Iranian Air Force

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Iranian Air Force

Lineup 1925
Country Iranian flagIranian flag Iran
Type Armed forces ( air forces )
Strength approx. 30,000 members of the military
280 fighter planes
Location Tehran
Colours ultramarine
Butcher Anglo-Soviet Invasion
Gulf War One
insignia
Aircraft cockade Roundel of Iran.svg
National emblem ( vertical stabilizer ) Flag of Iran.svg
Aircraft
Electronic
warfare 		RC-130 , B 707 Elint
Fighter aircraft /
helicopter 		F-4D / E , Su-24MK , F-5E / F , Saeqeh
CH-47 , AB-206 , AB-214 , AS-61
Interceptor F-14A , Mig-29A / UB , Mirage F1 , F-7M
patrol P-3F
Reconnaissance aircraft /
helicopter 		RF-4E
education F-5A / B / Simorgh , PC-7 , F33C , FT-7
Transport aircraft /
helicopter 		C-130 , IL-76 , F-27 , B 747 , B 707 , Falcon 20 , Falcon 50 , JetStar , Y-12 , PC-6 , Socata TB

The Iranian Air Force (IRIAF) (Persian نيروی هوايی جمهوری اسلامی ايران) is part of the Iranian armed forces . From 1925 to 1979 the name was Imperial Iranian Air Force (IIAF), after the Islamic Revolution the name Air Force of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRIAF) was used. The Iranian Air Force is currently headed by Brigadier General Hassan Shah-Safi. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard also has an air force that can operate completely independently of the regular Iranian air force.

Officers of the Imperial Iranian Air Force (1933). Fourth from left: Colonel Ahmad Khan Nakhjavan

Imperial Iranian Air Force (IIAF)

Beginnings

After the First World War , German pilots flew on behalf of the newly founded Persian Air Force. Reza Shah Pahlavi reformed the Persian armed forces from 1925, including the establishment of the Imperial Iranian Air Force (IIAF). The first Iranian pilot was Colonel Ahmad Khan Nakhjavan, who trained in France and landed in Iran on February 25, 1925 with a Breguet 19 . In 1929 the Imperial Air Force comprised 15 pilots, 6 trained in France and 9 in the Soviet Union . At that time there were 33 aircraft in service with the Air Force; Until the Second World War, the air fleet comprised almost 50 combat-ready aircraft.

F-86 (Golden Crown) of the IIAF

Anglo-Soviet invasion

Shortly before the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran , the Imperial Air Force received 15 Curtiss P-36 fighter aircraft from the USA , and 10 aircraft ready to fly were confiscated during the invasion of Ahvaz airfield . This meant that one could no longer speak of the Air Force.

After the Second World War

It was not until after the Second World War that the Imperial Iranian Air Force received 36 British Hawker Hurricans and the USA fighter aircraft of the type Republic P-47 (from 1948, 60 copies), Republic F-84 (from 1957, 34 copies) and North American F-86 (from 1960, 48 copies) made available. In 1958 the aerobatic team " Golden Crown " (Goldene Krone) was founded, which existed until 1978.

Armament

Under Mohammad Reza Pahlavi , the air force experienced an unprecedented upgrade from the 1960s. The training of the Iranian pilots took place in the USA with the US Air Force , the imperial air force, within the Iranian armed forces, the "darling" and "pride" of the Shah. Aircraft such as the Northrop F-5 , McDonnell F-4 , F-5E Tiger II and the most modern air superiority fighter of its time, the Grumman F-14 , made the IIAF the most modern and powerful in the Middle East and the fourth most powerful air force in the 1970s worldwide. Richard Nixon's 1972 doctrine allowed the Shah to "buy anything [weapons] he wanted."

F-5A of the IIAF
F-4D of the IIAF

By 1976 the Shah had spent 11.8 billion US dollars on arming the air force , and in 1978 the IIAF had 14,000 troops.

