Iran War May End Era of F-14 Jets

The venerable F-14 fighter jet, familiar to anyone who's seen Top Gun, may be history because of the Iran war. Both NPR and the War Zone report that Israeli bombs might have destroyed the last operational ones in existence. Satellite images show multiple destroyed Tomcats at an Iranian airbase, though it may take some time to figure out whether any survived. If they are all indeed gone, it would close the book on a saga that began in the 1970s, when Washington sold the then-cutting-edge aircraft to Iran when it was an ally of the US, only to see them inherited a few years later by the anti-US regime that toppled the shah.

"While I understand the tactical necessity of taking them out … I'm also filled with sadness at their demise," US Navy Cmdr. Ward Carroll, who has analyzed the satellite imagery and suspects they are all destroyed, tells NPR. Carroll flew the Tomcats for much of his career, before the US phased them out in 2006. The last ones flying were in Iran, and estimates varied on many were operational, ranging from a handful to as many as 25, according to the War Zone. To keep them airborne, Iran has resorted over the years to what NPR describes as a "long-running spare parts smuggling ring."