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

[Ali_Baba]

Intertesting tidbit that i didn't knew about re the AIM-9B on MiG-21, but are you sure those are AIM-9Bs and not normal R-3S loadouts on that MiG-21R (not PF)? The missiles would be hard to differentiate since they are similar. Also did you guys fitted Magics to the MiG-21MFs as well or i'm thinking of another air force?

On the issue of russian missiles on western planes and specifically concerning IRIAF, it's a case of building the electronic box necessary to translate russian input in western language so to say, not THAT difficult. But determination, support and steadfast work is needed to finish such a project, not just give up after the first try as it apparently happened. R-27 and R-73 would be much superior compared to legacy AIM-7E and AIM-9P models.

For someone who has some many questions, you seem rather very very well informed - almost like you are trying to fill in some gaps in your detailed database of knowledge ?

 

[GoMig-21]

Hi guys, i found this, IRIAF F-4E clearly showing the R-73/APU-72 launcher attachment, as well as carrying 4 PL-7s! New to me.
What remains to see that i'm very curious about is IRIAF F-14 carrying R-73 missiles. Has any of you seen such pictures?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1774212132579536938

That would be good to see for sure. In the meantime, how about an IRIAF F-14 Tomcat carrying AIM-9 Sidewinders, AIM-7 Sparrows and HAWK missiles?!



And of course, the classically famous terrain camo scheme on the Persian Cat and its lethal, super long range AIM-54 Pheonix BVRAAM that was an obvious help to the great Iranian ace and retired combat pilot Colonel Mostafa Rustai who flew and fought in it during the Iraq/Iran war. He's credited with 5 Iraqi Mirage F-1s & MiG-23 kills. No small feat as Iraqi pilots were some of the best pilots in the Middle East themselves at the time.

Intertesting tidbit that i didn't knew about re the AIM-9B on MiG-21, but are you sure those are AIM-9Bs and not normal R-3S loadouts on that MiG-21R (not PF)? The missiles would be hard to differentiate since they are similar. Also did you guys fitted Magics to the MiG-21MFs as well or i'm thinking of another air force?

Mack, I'll take this discussion to the EAF thread if you don't mind. That way we don't off-topic on our Iranian bro's thread. Don't need the moderator taking a nutty either LOL! We all know he has a tendency to fly off the handle so better off avoiding it for everyone's sake.

Tomcat is such a beastmode, especially with those beefy shoulders and landing gear from this angle. This almost looks like the underground or in-mountain hangar, don't it?

 

[Immortals]

Tomcat is such a beastmode, especially with those beefy shoulders and landing gear from this angle. This almost looks like the underground or in-mountain hangar, don't it?

View attachment 31958

It has an frontal RCS of est. 25-50m2 with pylons loaded. It’s a Christmas tree on any advanced radar.

It Has to stay well within Iran’s air defense network to stay protected and avoid unknowingly getting trapped by F-22/F-18’s/F-35s into a killzone.

Beautiful bird, but it’s from a different era.

 

[GoMig-21]

It has an frontal RCS of est. 25-50m2 with pylons loaded. It’s a Christmas tree on any advanced radar.

It Has to stay well within Iran’s air defense network to stay protected and avoid unknowingly getting trapped by F-22/F-18’s/F-35s into a killzone.

Beautiful bird, but it’s from a different era.

Dang, what a party pooper. You must be a lot of fun at get-togethers.

I don't think there is anyone in the 10-mile vicinity of this thread that doesn't know the F-14's shortcomings compared to today's tech, but it still doesn't mean it can't be admired and especially the IRIAF's ability to keep it viable through all the decades of not only wars and sanctions on the country, but the purposeful unavailability of parts for the aircraft. That alone is quite commendable.

On the other hand, I'm not sure what's stopping Iran from rebuilding the IRIAF? I understand all the geopolitical aspects and challenges but US & European fighters are not the only available aircraft out there. Between Russia and China, the IRIAF could be equipped with 100+ new fighters within 3 years and I know money is no issue either. So what's the problem?

 

[tsunset]

Dang, what a party pooper. You must be a lot of fun at get-togethers.

I don't think there is anyone in the 10-mile vicinity of this thread that doesn't know the F-14's shortcomings compared to today's tech, but it still doesn't mean it can't be admired and especially the IRIAF's ability to keep it viable through all the decades of not only wars and sanctions on the country, but the purposeful unavailability of parts for the aircraft. That alone is quite commendable.

On the other hand, I'm not sure what's stopping Iran from rebuilding the IRIAF? I understand all the geopolitical aspects and challenges but US & European fighters are not the only available aircraft out there. Between Russia and China, the IRIAF could be equipped with 100+ new fighters within 3 years and I know money is no issue either. So what's the problem?