List of aircraft delivered to the Shah up to 1978:

specification description delivery number
Lockheed C-130 Transport plane 1963– 42–56 *
F-5 A / B Fighter plane 1965– 127
F-4D Fighter plane 1968– 32
Bell 206 helicopter 1968– 140
F-4E Fighter plane 1971– 177
RF-4E Reconnaissance plane 1971– 16
Boeing-Vertol CH-47 Transport helicopter 1971– 16
Bell AH-1 Attack helicopter 1972– 202
Bell 214 helicopter 1972– 287
Sikorsky S-65 Transport helicopter 1973– 18th
F-5 E / F Tiger II Fighter plane 1975– 181
Grumman F-14 Fighter plane 1975– 79
P-3F Orion Maritime patrol 1975– 6th
Boeing KC-135 Tanker aircraft 1975– 10-12 *
Boeing KC-33A Tanker aircraft 1975– 4th

The Shah had signed a purchase agreement for 160 (with a follow-up order of 140) aircraft for the General Dynamics F-16 multi - role combat aircraft. Before the first copies were shipped, the Islamic Revolution took place ; Iran had already received aircraft parts and equipment.

Air Force of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRIAF)

F-14A of the IRIAF

During the chaos that reigned after the Islamic revolution , the air force lost many officers to flight or purges by the new rulers. This led to a poor condition of the armed forces, especially after the Nojeh coup , Ruhollah Khomeini distrusted the air force command. The new Iranian Air Force nevertheless inherited the equipment and structure of the former Imperial Iranian Air Force.

The first Gulf War

As a result of purges, forced resignations and executions from February 1979 to July 1980, the strength of the Iranian Air Force deteriorated extremely, leaving it unprepared for war. The sudden air strike by Iraq in the First Gulf War against six Iranian military airfields and four other military bases, carried out on September 22, 1980 at 2:00 p.m. local time, took the Iranian Air Force by surprise. However, only the Dezful airfield and a few aircraft of the Iranian Air Force could be destroyed in the attacks of the following days .

C-130 of the IRIAF

1980-1982

The Iranians flew a series of retaliatory offensives against Iraq on the second day of the war. During Operation Kaman 99 on September 23, 1980, various Iraqi air bases were attacked. Up to 17 percent of the Iraqi air force is said to have been destroyed in aerial battles by early October. On October 29, 1980, during Operation Sultan 10 , Iranian airmen succeeded in destroying Iraqi aircraft in the air and on the ground; on October 30, 1980, the Iraqi nuclear power plant Osirak ( Operation Scorch Sword ) , which was under construction, was attacked and partially damaged. A major operation by the Iranian Air Force was the attack on H-3 on April 4, 1981.

On September 29, 1981, a Lockheed C-130 of the Iranian Air Force crashed on the return flight from the front with the entire army command. The chief of the Iranian Air Force, Major General Javad Fakouri, was among the dead . Allegedly, the machine caught fire and crashed. The investigative commission did not come to a final report, so that the question of sabotage has not yet been resolved.

After the liberation of most of the Iranian territories that had been occupied by Iraqi forces, the situation of the Iranian Air Force also changed. Defense of the country was now the focus of the Iranian Air Force's tasks. The US arms embargo following the hostage-taking of Tehran made it difficult to keep US-made aircraft and helicopters operational. Intact aircraft were "cannibalized" for spare parts in order to keep a minimum of aircraft operational. At the end of 1982, Tehran had around 120 operational fighter planes available.

1983-1988

The course of the trench warfare forced the Iranian Air Force to use the available resources economically, especially against the background of the lack of particularly qualified pilots. The Iranian Air Force had already lost numerical control of the air over Iranian territory since 1984. While the Iraqi Air Force flew about 100 sorties a day, the Iranian Air Force came up with 10.

