Osprey Combat Aircraft 49 : Iranian F-14 Tomcat Units in Combat

So formidable an opponent did the Iraqi airforce consider the F-14 that during the Iran-Iraq war, they ordered their pilots not to engage F-14s and the presence of one in an area was usually enough to empty it of Iraqi aircraft. Officially losses where tiny; only one F-14 was lost in aerial combat (to a MiG-21), one to a control problem and one downed by a ground-to-air missile. This book looks at the F-14's Iranian combat history and includes first hand accounts from the pilots themselves. It will consider key engagements and the central figures involved, illustrating the realities, successes and failures of the Iranian air campaign. Text by Tom Cooper and Farzad Bishop with illustrations by Chris Davey.

Contents

• Introduction
• The Requirement
• The First Kills
• Three-to-One!
• Combat Continues
• Crippling the Weasel
• The Fog of Disinformation
• Appendices