With a global box office draw now approaching $1.5 billion, Top Gun: Maverick is a bonified blockbuster — and at least some of the credit for that has to go to the spectacular fan service provided by Maverick’s return to the cockpit of the famed F-14 Tomcat.
Fair warning, there are some light spoilers for “Top Gun: Maverick” ahead, but we won’t reveal much you wouldn’t have already seen in the trailers.
The plot of “Top Gun: Maverick,” like the plot of its 1986 precursor, is built around a conflict with another nation that can best be summed up as, “yadda yadda yadda.” It’s clear in the movie’s first act that it doesn’t want you thinking too hard about who the bad guys are, why the Navy is conducting a secret mission over Iran without the benefit of any mission planners other than a 60-year-old Captain who should be in the brig, why the F-35 couldn’t fly this mission, or why the Air Force doesn’t just handle it with platforms purpose-built for exactly these kinds of operations… like the B-2 Spirit.
And to be honest, that’s fine. I didn’t fly my butt to San Diego for an advanced screening of this movie to watch a two-hour documentary on how effective mission planning turns highly dangerous missions into very boring flights through dark skies and unaware air defenses. I came to see Maverick do a bunch of crazy stuff in a fighter jet that would have him stripped of his flight status in real life. I came to see fighter jets doing the sort of stuff they only ever really do when things go wrong.
And maybe most of all… I came to see Maverick square off against Russian Su-57s in an F-14 Tomcat he managed to steal from Iran.
But those of you who aren’t very well versed in Iran’s airpower might have found yourself wondering why on earth a nation that hates America is still operating the same American fighters Maverick flew in the 1980s. The truth is, Iran really does have a collection of F-14s… and we gave them to them.
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How Iran got its own fleet of F-14s
The F-14 Tomcat was among the most capable fighters in the sky back in 1979. With a top speed in excess of Mach 2.4 and a rate of climb of around 45,000 feet per minute, the F-14 would leave even America’s current top-of-the-line F-35 in the dust if they were to drag race. Of course, combat isn’t drag racing, and the F-14’s large radar signature and dated systems would likely make it easy prey for the slower, but stealthy, F-35 (even if Mav seemed to do fine against Su-57s).
Iran was a much different place prior to the 1979 Revolution that saw the overthrow of Iran’s final monarch, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, in favor of the Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and his Islamic Republic. While the revolution itself is a complex matter, the ways it affected relations with the West are relatively easy to summarize: the revolution replaced a Western-friendly government with a regime that saw America as a philosophical opponent.
But earlier in the decade, Iran’s American-friendly government was on the market for some serious airpower. Although both fighters were still in testing prior to entering into active service, the U.S. organized a fly-off between Grumman’s F-14 Tomcat and Mcdonnel Douglas’ F-15 Eagle, and ultimately, Iran chose to order 80 of the large, swing-wing F-14s for their own use.
But immediately following the establishment of Iran’s Islamic Republic, and amid an ongoing hostage crisis, the United States canceled its shipments of F-14 Tomcats. Of course, by then it was too late; 79 of the 80 Tomcats that were promised to Iran had already been delivered.
The Grumman F-14 Tomcat was originally designed to serve aboard U.S. Navy carriers, where they would be the first line of defense against Soviet bombers carrying anti-ship cruise missiles and nuclear weapons. As such, the F-14 was built not just to fight, but to cover great distances at a high rate of speed so they could rapidly close with approaching bombers, hold their own against fighter escorts, and prevent Soviet nuclear weapons from ever reaching U.S. shores.
Fortunately, nuclear war never came, and after the fall of the Soviet Union, the Tomcat’s expensive maintenance requirements started to seem a bit less worthwhile. The U.S. Navy eventually decided to phase the F-14 out in favor of the F/A-18 Super Hornet, an aircraft that emphasized ground engagement more than air superiority.
Upon the F-14’s retirement in 2006, the U.S. literally shredded its remaining F-14s in order to ensure Iran couldn’t get their hands on any of their parts.
But that’s just the end of the F-14’s story here in the United States. Thousands of miles away, Iran has continued to operate its fleet of 79 Tomcats to this very day… at least, if they’re to be believed.