In early 1985, the Iranian Air Force was faced with a better organized and armored Iraqi Air Force, which had been reinforced by deliveries of combat aircraft from France ( Dassault Super Étendard , Mirage F1 ) and the Soviet Union ( MiG-25 ) and which had launched numerous offensives against Iranian cities , the Charg oil loading station and against oil tankers. In particular, the Mirage F1, with Super-530- and R.550-Magic - air-to-air missiles equipped shot 12 from Iranian F-14th

Iran tried to get the urgently needed spare parts through various channels; the Iran-Contra affair was only one aspect of the arms deliveries. In late 1985 and early 1986, Iran received 18 F-4s, 13 F-5s, 46 Skyhawk and 5 C-130s in a covert operation via Israel . Iran succeeded in rebuilding parts of the F-14, so that in 1986 24 F-14s were airworthy. At the end of 1987 the Iranian Air Force had almost 70 combat aircraft ready for action.

Jalil Zandi , Shahram Rostami , Yadollah Javadpour and K. Sedghi were the most successful fighter pilots in the Iranian Air Force. In total, the Iranian F-14s are said to have recorded 125 safe kills in the First Gulf War, with 23 losses of their own.

MiG-29UB of the IRIAF

Post war era

After the First Gulf War , Iran tried to acquire mostly Soviet and Chinese aircraft due to the arms embargo in the West . Iraqi planes that Saddam Hussein escaped to Iran in 1991 during the Second Gulf War were also put into service. The Iraqi Air Force brought a large part of its aircraft to Iran, which was officially still an opponent at the time, in order to avoid the destruction of the air fleet in the Second Gulf War. These aircraft included 24 Mirage F1 , four Su-20 Fitter , 40 Su-22 Fitter , 24 Su-24 Fencer , seven Su-25 Frogfoot , nine MiG-23 Flogger , and four MiG-29 Fulcrum . To date, none of these aircraft have been returned to Iraq.

Since the late 1990s, Iran has been working on the independent development of combat aircraft such as HESA Azarakhsh , HESA Saeqeh and HESA Shafaq . The Iranian company Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company (HESA) in Shahinshahr, Isfahan Province , has been producing American helicopters under license since 1976.

Aircraft ready to fly

The number of combat aircraft actually operational by the Iranian Air Force is unclear, as most models are more than three decades old and are kept ready to fly at great expense. According to Cordesmann, the operational readiness is 60 percent. The list of fighter jets of the Iranian Air Force is as of 2018.

model number
McDonnell F-4 64
Northrop F-5 75
Consolidated F-7 24
Grumman F-14 43
Sukhoi Su-24 30th
MiG-29 36
Chengdu J-7 24
Sukhoi Su-20 / Sukhoi Su-22 5
Sukhoi Su-24 29
Sukhoi Su-25 10
HESA Azarakhsh 6th
Dassault Mirage F1 10
HESA Saeqeh 6 *

The Iranian Air Force also has various transport aircraft, in particular the types Ilyushin Il-76 (12 pieces), Antonov An-72 (11 pieces), Antonow An-140 (5 pieces), Xian Y-7 (14 pieces), Lockheed C-130 (19 pieces), Fokker F-27 (10 pieces), Pilatus PC-6 (10 pieces), Socata TB (12 pieces), Harbin Y-12 (9th pieces), Boeing 747-F (4 pieces ), Tubo Commander 360 (3 pieces), Boeing KC-135 (3 pieces) and 30 Bell 214 helicopters . A Boeing 707 and two Boeing 747s are probably used as tanker aircraft . There are also various training aircraft, including Beechcraft Bonanza (25 pieces), Embraer EMB 312 (15 pieces), JJ-7 (15 pieces), MFU-17 (25 pieces), Parastu (12 pieces), and Pilatus PC-6 (15 pieces) ), PC-7 Turbo Trainer (35 pieces) and Lockheed T-33 (9 pieces).

The helicopter fleet consists of 30 Bell 214C , two Bell 412s , at least two Boeing-Vertol CH-47s , at least two Bell 206s and an unknown number of the company's own product Shabaviz.

