List of aircraft of the Iranian Air Force

Iranian Air Force

Hierarchical Structure
History
History of the Iranian Air Force
Personnel
List of senior officers
Air Force Rank insignia
Aircraft
List of aircraft
Air Bases
List of air bases

This is a list of aircraft types operated by the Iranian Air Force, not including those operated by the air arm of the Aerospace Force of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution prior to the foundation of the Air Force as a separate service in August 1955. (Updated as of 11 January 2015)

Combat types

Air Superiority Fighters

Aircraft Origin Type Versions Number Years Notes
Grumman F-14 Tomcat US Interceptor F-14A 44 1974- 80 examples ordered, 79 were originally delivered; the only plane to use the Phoenix missile.[1]
Mikoyan MiG-29 Fulcrum Russia Fighter
Trainer
MiG-29A 28 1990- 28 received in total, of which 18 single-seat fighters and 6 two-seat trainers were received from the USSR. 4 additional aircraft (3 single-seaters and 1 two-seat trainer) are ex-Iraqi Air Force aircraft [2]

Multirole Fighters

Aircraft Origin Type Versions Number Years Notes
Dassault Mirage F1 France Fighter F1EQ5
F1BQ
24 1991- {24 were evacuated from Iraq, during the 1991 Persian Gulf War}
Chengdu F-7 Airguard China Fighter F-7M 20 1986- According to Global Security Iran has 20 F-7's in service.[1]
HESA Saeqeh Iran Fighter Two versions have been observed Unknown January 2010 Six serial numbers (3-7366 through 3-7371) have been identified via photographic evidence.
McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II US Fighter-Bomber F-4D/E
RF-4E
64 1968- According to Global Security 60 F-4D/E and 4 RF-4Es are in service.[1] F-4Ds/Es are currently undergoing an upgrade program which includes a new Chinese-built radar and other avionics (PL 7,PL12).(According to the aviationist (October 2013) the Qader cruise missile that went into mass production was successfully tested on an F-4)[1][2]
Northrop F-5 Tiger II US Light fighter F-5E
F-5F
60 [1] 1974- According to Global Security 60 F-5's modernized[1]

Ground attack

Aircraft Origin Type Versions Number Years Notes
HESA Azarakhsh Iran Light attack aircraft First Generation (includes twin-seat version) 30 1997 As of 2001 there were said to be six in the inventory, with a production schedule established for 30 aircraft over the following three years.[1][3]
Sukhoi Su-24 Russia Strike/air-to-air refuelling "buddy" tanker Su-24MK 30 1991 According to Global Security, 30 SU-24s are in service. [1] Upgraded with night vision. 24 examples formerly belonged to IQAF.
Sukhoi Su-25 Russia Close Air Support Su-25K/UBK 13~6 19917 ex-Iraqi Air Force examples which were transferred back to Iraq to fight ISIL

Future additions

Aircraft Origin Type Versions Number Years Notes
HESA Shafaq Iran Fighter Trainer / Attack aircraft 1 Reportedly there are plans to produce three versions—one two-seat trainer/light strike version and two one-seat fighter-bomber versions. To-date, only a single mockup exists.
Saegheh 2 Iran Fighter Fighter jet 2 The new generation of Saeqeh is a twin-seat fighter jet, which has more power, mobility, navigation equipment, fire power, pay load and operational range compared to its single-seat version.[4]
B92 Iran Fighter Fighter jet 1 Iran’s Borhan fighter, which is also known as B92, has been completely manufactured by the Iranian military experts and has successfully passed wind tunnel tests.[5]
Qaher-313 Iran Fighter Fighter Jet 1 An Iranian Fifth-generation jet fighter. To-date, only a single mockup exists; and the program has been dismissed by some aviation experts as a hoax.