The United States has made it incredibly difficult for Iran to get their hands on the parts they need to keep the F-14s in the air, so most experts on this side of Iran’s border agree that it’s unlikely Iran could field many of these 4th generation fighters for a real fight. However, Iran contends that they currently have 24 F-14s that are still operational and flight ready, with two that have even been upgraded to F-14AMs. These “upgraded” fighters have been modified to fly with reverse engineered, locally sourced, replacement components, as well as weapons systems Iran can reliably get their hands on.
However, two “updated” versions of a long-retired fighter don’t make for much of a threat. And even if we were to give Iran the benefit of the doubt and assume they have two-dozen functional F-14s, their pilots will be woefully ill-prepared for the rigors of combat in these jets.
American fighter pilots are, hands down, the most heavily trained combat aviators in the world. On average, American fighter jocks see nearly twice the seat time in their respective aircraft as compared to their Chinese or Russian counterparts, let alone pilots serving in a less economically developed nation like Iran. And because Iran lacks the means to maintain their F-14s consistently, their pilots likely have next to no experience at the stick of the Tomcat. It simply wouldn’t be practical to put them in the air with any regularity.
The F-14 Tomcat is, undoubtedly, one of the most impressive fighters to come out of the Cold War, but in the modern era of stealth platforms like the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, even Maverick wouldn’t stand a chance in an Iranian F-14… unless, of course, he benefitted from some serious movie magic.
Read More from Sandboxx News
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- Sea Eagle: America’s plan to put the F-15 on aircraft carriers
- These are the jets Iran would use in a fight with the US
- MiG-28: ‘Top Gun’s’ fictional Cold War killer
I just finished watching this and liked it better than I’d expected to, but I need someone to explain why the F14 has presumably been hanging out in the enemy’s hangar for decades, but all the controls I could make out in the cockpit and on the board in the hangar are all in English?
Thanks for nice but not true and professionally written article!
So just notice:
1. Iranian people do NOT hate American people;
2. Iranian pilots are more capable of American pilots; You can just read about Iran Air Force operations in Iran – Iraq war (taking down 3 aircrafts with one missile, H3 operation) and many other examples.
In late 70s in United States, Iranian Acrojet team defeated US Acrojet team, and many maneuvers which only Iranian pilots could perform!
Just read the history;
3. Iran’s defense system has shot down RQ-4A Global Hawk High-Altitude, Long, Endurance (HALE) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) in 2019.
4. Iranian cheapest drones bombing Ukraine!
5. Millions of Iranian missiles waiting for sinking US aircraft careers in Persian Gulf.
The time of AirForce has been ended;
How an Aircraft will takeoff when there is no runway!
It’s Time of missiles! (Maybe with nukes;) )
Be careful, Shahram, you made up lots of kosesher, which you also a non-believer of!
The mollas in Iran are preying god to help them save the country, which each day adds on its impoverished population!
It’s all about Iran, not mulas!
It seems you believe in hollywood things than real history which just happened!
To koskholi k fek mikoni Amrika vase nejate to va man khoone sarbazasho mirize!
Nejate iran faghat ba khode mardome
Vatan foroosh nabash
I couldn’t reply on your another kosesher answer Shahram!
The only way people in Iran can take Mollas down is to have weapons, and they still need the West help! We are talking about the Neandertals who have weapons!
Please follow the operation preying mantis at 1988 when Iran’s navy and airforce was still up to date and effective! Iran lost half of its navy in only 24 hours!
Cool article exept the rogue nation is purposefully made to be vague, the landscape doesn’t look like the middle east, yes, they have F-14s like only Iran has but they also have Su-57s only russia has.
In the end, judging by the emblem on the planes, I’ll put my money on Arstotzka
I guess you’ve never been to the middle east and think all of it is sand. I would advise you to look up Iran’s landscape before making these types of generalizations.
The movie attempts to make it vague, but we all know Iran is the rogue nation that’s pursuing nukes, has F-14s and is about to get SU-35s. In the movie they just gave them SU-57s to make things more interesting.
If that country is iran, they should attack from persian golf. And if you are an iranian you should be aware of the vegetation of the southern of this country. The climate of this zone is torrid and there is no snow in there. Also the trees are needle leaved that we often can see them in northen countries like russia!