C-130 in Shiraz

bases

The headquarters of the Iranian Air Force, Doshan Tappeh Air Base, is located near Tehran . The largest airport, Mehrabad , also has a military function through the maintenance base. The Iranian air force bases and the aircraft squadrons stationed there are: (as of 2012)

bases Aircraft types
More bath Su-24
MiG-29A
Hamadan military airfield F-4 E / D
Su-24
Tabriz F-5 E / F
MiG-29A
Dezful F-5 E / F
Bushehr F-4 E / D
F-14
Shiraz Su-24
Su-25
Isfahan F-5 E / F
Su-24
Bandar Abbas helicopter
Zahedan F-7M
Kermanshah F-5 E / F

Incidents

  • On March 13, 1997, a Lockheed C-130 Hercules of the Iranian Air Force (license plate unknown) crashed 24 kilometers from the destination airport Mashhad ( Iran ) after the pilots had reported engine problems. All 86 inmates were killed.
  • On December 6, 2005, a Lockheed C-130E Hercules of the Iranian Air Force (IrAF 5-8519) crashed into a ten-story apartment building in the Azari residential area while approaching Tehran-Mehrabad Airport ( Iran ). Eight minutes after take-off, the crew reported engine problems with engine 4 (far right) and had turned around for an emergency landing. A total of 106 people were killed, all 94 occupants, 10 crew members and 84 passengers; 12 more people were killed in the skyscraper.

