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.


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 44 1991 14 single seat MiG-29 received in 1994. A second delivery occurred in 1991 with 20 MiG-29/MiG-29UB. Iran also took over 4 ex-Iraqi aircraft flown over in 1991, including one MiG-29UB. An additional 6 MiG29/MiG-29UB where received in 1994. The current number of MiG-29 in active service is unknown although most sources point to 25.[2] [1] [3]

Multirole fighters

Aircraft Origin Type Versions Number Years Notes
Dassault Mirage F1 France Fighter F1EQ5
F1BQ
23 1991– 24 were evacuated from Iraq, during the 1991 Persian Gulf War[1]
Chengdu F-7 Airguard China Fighter F-7M 21 1986– According to Global Security Iran has 20 F-7s in service.[1] According to IRAF and zIF Boards there are 36 F-7s in Iran military.
HESA Saeqeh Iran Fighter Two versions have been observed 7 January 2016 Iranian media claimed up to 30 of these are in service.[1]
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) 4 2015 [1]
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 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 Simorgh Iran Fighter Trainer / Attack aircraft 0 2016 [1]
Saegheh 2 Iran Fighter Fighter jet 02016 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]
Qaher-313 Iran Fighter Fighter Jet ?? 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 30 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 15 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 Avanced 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 Iran Trainer 5 2016 One as of 2005. 25 planned for 2010.[1] At least 40 are being build by HESA. Only 5 confirmed.
IAMI Parastoo Iran trainer 12 12 as of 2005.[1]
HESA Simorgh / Northrop F-5 B Iran Advanced Trainer 20 F-5As converted domestically to F-5B standard. Twenty in total planned.[1]
Pilatus PC-7 Turbo Trainer Switzerland trainer 45
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]

Helicopters

Aircraft Origin Type Variant Number Years Notes
Boeing CH-47 Chinook US Heavy-lift transport helicopter CH-47C At least 40
Bell 214 US Search and rescue/medium-lift transport helicopter Bell 214C/214A 70[1]
Agusta-Bell 212 Italy Light transport helicopter AB-212 50 Licence-built in Italy
Agusta Bell 206 Italy Trainer/light transport helicopter AB 206 6 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 23 "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. https://sputniknews.com/military/201501201017120106/
  4. "HESA Saeqeh Saeqeh-80 Azarakhsh-2 fighter aircraft". airrecognition.com. Retrieved 7 July 2015.

Further reading

External links

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