Well, I don’t think Iran exported these aircraft to anyone else, so what other “rogue” nation could it be?
They made quite an effort to explicitly exhibit that the adversary state is a ‘rogue nation’ and not linked to one in our world, so let’s not start highlighting lines that aren’t drawn. Here you have quite confidently and arrogantly asserted that the rogue nation is Iran. Cringeworthy and simply pathetic.
it is not about airplane, it is about pilot and when iran toy drones can destroy saudi oil sites(covered by patriots) or us weapons in ukraine so even retired american jets in iranians hands can overthrow f22 or fake f35
iranian flying mopeds havent destroyed any weapons in ukraine just power grids and innocent children
All true! But the sheer patriotism that Mav exhibits in an F14, is so freaking boss, that I could barely keep myself from pivoting in my seat! Felt like I was there, even though that it is said that it was VFX mostly!. Superb film!
All true! But the sheer patriotism that Mav exhibits in an F14, is so freaking boss, that I could barely keep myself from pivoting in my seat! Felt like I was there, even though that it is said that it was VFX mostly!. Superb film!
The Iranian nation is never the enemy of the American nation. Iranians have no problem with the American people.
Iranians are against the wrong policies of the American government (I emphasize the American government) in the world.
It should be noted that the world of war has changed. You can have a point missile for less.
Iran has put its technical knowledge and main investment in the missile industry (ballistic missiles, etc.)
“Iranians are against the wrong policies of the American government (I emphasize the American government) in the world.”
Oh? Do tell.
Go back to sleep
Keep in mind State Department required that the creators of the two Top Gun movies not identify the nation USN was fighting against. In the first Tom Gun movte in 1986, it was presumed that the event occured over the Middle East. The second movie , 2022, given the snowy mountains, it was assumed that Finland was where the events took place.
Years ago, there was a rumor Iran traded a F-14 to Russia for Mig-29s. Nothing became5 of the rumor. In the second Tom Gun movie, digitation of a F-14 and SU-57 was created to get those two planes operational. Everybody knows that the only country flying SU-57s were Russia. They made a script having Cruise and Teller being shot down in their F/A-18Es, landing in the forest and walking around the air base to find a F-14 conveniently secreted in a hangar fuelled and ready for Cruise and Teller to steal the aircraft, shoot down 3 SU-57s and land on the Lincoln with a missing front wheel. Too good to be true, but they did it!
What
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รีวิว เกม The Queen’s Banquet เกมสล็อตออนไลน์ที่เเจกโบนัสเยอะที่สุด เกมสล็อตออนไลน์ที่ได้รับความนิยมอันดับต้นๆ ของ PG เกมสล็อตที่การเดิมพันเยอะที่สุด น่าเล่น น่าลงทุน ตัวเกมล้ำ สุดทันสมัย ภาพสวยงาม เล่นมันส์ ไม่มีเบื่อ เเละ ยังมีฟีเจอร์ตัวช่วยในการทำเงินมากมาย ตัวคูณเยอะ เข้าได้หลายวิธี ลุ้นรับเงินรางวัลก้อนโตทุกครั้งที่หมุนสปิน.
A 60 year old Navy Captain climbing into a poorly maintained F-14 after having not flown one in 15 years, with his weapons officer being the son of his former backseater who died and they proceed to shoot down 3 Russ-IRAN-ian Su-57s is extremely unlikely.
Like Russ-IRAN-ia could get 3 of those plywood coffins into the air at once.
Naval aviator Royce Williams arguably did something even more impressive in REAL life during the Korean War. He not only survived a 1 v 7 encounter against SOVIET-flown (not North Korean nor Chinese pilots) MiG-15s but managed to destroy four of them. He accomplished this despite flying an F9F Panther which was at a distinct performance disadvantage compared to the much faster and higher-flying MiGs.
While that is impressive, it is just as tantamount to what happened in 1966, when Al Bundy scored four touchdowns in a single game while playing for the Polk High School Panthers in the 1966 city championship game versus Andrew Johnson High School, including the game-winning touchdown in the final seconds against his old nemesis, Bubba “Spare Tire” Dixon. A feat that has yet to be accomplished to this day.