Iranian Air Force (IRIAF/IRGC-ASF) | News and Discussions

[ToddE]

Only in opening salvos.Very soon they will run out of targets due to enemy assets being dispersed across the country.

Their SOWs are long range, diverse have Sat-Nav guidance, rarely fail, they can afford bombing for months. All the open airforce bases will be rubble in time.

At that point, you need 24/7 surveillance over enemy, and manned assets can't provide you that

Please explain which of these "manned" assets can provide surveillance against a military alliance with budget exceeding 2 Trillion USD ? comprising of thousand+ F-22, F-35, F-15E, F-18E/G supported by ISR, EW spread across the globe on land, sea, space ?

 

[ToddE]

So the alternative is to spend US$40 billion on allies throughout the region who can only fire rockets that are easily intercepted by air defense systems?

Not exactly and if you read my posts here, I was and still am in favor of IRIAF being rebuilt but not without airbases. SU-35S are coming if IRI survives but without underground bases, datalinking with IADS, they are a useless burden against US/NATO+Israel.

 

[ToddE]

I think you're not understanding.

Nobody is telling Iran to abandon its missile force to build a modern air force. They are complementary.

Look, with a small but modern air force, Iran would still be contesting air superiority throughout the country and hunting down all drones in the air, making it impossible for the US and its allies to provide air cover and surveillance. You can believe that there would be no hunting season for Iranian launchers at any point in this war, because the IRIAF would be in the sky providing cover and carrying out interceptions within its own territory. That's just one task that a modest but modern air force could perform in a conflict like this.

Oh, and don't tell me that all the bases would be obliterated, because that would require real-time ISTAR, which doesn't exist due to EO satellite, only drones and aircraft that would be confronting the IRIAF in the skies over all of Iran.

So where would this hypothetical air-force land ? because all 23 bases are bombed by US+Israel. Where would you hide these 100 million USD per air-frame planes ?

Had we got this 60-70 odd SU-35S before the war at Hamedan + Esfahan as were planned they would have been the first casualty of war as hordes of Tomahawks, Golden Horizon, Ice Breakers SOWs would have been fired at these open bases to neutralize the fleet at first. No Air defence lasts forever so how would these planes be defended against attacking vectors of global hyper power, when not flying ? Israel itself has failed to completely stop Fattah-1, K-4, Sejjil-II, KS despite having always replenishing trilayered ABM/AD shield supported by real time datalinked American EW network spread acorss land, sea, air and space yet you think somehow IRIAD relying upon OTHs for EW can save this fleet in a months long war. What if they bomb the fuel depots, runways, maintaince and armament caches? they have the attacking vectors to do so ? hear this for once because I wont repeat, 27 years of chasing Iranian military like a retard and I will tell you this, without underground bases with efficient crews that can maintain tunnel connections to runways IRIAF means nothing which is why it should have been merged with IRGCASF decades ago but Iranian planners failed to understand the problem they were facing.

Forget all of this stupidity, US previously has pressured Russia four times to pull out of signed arms deals with IRI (MIG-29A, MIG-31BM in 1991 S-300PMU2 in 2016, SU-35S in 2020s) what if they do it again middle of the elongated conflict so we end up with grounded fleet with no crticial spares or with no armament at all, what happens then please explain because this happened with F-14A and F-4E/D fleets in 80s war to us?

The kind of enemy we are facing is no 3rd world BS military, they are not scared of some stupid conventional airforce built upon imported jets, only true deterrence against them is of strategic nature, ICBMs, hundreds of nuclear devices, local Sat Nav even if LEO, SSBNs or least SLBM attack subs, military budget exceeding 60+ Billion USD (IRI can afford under ideal conditions), strategic alliances with PRC, Russia etc based upon mutual multi billion USD economic ventures etc. This can save our territorial integrity. We were moving in that direction but our Mullah leaders decided to open their mouths against global lords way too early. IRIAF is part of it yes but its not some magical wand whose presence or absence is turning the tide of war.

 

[Adam Barfy]

For Iran, not modernising the air force was criminal.

A modernised air force would have been decimated on day one. They would have flown the aircraft abroad.

USA is good at killing aircraft & large ships.

 

[SABRE]

A modernised air force would have been decimated on day one. They would have flown the aircraft abroad.

USA is good at killing aircraft & large ships.

That's a very narrow view of air power. Modern air power does not entail having potent fighter aircraft only. It involves an integrated and networked system of capabilities, including air defence systems, early warning and electronic warfare assets, advanced radars, satellite integrations, etc., all of which seek to secure the fighter element and provide force multiplication. Through this, modernised air power ensures both offensive and defensive effectiveness while also strengthening deterrence by signalling the ability to detect, respond to, and neutralise threats quickly or complicating the mission of an attacking air force, ensuring it fails to achieve its objectives. If you go with the narrow view, then no country facing a superior air power adversary should have an air force.

 

[FHN]

Iran's navy and air force have not been invested in or developed over the past decade or so, making little difference whether they exist or not. The air force still consists of just those few dilapidated planes from the 1970s, with no real effort to build an air force system—essentially, it doesn't exist. The navy hasn't developed a large surface combatant system either; instead, it has pursued a path of missile boats and unmanned surface vessels. Combined, the air force and navy might not even be worth $100 million.Iran's real strength lies entirely in missiles and drones.

 

[Kyussis]

Iran's navy and air force have not been invested in or developed over the past decade or so, making little difference whether they exist or not. The air force still consists of just those few dilapidated planes from the 1970s, with no real effort to build an air force system—essentially, it doesn't exist. The navy hasn't developed a large surface combatant system either; instead, it has pursued a path of missile boats and unmanned surface vessels. Combined, the air force and navy might not even be worth $100 million.Iran's real strength lies entirely in missiles and drones.

