London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 24, 2025

The F-14 Tomcat first flew 52 years ago. Here's why the US destroyed them rather than let anyone else buy them.

The F-14 Tomcat first flew 52 years ago. Here's why the US destroyed them rather than let anyone else buy them.

Like many of the United States' foreign-policy decisions over the past 20 years, this one was about Iran.

There was only one foreign customer for the advanced F-14 Tomcat fighter during its heyday: Iran.

The Shah chose to buy 80 Tomcats instead of the F-15 Eagle — and it was a good investment. Even after Imperial Iran gave way to the Islamic Republic of Iran after the 1979 revolution, the Iranian Air Force was still stacked with some of the best Tomcat pilots in the world.

And the US doesn't want any of them in the air ever again.

Iran is the US's ex-girlfriend who we just can't stop thinking about. After the Islamic Revolution, the US could just not leave Iran alone. A major US sticking point was that our ex still had 30 of our best fighter aircraft — and was using them to great effect against our new boo, Iraq, in the Iran-Iraq War.


An F-14D Tomcat over the Persian Gulf in November 2005.

The Iranian air force was so skilled in the Iran-Iraq War that a lone Tomcat could clear the skies of enemy aircraft without firing a shot. Many of the successful downings of Tomcats were at the hands of ground-based SAM batteries ... Iranian SAM batteries.

But the US eventually gets better stuff, no matter how iconic "Top Gun" is. Since the Tomcat, we've had the major advances in fighter technology that led us to develop the F-22 and F-35 fighters, technology so amazing it might seem like magic to some.

So it made sense to retire our fleet of F-14s in 2007, given that we had an air-superiority fighter that had the radar cross-section of a bumblebee and could take out enemy planes before it could physically see them. When Iran got wind of the Tomcat's retirement, you could practically hear the CEO of Northrop Grumman's tummy growling at the idea of parts sales.

But nope. This was 2007, and Iran was still firmly placed in President George W. Bush's "Axis of Evil," along with North Korea. The idea of selling Iran rare F-14 parts so it didn't have to cannibalize its own F-14 inventory was preposterous. It was this concern that led the Pentagon to shred every leftover F-14 Tomcat.
A US Navy F-14D Tomcat over Afghanistan, in November 2001.


Did the US have to take a $38 million plane and reduce it to scrap metal just so Iran couldn't repair its aging fleet? No, according to many national security experts, it did not.

They said the move was more symbolic than practical. F-14 parts were considered sensitive equipment just for this reason, so the US ended all parts sales to anyone, not just Iran, for fear that Iran might get them eventually. But that doesn't matter; there isn't much Iran could do with its F-14s if they were airworthy.

"Those planes as they age are maybe the equivalent of Chevrolets in Cuba. They become relics of a past era," said Larry C. Johnson, a former deputy chief of counterterrorism at the State Department in President George H.W. Bush's administration. "Even if they can put them in the air, they are going to face more advanced weapons systems."

The decision to destroy all the surplus Tomcats was the defense equivalent of taking the house and the car despite not needing or wanting either — a purely spiteful move that makes Tomcat fans wish they would have just donated to museums.
Read the original article on We Are The Mighty. Copyright 2022. Follow We Are The Mighty on Twitter.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
×