This is not a question of arms embargoes which are now lifted, but a question of US threats, US and its dollar/banks still controls the global economics by far

China, Pakistan, would be threatened of massive sanction before even delivering one aircraft, look at how Pakistan got threatened simply for agreeing to make an oil pipeline within the two countries

Imagining Iran wants to buy 8 billion worth of JF-17 Block III or J-10C, this is a nice amount of cash for the receiver (specially for Pakistan), but will certainly be massively sanctioned and will very quickly make it regret of selling to Iran for such a price when they will lose multiple x of the 8 billions

This is why China and Pakistan aren't possible, otherwise Iran would have certainly bought aircrafts, the only one remaining is Russia because they are too massively sanctioned

And even with Russia this is hard, considering they still have ties with Israel and has a lobby, it took 10 years for Iran to get its S-300pmu2, nonetheless the Yak-130 delivery is a good news and a good sign that Russia is maybe now willing to ignore western and zionist threats and deliver advanced jets/helicopters to Iran

China and Pakistan just have two decision to make:

- Sell aircrafts to Iran for 5-10 billions, but exposes themselves at sanctions that will cost them ten times 5-10 billion

- Not selling and keeping ties with the west, not risking shattering sanctions for 5-10 billions

The wise and logic choice is quickly made

 

[guangdongt]

This is not a question of arms embargoes which are now lifted, but a question of US threats, US and its dollar/banks still controls the global economics by far

China, Pakistan, would be threatened of massive sanction before even delivering one aircraft, look at how Pakistan got threatened simply for agreeing to make an oil pipeline within the two countries

Imagining Iran wants to buy 8 billion worth of JF-17 Block III or J-10C, this is a nice amount of cash for the receiver (specially for Pakistan), but will certainly be massively sanctioned and will very quickly make it regret of selling to Iran for such a price when they will lose multiple x of the 8 billions

This is why China and Pakistan aren't possible, otherwise Iran would have certainly bought aircrafts, the only one remaining is Russia because they are too massively sanctioned

And even with Russia this is hard, considering they still have ties with Israel and has a lobby, it took 10 years for Iran to get its S-300pmu2, nonetheless the Yak-130 delivery is a good news and a good sign that Russia is maybe now willing to ignore western and zionist threats and deliver advanced jets/helicopters to Iran

China and Pakistan just have two decision to make:

- Sell aircrafts to Iran for 5-10 billions, but exposes themselves at sanctions that will cost them ten times 5-10 billion

- Not selling and keeping ties with the west, not risking shattering sanctions for 5-10 billions

The wise and logic choice is quickly made

The most profound explanation!

 

[GoMig-21]

This is not a question of arms embargoes which are now lifted, but a question of US threats, US and its dollar/banks still controls the global economics by far

China, Pakistan, would be threatened of massive sanction before even delivering one aircraft, look at how Pakistan got threatened simply for agreeing to make an oil pipeline within the two countries

Imagining Iran wants to buy 8 billion worth of JF-17 Block III or J-10C, this is a nice amount of cash for the receiver (specially for Pakistan), but will certainly be massively sanctioned and will very quickly make it regret of selling to Iran for such a price when they will lose multiple x of the 8 billions

This is why China and Pakistan aren't possible, otherwise Iran would have certainly bought aircrafts, the only one remaining is Russia because they are too massively sanctioned

And even with Russia this is hard, considering they still have ties with Israel and has a lobby, it took 10 years for Iran to get its S-300pmu2, nonetheless the Yak-130 delivery is a good news and a good sign that Russia is maybe now willing to ignore western and zionist threats and deliver advanced jets/helicopters to Iran

China and Pakistan just have two decision to make:

- Sell aircrafts to Iran for 5-10 billions, but exposes themselves at sanctions that will cost them ten times 5-10 billion

- Not selling and keeping ties with the west, not risking shattering sanctions for 5-10 billions

The wise and logic choice is quickly made

Interesting. Personally, I think it's more of a Russia problem than it is Iran's. Russia essentially shot itself in the foot by invading Ukraine the way it did. No need to sugar coat it; "Small Military Operation" notwithstanding since it's seen by the entire world as a gross violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and really, Russia basically cut off its nose to spite its face. Let's not dance around here and call it like it is. Why the world went up in arms over it and never came close to a similar reaction when Israel pulled off one of the worst military crimes in human history in the war of 1967 and the blatant theft of Arab lands...is beyond me. But I digress, as that's another matter only showcasing the blatant hypocrisy of the West.

