Iraqi pilots had a phrase for it. When the radar warning receiver lit up with the unmistakable signature of an AWG-9 radar, someone on the radio would scream: “F Arba Ashara! Yalla! Yalla!” — F-14! RUN! RUN! For eight years during the Iran-Iraq War, Grumman’s swing-wing interceptor was the most feared fighter in the Middle Eastern sky. It was American-built, Iranian-flown, and absolutely devastating.

The Shah’s Cats

Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi wanted the best American fighter money could buy. In 1974, Iran ordered 80 F-14A Tomcats — the same aircraft the US Navy flew from its carrier decks — along with 714 AIM-54 Phoenix long-range missiles. By 1979, seventy-nine had been delivered. Iranian pilots trained at NAS Miramar. They were good. Some were exceptional. Then the revolution came. The Shah fled. The hostage crisis began. The United States severed all military ties with Iran overnight. Spare parts stopped. Technical advisors were expelled or imprisoned. Grumman’s contract evaporated. The Iranians were on their own with 79 of the most complex fighters in the world and no way to maintain them. They maintained them anyway.

Persian Cats at War

When Iraq invaded in September 1980, the Iranian Air Force was in chaos — purges had decimated the officer corps and many pilots had fled. But the Tomcat squadrons at Isfahan and Shiraz still had flyable aircraft, experienced crews, and the AWG-9 radar: the most powerful airborne radar in any fighter on earth. It could track 24 targets simultaneously at ranges beyond 150 kilometres and guide six Phoenix missiles at once. Iraqi pilots quickly learned to fear it. The AWG-9’s radar signature was unmistakable, and the Phoenix missile’s 200-kilometre range meant that an Iraqi jet could be under attack before it even knew an F-14 was in the area. IRIAF Tomcats flew combat air patrols over Iranian cities, escorted strike packages, and hunted Iraqi bombers heading for oil facilities at Kharg Island. Aviation historian Tom Cooper, who spent years interviewing Iranian veterans and cross-referencing Iraqi records, documented some 130 claimed kills (independent analysts confirm around 55) against approximately 4 Tomcat losses in air combat — a staggering ratio that the US Navy’s own F-14s never had the chance to match.

Still Flying — Against Their Maker

Major Jalil Zandi became the highest-scoring F-14 pilot in history with 11 credited kills — eight confirmed and three listed as probable — more than any US Navy Tomcat crew ever achieved. He flew throughout the war and survived, only to die in a car accident in 2001. As of early 2026, Iran’s remaining F-14 fleet — estimated at roughly 10 operational aircraft — faced its final chapter. Israeli airstrikes during the current conflict reportedly struck Isfahan air base, likely destroying most of the surviving Tomcats on the ground. If confirmed, it would mark the end of the F-14’s operational career worldwide: the US Navy retired its last Tomcats in 2006. The Grumman Tomcat was built on Long Island, New York, to defend American carriers. Its greatest combat record was written by Iranian pilots defending their country against Iraq. And its story may have ended under Israeli bombs during a war against the country that built it. Even by aviation standards, that is an extraordinary arc. Sources: Tom Cooper, “Iranian F-14 Tomcat Units in Combat” (Osprey); ACIG.info; Air & Space Forces Magazine; Defence Express