Israel appears to be focusing on ending whatever remains of the small fleet of F-14 Tomcat fighters in the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF), which is the last remaining operator of these Cold War-era jets.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed on March 8, 2026, that it had destroyed multiple IRIAF F-14 Tomcats in a massive air strike on Isfahan Airport the previous day, along with a host of other detection and defence systems. Additionally, it said 16 aircraft used by the IRGC Quds Force at Mehrabad International Airport were also struck.
“In a broad Air Force attack wave directed by Military Intelligence, compounds storing F-14 fighter jets of the Iranian terror regime were hit yesterday at the Isfahan airport. Detection and defense systems threatening Air Force aircraft were also struck. This joins the destruction of 16 aircraft used by the Quds Force unit at Mehrabad Airport in Tehran two days ago, as part of efforts to deepen the Air Force’s air superiority over Iran. The IDF will continue deepening strikes on all elements of the Iranian terror regime and expanding air superiority across Iran,” the IDF said in a statement posted in Hebrew on X.
Notably, the number of jets destroyed in the strike has not been disclosed, and perhaps could not be ascertained. Iran, on its part, has not acknowledged these claims or reported any losses at the time of writing this report.
Meanwhile, the US-based think tank, Institute for the Study of War (ISW), wrote in an assessment that, “Commercially available satellite imagery captured on March 8 shows about ten impact points, including extensive cratering on the base’s taxiway. The IDF announced on March 8 that it struck structures storing F-14 fighter jets in addition to air defense systems at an unspecified Esfahan airbase, presumably referring to the 8th Tactical Airbase. The base hosts F-14s, F-7s, and PC-7s.” However, the think tank did not mention the number of jets that were obliterated in the strikes.
Notably, Isfahan (or Esfahan) is home to the 8th Tactical Fighter Base and hosts the 81st, 82nd, and 83rd Tactical Fighter Squadrons.
This is the second time in less than a year that the Iranian Tomcats may have been struck by Israeli warplanes while sitting on the ground. Earlier, during the ’12-Day War’ in June 2025, drones deployed by the IDF destroyed a pair of F-14 Tomcat fighters outside hardened aircraft shelters in Tehran. Footage of the destruction was also subsequently published on social media, as reported by the EurAsian Times.
Responding to the reports of their destruction, military analyst Alex Luck said, “Honestly, these airframes getting bombed into oblivion on the ground is the only logical end. Going out in a blaze of glory was always just the dream of Iranian Air Force fanboys who drank their own bathwater on what these aircraft could ever contribute to Iranian “defences.””
Meanwhile, Christian Rosenkreutz, an Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) analyst with a focus on geospatial military intel and air base operations, published satellite images of the Isfahan base post strikes, describing the strike on X as: “A RELATIVE tactical accomplishment by the IDF/AF considering that IRIAF F-14 fleet (3rd Gen fighter jets) is in a NONOPERATIONAL condition – lacking spare parts & maintenance.”
Earlier, some reports stated that there were 24 to 30 operational F-14 Tomcats in service with the IRIAF before the 2025 hostilities between Israel and Iran. Therefore, if the recent strike has managed to obliterate multiple Tomcats, as claimed by the IDF, it is highly likely that Iran lost a major part of its most capable West-origin fighter jets.
In fact, some reports state that the 8th Tactical Fighter Base potentially housed all of the F-14s in Iranian service. This means that no Tomcats may have survived unless some were housed in an underground facility.
The strike could be a major symbolic loss for Iran. It could be seen as a humiliation for Tehran, which has taken immense pride in maintaining and upgrading these jets despite international sanctions and a lack of access to official spare parts.
For Israel, this is a route to achieving absolute air superiority over Iranian strikes, as also highlighted by the IDF in its announcement.
It is pertinent to note that the removal of vintage interceptors opens up safer passages for future strikes on missiles, nuclear sites, and command nodes, even though the F-14s were severely outmatched in capability by the Israeli F-15s, F-16s, and F-35s, and were used solely for air defence operations and interception.