There is little to no point for Iran with its miniscule defense budget and long periods of U.N arms embargos to attempt to fight a conventional war with the world's premier Air and Naval power. Iran new that one day this war would arrive so it invested heavily in Asymmetrical warfare to be able to fight back against the U.S empire.

 

[Kyussis]

That's a very narrow view of air power. Modern air power does not entail having potent fighter aircraft only. It involves an integrated and networked system of capabilities, including air defence systems, early warning and electronic warfare assets, advanced radars, satellite integrations, etc., all of which seek to secure the fighter element and provide force multiplication. Through this, modernised air power ensures both offensive and defensive effectiveness while also strengthening deterrence by signalling the ability to detect, respond to, and neutralise threats quickly or complicating the mission of an attacking air force, ensuring it fails to achieve its objectives. If you go with the narrow view, then no country facing a superior air power adversary should have an air force.

Do you consider the PAF to be a Modern air force? How do you think the PAF would fair going up against the USAF?

 

[Nuffle]

So where would this hypothetical air-force land ? because all 23 bases are bombed by US+Israel. Where would you hide these 100 million USD per air-frame planes ?

Had we got this 60-70 odd SU-35S before the war at Hamedan + Esfahan as were planned they would have been the first casualty of war as hordes of Tomahawks, Golden Horizon, Ice Breakers SOWs would have been fired at these open bases to neutralize the fleet at first. No Air defence lasts forever so how would these planes be defended against attacking vectors of global hyper power, when not flying ? Israel itself has failed to completely stop Fattah-1, K-4, Sejjil-II, KS despite having always replenishing trilayered ABM/AD shield supported by real time datalinked American EW network spread acorss land, sea, air and space yet you think somehow IRIAD relying upon OTHs for EW can save this fleet in a months long war. What if they bomb the fuel depots, runways, maintaince and armament caches? they have the attacking vectors to do so ? hear this for once because I wont repeat, 27 years of chasing Iranian military like a retard and I will tell you this, without underground bases with efficient crews that can maintain tunnel connections to runways IRIAF means nothing which is why it should have been merged with IRGCASF decades ago but Iranian planners failed to understand the problem they were facing.

Forget all of this stupidity, US previously has pressured Russia four times to pull out of signed arms deals with IRI (MIG-29A, MIG-31BM in 1991 S-300PMU2 in 2016, SU-35S in 2020s) what if they do it again middle of the elongated conflict so we end up with grounded fleet with no crticial spares or with no armament at all, what happens then please explain because this happened with F-14A and F-4E/D fleets in 80s war to us?

The kind of enemy we are facing is no 3rd world BS military, they are not scared of some stupid conventional airforce built upon imported jets, only true deterrence against them is of strategic nature, ICBMs, hundreds of nuclear devices, local Sat Nav even if LEO, SSBNs or least SLBM attack subs, military budget exceeding 60+ Billion USD (IRI can afford under ideal conditions), strategic alliances with PRC, Russia etc based upon mutual multi billion USD economic ventures etc. This can save our territorial integrity. We were moving in that direction but our Mullah leaders decided to open their mouths against global lords way too early. IRIAF is part of it yes but its not some magical wand whose presence or absence is turning the tide of war.

Dude, you're writing a huge text making several arguments that don't hold up.

You have no idea how an attack package to neutralize all 23 bases you claim would work. And that's without mentioning the issue of the support aircraft needed to try and intercept Iranian aircraft already in the air.

First: It would have to be a country very poor in surveillance and early warning resources not to detect a huge attack package in the sky before it reaches its destination; this would already give an intercepting force enough time to take off and engage this attack package, even outside its own territory.

Furthermore, without mentioning possible countermeasures such as building shelters, reinforced hangars, painting aircraft on the ground, and more to deceive enemy efforts. There are several possible countermeasures to hinder the enemy's ISTAR and diminish the superior force advantage of the opponent. Underground bases are just one of the possible countermeasures needed, but not the only one. Iran's mountainous terrain is particularly interesting for creating such bases, but it doesn't necessarily need to be multiple underground bases, because simply sealing the entrances would trap all the aircraft inside, preventing them from taking off.

You said something about air defense that I'll ignore, because it's not the point of the debate, but rather air power and how it influences the course of battles.

In other words, it's pointless to ignore the advantage that air power exerts in the course of war. Air power is fundamental, and Iran has neglected this capability for years.

Of course, disregarding all the logistical issues Iran faces in creating this air power, it's pointless to deny the fact that there was negligence in favor of developing various air defense systems that don't seem to be in large quantities, and missile force.

Iran can't even keep its conventional submarines at sea, and you're convinced that it would need ICBMs, SSBNs, and nuclear weapons to deter the US?

 

[Immortals]

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[SABRE]

Do you consider the PAF to be a Modern air force? How do you think the PAF would fair going up against the USAF?

It surely is a modern air force, as demonstrated during the 2019 conflict and 2025 war with India. As someone who has worked with the PAF officials in a civilian capacity, I know they would not shy away from fighting the USAF if things ever came to it, that is for sure.

I have also had the opportunity to know two Iranian pilots. My opinion on the Iranian air force, based solely on the interaction with those two pilots, is that the Iranian air force is passionate but with its hands tied behind its back.

 

[Immortals]

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It appears F-14’s were hit. Whether they were non working or not remains to be seen. Suprised Iran didn’t attempt to use them to their final days.

 

[ToddE]

F-14A/AM fleet has been out of commission for 3 years now. 2-3 airframes were flyable by 2025.

 

[Immortals]

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[lamdacore]

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Is that a Russian flag on the Ilyushin Il-76??