Web links

Commons : Iranian Air Force  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b globalsecurity.org iran airforce-equipment, accessed on December 22, 2012
  2. ^ Press TV , accessed December 22, 2012.
  3. ↑ iiaf.net history Retrieved on December 22, 2012
  4. ↑ iiaf.net AirDefense accessed on December 22, 2012
  5. ↑ iiaf.net/goldencrown accessed on December 27, 2012
  6. ↑ Mohammad Reza Pahlavi himself received pilot training and was an avid pilot. During Operation Ajax (August 16, 1953) he himself flew in his private plane towards Baghdad.
  7. ^ Institute for national strategic studies. National Defense University, Washington, 1994, Paper No. 29, p. 178
  8. ^ Ronald E. Bergquist: The role of the airpower in the Iran-Irak War. United States Government, 2001
  9. ↑ Mehdi Parvizi Amineh: The global capitalist expansion and Iran. LIT-Verlag, 1999, ISBN 3-8258-4439-0 , page 236
  10. ↑ plus 284 AIM-54 Phoenix air-to-air guided missiles, see: Tom Cooper : airspacemag.com Persian Cats, accessed December 21, 2012
  11. ↑ Iran bought 12 used Boeing 747s for military use, four were converted as tanker aircraft, the others (presumably) as a flying command center and transport aircraft. See (described here as Type KC-25): globalsecurity.org aircraft / kc-25 accessed December 26
  12. ↑ boeing-747.com/specia boeing 747 accessed December 26, 2012
  13. ^ Ulrich Gehrke: Iran. Defense and Security . Ed. Erdmann, Stuttgart 1976, ISBN 3-522-64050-0 , p. 259 ff.
  14. ↑ iiaf.net/history
  15. ↑ * = different information
  16. ↑ iiaf.net/F-16 ( Memento of the original from June 23, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 27, 2012  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.iiaf.net
  17. ↑ DER SPIEGEL 35/1979 Iran: Sick Army, accessed on December 22, 2012
  18. ↑ By 1979, 120 pilots and weapons officers in the USA had been trained for the Grumman F-14 , 27 pilots left Iran at the beginning of the Islamic revolution. See: airspacemag.com Tom Cooper : Persian Cats, accessed December 22, 2012
  19. ↑ 23 generals and 30 officers of the Shah were immediately executed. Compare James A. Bill: The Iranian Revolution and the Changing Power Structure. P. 124.
  20. ↑ Ronald E. Bergquist: The Role of Air Power in the Iran-Iraq War, 2012, ISBN 978-147838-466-3 , p. 58
  21. ↑ Ronald E. Bergquist: The Role of Air Power in the Iran-Iraq War, 2012, ISBN 978-147838-466-3 , p. 46
  22. ↑ See: Attack on H3
  23. ↑ Hans-Peter Drögemüller: Iranisches Tagebuch. 5 years of revolution . 1983, ISBN 3-922611-51-6 , p. 334.
  24. ↑ Stephen C. Pelletiere: The Iran-Iraq War (Chaos in a Vacuum), Greenwood 1992, ISBN 978-027593-843-7 , p. 41
  25. ^ Dilip Hiro: The Longest War . The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict. New York: Routledge Chapman & Hall, Inc., 1991, ISBN 0-415-90407-2 , p. 88
  26. ↑ Ronald E. Bergquist: The Role of Air Power in the Iran-Iraq War, 2012, ISBN 978-147838-466-3 , p. 77
  27. ^ Dilip Hiro: The Longest War. The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict. New York: Routledge Chapman & Hall, Inc., 1991, ISBN 0-415-90407-2 , p. 105
  28. ^ Dilip Hiro: The Longest War . The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict. New York: Routledge Chapman & Hall, Inc., 1991, ISBN 0-415-90407-2 , p. 135
  29. ↑ Spare parts for the McDonnell F-4 reached Iran via South Korea. Compare Michael Flitner: War as a business, arms exports in Iran and Iraq. P.56.
  30. ^ Dilip Hiro: The Longest War . The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict. New York: Routledge Chapman & Hall, Inc., 1991, ISBN 0-415-90407-2 , p. 221
  31. ↑ A total of 48 F-14s are said to have been operational in 1986. See: Dilip Hiro: The Longest War . The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict. New York: Routledge Chapman & Hall, Inc., 1991, ISBN 0-415-90407-2 , p. 168
  32. ^ Dilip Hiro: The Longest War . The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict. New York: Routledge Chapman & Hall, Inc., 1991, ISBN 0-415-90407-2 , p. 195
  33. ↑ On the Iraqi side this was Mohammed Rayyan with 10 kills. Compare David Nicolle and Tom Cooper: Arab MiG-19 and MiG-21 Units in Combat. Osprey Publishing, 2004, 82
  34. ↑ Tom Cooper: Iranian F-14 Tomcat Units in Combat. Osprey Publishing Oxford, 2004, p. 85
  35. ↑ Two aircraft crashed in 1977 during training. See: aerospaceweb.org accessed December 26, 2012
  36. ↑ globalsecurity.org iran / airforce, accessed December 22, 2012
  37. ↑ see HESA Shafaq
  38. ↑ HESA homepage ( Memento of the original dated February 8, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed December 23, 2012. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.hesaco.com
  39. ↑ a b c Anthony H. Cordesman: (CSIS) Analyzing the Impact of Preventive Strikes Against Iran's Nuclear Facilities, 2012 (PDF file; 5.65 MB), accessed December 28, 2012
  40. ↑ Anthony H. Cordesman with the assistance of Nicholas Harrington: The Arab Gulf States and Iran: Military Spending, Modernization, and the Shifting Military Balance, Second Working Draft 12 December 2018. Center for Strategic and International Studies. (PDF file)
  41. ↑ at least 60 copies
  42. ↑ after janes: 30, see: janes.com accessed on December 28, 2012
  43. ↑ 24 according to Iranian information
  44. ↑ manufactured by HESA under license under the designation Iran-140
  45. ↑ globalsecurity.org iran airfield, accessed December 22, 2012
  46. ^ Accident report C-130H Hercules IrAF 5-8521 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on February 17, 2020.
  47. ^ Accident report C-130 Hercules IrAF xxx , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on February 17, 2020.
  48. ^ Accident report C-130E Hercules IrAF 5-8519 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on February 17, 2020.