The possible destruction of Tomcats would deny Iran any quick-reaction interceptors for high-value sites, reduce Iran’s multi-front threat architecture, and lower the likelihood of ongoing
End Of The Tomcat Era?
F-14 Tomcat is a supersonic, carrier-capable, twin-engine aircraft that was developed under the US Navy’s Naval Fighter Experimental (VFX) program. The aircraft was special from its inception as its development was based on air combat experience gathered by the US military during the Vietnam War.
The carrier-capable supersonic Tomcat fighter jet entered service in 1975 and was regarded as the first operational fourth-generation fighter jet. It was considered special because it seamlessly blended attributes like top speed, exceptional manoeuvrability, and advanced avionics and weaponry, which have become commonplace in modern fighter aircraft.
The US Navy first deployed the aircraft aboard USS Enterprise when it was first commissioned. The aircraft performed three crucial roles for the US Navy: defence interceptor, tactical aerial reconnaissance platform, and maritime air superiority fighter. It also participated in several global conflicts, but was decommissioned by the US Navy in 2006 and replaced by the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. According to some reports, the service shredded the remaining Tomcats to prevent spare parts from reaching Tehran.
The only other operator, and the only foreign buyer of the aircraft, Iran purchased 79 F-14A aircraft, along with cutting-edge radar equipment and AIM-54 Phoenix missiles under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, a key US ally at the time.
Iranian F-14s then saw considerable action against Russian-origin and Iraqi-flown MiG-25 Foxbats, MiG-21s, and even French Mirage F1s in the nearly eight-year-long Iran-Iraq war, fought between 1980 and 1988. Notably, the Iraqi MiG-25s would fly unchallenged over Iranian airspace, but the F-14s and their powerful AWG-9 radar and Phoenix air-to-air missile made the fighter the most powerful jet in the Middle East at the time.
However, the 1979 revolution deposed the Shah, and the US placed sanctions on Iran to prevent the new, unfriendly and hostile regime from using Western-origin weapons against the United States.
This left the Islamic country with no other recourse but to showcase resilience and improvise. “Defense aerospace businesses are such that there are still spares of older aircraft available, which can be purchased in the gray markets. Countries that cannot buy them openly often source these products through third parties, the official buyers, and later divert them to the main party,” Indian Air Force veteran Air Marshal Anil Chopra (retd) earlier explained to the EurAsian Times.
Iran subsequently managed to upgrade the jets with indigenous avionics and weapons, mainly to keep them airworthy for as long as possible. However, issues persisted because Iran’s homegrown electronics, components, assemblies, and reinforcements did not meet the exact standards set by US manufacturers, limiting how long it could keep flying the jet.
Nonetheless, these jets continued to be a symbol of Iranian ingenuity despite their age, and survived the onslaught by Israel (and by the US) last June.
Despite taking immense pride in these legacy fighters, Iran was alive to the challenges of operating an outdated fleet, especially in the face of a sustained security threat from Israel. In 2023 and 2024, Tehran’s officials confirmed that it was planning to acquire the Russian Su-35 multi-role aircraft.
Interestingly, during Russian President Putin’s visit to the Middle East in December 2023, an IRIAF F-14 accompanied four Su-35S Flankers equipped with R-77 and R-73 air-to-air missiles that escorted the presidential Il-96-300PU.
However, no deliveries of these Russian jets have been confirmed so far, which means IRIAF’s capability may be severely depleted now that the Tomcats have been lost.
The loss of F-14s would likely constitute a big setback for Iran. However, experts argue that Iran has managed to deny complete air superiority to Israel, not by using fighter jets but by using its massive arsenal of drones and missiles.
Whether Israel can now achieve its objectives in the West Asian country remains to be seen, but for now, the potential end of F-14 Tomcat service in the IRIAF represents the end of an era.
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