?

How about we don't give deadly and capable offensive weaponry to a country that is not an ally. If Iran wants the planes, they should start bargaining to become our allies, then we can talk.

Iran's F-14 is not their most advanced aircraft.

My point was an F-14 cannot go up against a Mig-29 which Iran has and which could possibly be upgraded with the recent Russian tech deal. so..wtf is the point of having an F-14 in the U.S fleet if it wont be able to go against an Iranian mig?

Forget Iran, what about all the other nations with Su-27s, etc. F-14 stands no chance.

F-14 was great , but it is not great in 2007.
Unless I am missing something about how wonderful an F-14 is against Russian aircraft.

Um... you are REALLY far off base here buddy. An F-14 might not be so hot against an F-22, but it is more than enough to cause HUGE problems for F-16s, F-15s, F-18s, and basically all the aircraft flown by allied nations. Even if Iran had a 3:1 loss ratio with their F-14s, they would take out more U.S. planes than anyone has done since World War II. The Pentagon should want to prevent that. Duh.
 
D

Deleted member 4644

Originally posted by: Aimster
so you all are saying that Iran's F-14s with 1970s tech is a threat for Israel's 90s tech F-16s?

Yes, easily. Maybe not 1:1 kill rate, but a threat, ABSOLUTELY.
 
D

Deleted member 4644

Originally posted by: Aimster
Originally posted by: Pens1566
I'm not into keeping the quote chain going so ...

We're not suggesting they stand a chance, we're asking why increase those chances at all? Even if it is remote, why help at all? It's just assinine. Why don't we sell them some centrifuge parts and Al tubes while we're at it. :(

I never agreed with the U.S selling anything to Iran.
I was simplying saying it is not something to lose sleep over because the U.S has security flaws in selling spare parts to Iran. Fix those flaws and move on. The media stopped talking about it because it wasn't a OMG WTF Major headline news.

If the U.S was selling Iran technology that Iran doesn't have then YES major concern.

Of course the U.S shouldn't give Iran any parts. I only said that to say it makes no difference at all what Iran has and that an F-14 stands no chance against a shock and awe from the U.S.
To say how weak Iran's air force is I made a little joke about the U.S simply shipping all of the F-14s to Iran.
They can have all the F-14s they want. Their air force is still going to be destroyed in 2 hours.

Iran's not stupid they know this. That is why their military budget is spent on mostly on missiles rather than air force.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if the U.S sends in only F-22s into Iran (which would be smart) how in the world is Iran going to take any of them out if they cannot see the F-22s? Assuming they even have a chance to get any aircraft off the ground.


You are wrong. First, the U.S. has something like 25 operational F-22s -- hardly enough to do damage to a country the size of Iran. We rely on our other fighters and bombers to do most of the work (actually, the F-22 has never seen combat). So if we attacked Iran (or if Iran attacked in the region) there would be a lot of planes involved that are not in the F-22 class.

An F-14 is not a "target practice" plane. A Mig-21 with moderate upgrades is still a DEADLY fighter. Maybe it would have a terrible kill rate vs. an F-15, but still it is deadly in the right situations. An F-14 is even more serious.

 

Zebo

Elite Member
Jul 29, 2001
39,398
19
81
I love it. Sell it then break... sell it then break it ..ad nausuam = profit.

It's not the plane it's the electronics and missiles on them which they don't get.
 

Aimster

Lifer
Jan 5, 2003
16,129
2
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I thought there were 70+ F-22s in service by now.

Add the number of stealth bombers we have and we'll have enough air power to defeat Iran's air force without them being able to see us.

- So we will not be using a great number of F-22s to attack Iran? Can someone tell me why? When will our F-22s be ready to fight an enemy air force?

I guess the answer can be found by seeing if any of the F-22s we have are currently on any carriers or stationed in M.E air bases. I assumee the answer is no? -


 

K1052

Elite Member
Aug 21, 2003
46,044
33,088
136
Originally posted by: Aimster
I thought there were 70+ F-22s in service by now.

Add the number of stealth bombers we have and we'll have enough air power to defeat Iran's air force without them being able to see us.

- So we will not be using a great number of F-22s to attack Iran? Can someone tell me why? When will our F-22s be ready to fight an enemy air force?

I guess the answer can be found by seeing if any of the F-22s we have are currently on any carriers or stationed in M.E air bases. I assumee the answer is no? -
Only a couple squadrons have been delivered so far, based in the US so far.

The F-22 never has and never will operate off of carriers.
 

Zorba

Lifer
Oct 22, 1999
14,543
9,925
136
Originally posted by: Aimster
I thought there were 70+ F-22s in service by now.

Add the number of stealth bombers we have and we'll have enough air power to defeat Iran's air force without them being able to see us.

- So we will not be using a great number of F-22s to attack Iran? Can someone tell me why? When will our F-22s be ready to fight an enemy air force?

I guess the answer can be found by seeing if any of the F-22s we have are currently on any carriers or stationed in M.E air bases. I assumee the answer is no? -

You've played way too many video games... The F-22 is an Air Force plane and could not ever land on a aircraft carrier.
 

ProfJohn

Lifer
Jul 28, 2006
18,251
8
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All of you talking about the MiG with such high praise should go read the Wikipedia pages about them in action. So far they do not have a very good track record.
Now most people believe this has more to do with training than the actual plane.

With that in mind though you have to think about Israel who probably has some the best trained and most experienced pilots in the world verse Iran who has not seen air combat since the 1980?s. This gives Israel a HUGE advantage. Also, in general the Arab militaries have never had a good record against Israel, look at Lebanon and the 89-0 kill rate Israel achieved in 1982. (Yes Iran is not Arab, but Persian, but is there any indication that they would fare any better?)

If the US did anything it would be with F-117?s and B-2?s and Iran would not know what was happening until things started to blow up.
 

Aimster

Lifer
Jan 5, 2003
16,129
2
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Israel and Iran both haven't had air-air engagements for a long time.

Iran's kill ratio is the 3rd in the world with their war with Iraq. Israel and U.S are the top 2.
Iran-Iraq War it was usually 1-2 Iranian aircraft vs 4-8 Iraqi aircraft. Iraq's air force avoided the F-14 and always retreated. F-14 pilots, some accounted for 9 kills each.

So I wouldn't exactly say Iran's pilots suck. They did pretty good with aircraft they had very few spare parts for.
 

imported_Lothar

Diamond Member
Aug 10, 2006
4,559
1
0
Originally posted by: Zorba
Originally posted by: Aimster
I thought there were 70+ F-22s in service by now.

Add the number of stealth bombers we have and we'll have enough air power to defeat Iran's air force without them being able to see us.

- So we will not be using a great number of F-22s to attack Iran? Can someone tell me why? When will our F-22s be ready to fight an enemy air force?

I guess the answer can be found by seeing if any of the F-22s we have are currently on any carriers or stationed in M.E air bases. I assumee the answer is no? -

You've played way too many video games... The F-22 is an Air Force plane and could not ever land on a aircraft carrier.

:laugh: