Why did Iran buy F-14s instead of F-15s?

Ed Rasimus wrote:
On Fri, 26 Sep 2003 14:12:50 GMT, "Matt Wiser"
wrote:

Grumann and the Navy put on an air show at
Andrews AFB in 1973 for the
Shah, where he was viewing the F-15 also. The
test crew broke some of the
flight rules, but impressed the Shah enough
for him to order the aircraft
(not on the spot, but within days). Also, the
AIM-54 was seen as a perfect
anti-Foxbat weapon, as Iran was being constantly
overflown by Soviet AF MiG-25Rs
in the early and mid 1970s. Check Tom Cooper's
Iran-Iraq War in the air for
more info.
(It's a good read, BTW)

Foxbat was a problem during the period. The
F-4 community was
practicing head-on snap-up intercepts to try
to counter the high
altitude/high-speed overflights. It required
a near perfect head-on
run at high speed, then a pull-up to reach Rmax
for the Sparrow at the
apex. Firing then gave the missile a chance
to meet the target before
Rmin at the altitude. If not perfect, the missile
missed. The AIM-54
clearly gave the better shot at a Foxbat.

Maybe of greater importance was the "prestige"
factor for Iran. They
would be the only nation to receive this high
technology system. Not
even Israel had them. It demonstrated a great
confidence by the US in
both the Shah and Iran.

Interesting anecdote related to the purchase.
The aircraft were to be
ferried to Iran where they were to be met and
greeted by a parade of
US and Iranian high rollers. They transited
Torrejon for an overnight,
then took off at dawn for the final leg, with
tanker support, into
Teheran. The tankers, from the 98th Strat Wg
at Torrejon, took off
about an hour earlier to be positioned down
the Med for the refueling.
When the F-14s pulled up for gas, they discovered
someone had failed
to note that the Toms were probe/drogue and
no basket was fitted. The
-14s aborted and returned to Torrejon. The parade
and dignitaries at
destination were disappointed (and embarrassed)
and the DO of the 98th
was fired.


Regarding Iranian AF Foxbat intercepts: There was an intercept in 1977
of a MiG-25 over Iran where an F-14 crew had Phoenix lock-on and all they
needed was clearance to fire. Ivan got the message after this and a drone
shoot of BQM-34s at 60,000 feet.
No more Foxbats over Imperial Iran.
Iraqi AF MiG-25RBs were intercepted on several occasions, and a half dozen
of them fell to AIM-54s. (Again, check the Cooper book for more info)


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