Russia simply hasn't reciprocated to Iran's generous assistance of thousands of FPV drones and supposedly an arms deal that general Mahdi Farahi stated involved not only the Yak-130 trainers and the 25 Su-35S', but also a batch of Mi-28 attack helicopters (which also has a related story to the EAF and its purchase of the 46 Ka-52 helicopters, but that's also another story for another day). Point is, there has been quite a bit of "promised" dealings from Russia to Iran where there was supposed to be a major exchange of moneys and weapons of which the latter has fallen quite short from Russia's end of the bargain - which is the similarity to a couple of the deals Egypt also made with Russia. Seems like there's a pattern and it's not on Iran's end.

Hopefully as the war in Ukraine moves into a semblance of a finale, Russia can regroup and fulfill its promises to Iran (and Egypt for that matter). I do maintain that we will see an eventual delivery of Su-35S' to Iran along with other major weapons in due time such as the rest of the Yak-130s (which are part of the deal as well), Mi-28 attack helicopters AND the S-400.

Get pumped and stoked fellas because these will be coming to Iran at some point in the near future.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

I do maintain that we will see an eventual delivery of Su-35S' to Iran along with other major weapons in due time such as the rest of the Yak-130s (which are part of the deal as well), Mi-28 attack helicopters AND the S-400.

I'm not one to support China but honestly if Iran wants some Russian weapons they should insist China builds them to the Russian spec because I wouldn't trust 2024 Russian manufacturing to screw in a lightbulb correctly. They have suffered severe brain drains and Putin probably has lined big companies with his loyal friends instead of people who could really make sure the job was done correctly.

 

[GoMig-21]

I'm not one to support China but honestly if Iran wants some Russian weapons they should insist China builds them to the Russian spec because I wouldn't trust 2024 Russian manufacturing to screw in a lightbulb correctly. They have suffered severe brain drains and Putin probably has lined big companies with his loyal friends instead of people who could really make sure the job was done correctly.

Agreed, and that's really no surprise. That's been the standard MO for Russia since man discovered fire! Quality control has been a huge sticking point with their stuff and when I said it shot itself in the foot by going to war, I meant the way it went about it. Can't really blame it with NATO's slow encroachment on its border. I honestly don't have a problem with its line of thinking that it saw a growing and eventual NATO threat to its border, so it basically preempted the eventual conflict for its own perceived security. Hence the blatant resemblance to the zionist entity's crimes as they claimed to invade and steal Arab lands for essentially the same exact reason.

But yeah, I agree, bro. Russia does have major quality control problems that have only been exacerbated by the war and Egypt has realized this with not only the Ka-52 attack helos I mentioned, but with the MiG-29M/M2s as well. The Russians promised an upgrade within 2-3 years of the Zhuk-ME Pulse Doppler Radars to the new Zhuk-AE AESA, and we haven't even seen a hint of anything remotely close. I also think that the EAF knew this would be an issue yet still went ahead with the big purchases because of the lack of other options. There's also political & strategic reasons.

But then again, when your choices are limited between the worldly top dog who has your balls squeezed in one hand and dictating your actions with the other, you can't be too picky & choosy and need to play along until other opportunities present themselves.

I also don't think Iran is worried about who it deals with, be it Russia or China as far as political consequences are concerned (sorry @tsunset I disagree with you on that) not that you insinuated anything of the sort, Ant. Especially China as it holds a lot more global clout than people think or like to admit. The economic leverage -- although somewhat even-keeled between the US & China for the most part -- seems to lean a bit in China's favor that not even the US would dare ruffle those feathers for the sake of 2-dozen military aircraft. I doubt it loses any sleep over the "phony" prospect of being sanctioned by Europe, or the US for that matter. But that's just me.

 

[Hack-Hook]

That would be good to see for sure. In the meantime, how about an IRIAF F-14 Tomcat carrying AIM-9 Sidewinders, AIM-7 Sparrows and HAWK missiles?!

View attachment 31956

And of course, the classically famous terrain camo scheme on the Persian Cat and its lethal, super long range AIM-54 Pheonix BVRAAM that was an obvious help to the great Iranian ace and retired combat pilot Colonel Mostafa Rustai who flew and fought in it during the Iraq/Iran war. He's credited with 5 Iraqi Mirage F-1s & MiG-23 kills. No small feat as Iraqi pilots were some of the best pilots in the Middle East themselves at the time.

View attachment 31957


Mack, I'll take this discussion to the EAF thread if you don't mind. That way we don't off-topic on our Iranian bro's thread. Don't need the moderator taking a nutty either LOL! We all know he has a tendency to fly off the handle so better off avoiding it for everyone's sake.

Tomcat is such a beastmode, especially with those beefy shoulders and landing gear from this angle. This almost looks like the underground or in-mountain hangar, don't it?

View attachment 31958

you see integrating Hawk into f-14 is old news from 80s iran abandoned that project and built fakour
by the way why you think Iran is interested in S-400

 

[Flotilla]

Russia simply hasn't reciprocated to Iran's generous assistance of thousands of FPV drones and supposedly an arms deal that general Mahdi Farahi stated involved not only the Yak-130 trainers and the 25 Su-35S', but also a batch of Mi-28 attack helicopters (which also has a related story to the EAF and its purchase of the 46 Ka-52 helicopters, but that's also another story for another day). Point is, there has been quite a bit of "promised" dealings from Russia to Iran where there was supposed to be a major exchange of moneys and weapons of which the latter has fallen quite short from Russia's end of the bargain - which is the similarity to a couple of the deals Egypt also made with Russia. Seems like there's a pattern and it's not on Iran's end.

Agreed.
CAATSA sanctions have made, paradoxically, easier a deal with Iran for weapons. If nobody can buy russian weapons, why don´t sell them to whom it is sanctions resistant??.

Moreover, what you see right now it is the top of the iceberg. If Russia cannot became again a member in international markets, Putin will cooperate with Iran in aeronautical and space industry. And the reason it is so simple. Russian aircraft manufacturers cannot live with RuAF orders...

 

[GoMig-21]

you see integrating Hawk into f-14 is old news from 80s iran abandoned that project and built fakour

True, but we need to add it to the list of achievements, no? It's still impressive and indicative of the IRIAF's ability to make these integrations and that they're not something that just happened as of late, but rather has been going on for decades.

by the way why you think Iran is interested in S-400

I believe when the Deputy Defense Minister Brigadier General Mahdi Farahi who made the announcement about the Su-35S and the Yak-130s and the Mi-28s and even though he didn't mention the S-400 specifically, but several Iranian journalists wrote about the possibility that the S-400pmu is also part of this big deal.

At the same time, an attached portion of the deal included Pantsir-S1 SAM system for Hezbollah which would be supplied via Wagner. No one really knows if that made its way to Lebanon but who knows. With all these potential background deals (which some have already started happening such as the Yak-130) and how Iran has been vying for the S-400 for over a decade now that it should only be a matter of time.

BTW, there was also a report by an Iranian journalist who cited that part of this mega deal which included the Su-35S' was actually for 50 aircraft, not 25. That's double the number which if true, should be even more exciting as we all are always touting the importance of strength in numbers.

Agreed.
CAATSA sanctions have made, paradoxically, easier a deal with Iran for weapons. If nobody can buy russian weapons, why don´t sell them to whom it is sanctions resistant??.

lol, or someone's who's already sanctioned up the wazoo and the cornhole can't hurt anymore!

Moreover, what you see right now it is the top of the iceberg. If Russia cannot became again a member in international markets, Putin will cooperate with Iran in aeronautical and space industry. And the reason it is so simple. Russian aircraft manufacturers cannot live with RuAF orders...

That's a good point. Which brings us to the Checkmate. How fitting would that project be for a joint-venture with Iran? Mmmm..... this would be perfect but the friggin US has the world by the balls and it keeps squeezing the bastards harder and harder slowly and slowly.

Side-by-side with the Qaher-313 it's a match made in heaven!

 

[warking2005]

I don't think China fears US sanctions but it dosnt see it as important as giving Iranians fighter jets l.

 

[Hack-Hook]

At the same time, an attached portion of the deal included Pantsir-S1 SAM system for Hezbollah which would be supplied via Wagner. No one really knows if that made its way to Lebanon but who knows. With all these potential background deals (which some have already started happening such as the Yak-130) and how Iran has been vying for the S-400 for over a decade now that it should only be a matter of time.

the article say

Farahi’s statement didn’t clarify whether Iran would also receive any new air defenses. Recurring reports also indicated Tehran would receive S-400s, a more advanced long-range air defense missile system than the S-300PMU-2s it received from Moscow in 2016 as part of a delayed contract initially signed in 2007.

he didn't talk about s-400. the journalists did that. do you have any info on Iran vying for s-400 in last decade?

 

[GoMig-21]

he didn't talk about s-400. the journalists did that. do you have any info

lol. Did you even read what I wrote? That's exactly what I said lol. After the general made the announcement about the Su-35, Yak-130 and the Mi-28, some of the Iranian journalists covering the stories wrote that the S-400 would also be part of a weapons deal with Russia. Where the journos got that info.....I couldn't tell you.

on Iran vying for s-400 in last decade?

Come on, maaan. lol. I'm not going to look for articles from the past 20 years that I kind 'of remember the Iranian ADS interested in acquiring the S-400.

Suffice it to say when we first saw the S-300pmu being paraded through Tehran way back in 2010 I believe, there was a lot of talk about the next step being the S-400 and of course it makes all the sense in the world. How often has Iran been threatened by the zionist piglets with attacks on its nuclear facilities? And what better system would be available for Iran to help defend against that? 2+2 ma bro.