The last of the TomCat's, the Iranian coined Desert Cat still flies in opposition to US forces.
The Grumman aircraft that saved the company from absolute financial failure, a large part of that solvency was the multi-billion dollar deal made with the Iranian's for 80 aircraft plus ten years of support including spare parts such as engines and weaponry. Ultimately 79 F-14's were delivered.
The F-14A/B has been flying since 1976 over the Iranian skies with many airframes seeing actual combat in the bitter Iran-Iraq war. The F-14 proved itself capable against nearly all Soviet-built aircraft that met to counter it by Iraqi forces.
Iranian ace Jalil Zandi is credited with shooting down 11 Iraqi aircraft during the Iran–Iraq War, making him the most successful F-14 pilot.
What keeps these aircraft still in the air?
Only two countries have ever operated the F-14, the United States, and Iran. Arch rivals in the Middle East since the fall of the Shah. Iran was left to adapt their aircraft using reverse-engineered domestic parts, foreign system adaptation, and black market deals from the United States. The Iranian's privately acknowledged that none of these methods alone could keep all of their planes in the air. They would cannibalize parts as needed as well from their aircraft.
The Iranians have long sought to increase domestic capabilities by reverse engineering parts on their own. The Iranian military industrial complex is lacking compared to the United States and other Western peers, but they have been somewhat successful in creating less complicated replacement parts.
They sought to steal parts from the decommissioned US F-14 fleet, to include shill companies and stacks of cash to lure American workers already embedded in the supply chain. Classic cloak and dagger human intelligence.
The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) would be forced to take action to prevent any more parts from being sent to the Iranian Airforce. It would be quickly realized that without the US Navy fielding the carrier-borne fighter any longerr, the Iranians were the only prospective customer for parts still held by the US government. Public steps were taken to stop the pieces from being illegally shipped to Iran, and proper disposal of all remaining parts has been a priority.
Few aircraft remain in the US inventory, mostly stripped museum examples are held but closely watched by authorities.
It is not completely known how many are still combat operational. Best guesses are less than a dozen. The bottom line is the F-14 in Iran still flies and an active threat to forces throughout the region. Largely held in reserve to protect critical Iranian nuclear facilities. Even after decades of difficult and active service by the Iranians, the DesertCat continued service serves as an example of the quality and craftsmanship when delivered.