Reconnaissance, patrol, and EW

Maritime Patrol

Aircraft Origin Type Versions Number Years Notes
Lockheed P-3 Orion US maritime patrol P-3F 6 1974- 3 in service

Transport/AWACS/Maritime patrol

Aircraft Origin Type Versions Number Years Notes
HESA IrAn-140 Iran Transport/AWACS/Maritime patrol 5+ Global Security has reported that 5+ are in service in the Iranian Air Force.[1]

Transport and utility

Aircraft Origin Type Versions Number Years Notes
Boeing 707 US VIP transport
transport
air-to-air refuelling tanker
707-368C
707-3J9C
1
3
1974-

1 tanker, 2 transports Global security reports that one 707 is a tanker and two are transports.[1]

Boeing 747 US VIP transport/freighter 747-100
747-100F
747-200F
6 2 tanker, 4 transports.[1]
Dassault Falcon 20 France VIP transport 3
Dassault Falcon 50 France VIP transport ?
Fokker F27 Friendship Netherlands tactical airlift/transport and target towing F27-400M
F27-600
12 1972-
Ilyushin Il-76 Candid Russia transport 4~12 According to magazine "Airforce", only 4~5 of them are fully operational
Lockheed C-130 Hercules US tactical airlift/transport C-130E
C-130H
19[1]
Lockheed JetStar US VIP transport JetStar 8 2 1 operational in 2008
Pilatus PC-6 Porter Switzerland utility transport 13
Antonov An-74 Ukraine utility transport 13
Y-7 China utility transport 14 According to Global Security 14 Y-7's are in service.

Trainers

Aircraft Origin Type Versions Number Years Notes
Chengdu FT-7 China trainer FT.7 5 Dual-seat J-7 conversion trainer. Some reports indicates that 5 are in service.[1]
Beechcraft Bonanza US trainer F.33 20
Fajr F.3 Iran trainer F.3 2
HESA Dorna (Owj Tazarve) Iran trainer 25 One as of 2005. 25 planned for 2010.[1]
IAMI Parastoo Iran trainer 12 12 as of 2005.[1]
HESA Simorgh Iran trainer 7+ F-5As converted domestically to F-5B standard. Twenty in total planned.[1]
Pilatus PC-7 Turbo Trainer Switzerland trainer 35
TB-21 Tobago / TB-200 Trinidad France trainer 12 12 traniers in service.[1]
PAC MFI-17 Mushshak Pakistan trainer 25 25 trainers in service.[1]
Lockheed T-33A US Shooting Star trainer 7 Seven trainers in service.[1]
Mikoyan MiG-29UB USSR MiG-29 fighter trainer 5-7 According to Global Security, five trainers in service.[1]

Helicopters

Aircraft Origin Type Variant Number Years Notes
Boeing CH-47 Chinook US Heavy-lift transport helicopter CH-47C At least 12[1]
Bell 214 US Search and rescue/medium-lift transport helicopter Bell 214C 30[1]
Agusta-Bell 212 Italy Light transport helicopter AB-212 Licence-built in Italy
Agusta Bell 206 Italy Trainer/light transport helicopter AB 206 4 Licence-built in Italy.

Other types

These types were also purchased by the Iranian government

A number of other types have been in recent, or reported, Iranian service. Many may remain in reserve storage or are operated by the Army or Navy. Some recent types include:

Iran has a number of UAVs and UCAVs, currently under operation of the Iranian Army Aviation.

Iranian combat aircraft under development

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 "Iran Air Force". globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  2. 1 2 Taghvaee, Babak (June 2012). "Guardians of Tehran: Iranian Fulcrums". Combat Aircraft Monthly: 70–73.
  3. "Azarakhsh". globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  4. "HESA Saeqeh Saeqeh-80 Azarakhsh-2 fighter aircraft". airrecognition.com. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  5. "Irans-new-aircraft-successfully-passes-wind-tunnel-test". theiranproject.com. Retrieved 7 July 2015.

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aircraft of the Iranian Air Force.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, April 18, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.