US Retired The F-14 Tomcat Fighter Jet. So How Is Iran Still Flying It?

Last Updated:January 16, 2026, 15:24 IST

The F-14 Tomcat, designed in the 1960s and retired by the US Navy in 2006, is widely regarded by defence analysts as technologically outdated compared with modern fighters

Today, Iran is the only country in the world still flying the F-14 jets.

Despite decades of bitter hostility between the United States and Iran, one relic of a much earlier chapter in their relationship still survives in the skies over Iran, the US-built F-14 Tomcat fighter jet. Once the pride of the US Navy, the swing-wing interceptor now flies only with the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, a stark reminder of ties long severed.

The story begins in the 1970s, when Iran under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was a key US ally in the Middle East. With fears of Soviet expansion looming, Washington agreed to sell Tehran 79 of the advanced F-14A Tomcats, aircraft normally reserved for the front lines of US carrier task forces. The deal equipped Iran with one of the world’s most potent long-range air superiority fighters, featuring the powerful AWG-9 radar and the long-reach AIM-54 Phoenix missile.

All that changed after the Islamic Revolution in 1979. The shah was deposed and relations between the two nations collapsed almost overnight. With the United States imposing sanctions and ending all military cooperation, Iran was left with a sophisticated fleet but no official support, spare parts or maintenance assistance.

Faced with these constraints during the Iran-Iraq War and beyond, Iran adopted an unorthodox approach to keep its fleet flying. Technicians began “cannibalising" grounded airframes to harvest parts for those still flying and embarked on limited domestic production of components. Some upgrade programmes sought to modernise avionics and adapt available missiles, but these efforts yielded mixed results.

Over the decades, Iran’s Tomcat fleet has dwindled. Estimates of how many remain operational vary widely, with analysts placing active aircraft in the low-to-mid dozens at best, and some assessments suggesting fewer than 20 are truly flyable. The exact number is uncertain, compounded by recent reports that some jets were destroyed on the ground during Israeli strikes in 2025.

Today, Iran is the only country in the world still flying the F-14 jets. Though formidable in its heyday, the Tomcat, designed in the 1960s and retired by the US Navy in 2006, is widely regarded by defence analysts as technologically outdated compared with modern fighters and electronic warfare systems.

The F-14’s legacy is not merely technical but symbolic. The Tomcat once proved its worth in conflicts far from Iran’s shores; US Navy Tomcats famously downed Libyan MiG-23 fighters over the Mediterranean in January 1989, demonstrating the aircraft’s long-range interception capabilities.

Yet for Iran, the Tomcat’s continued presence is a testament to resilience born of necessity, old warbirds kept aloft through ingenuity in the face of isolation.

News world US Retired The F-14 Tomcat Fighter Jet. So How Is Iran Still Flying It?

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