Iranian F-14 Tomcat Units in Combat

Book excerpt: This book looks at the F-14's Iranian combat history and includes first hand accounts from the pilots themselves. 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 were 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. Alongside stunning illustration, the authors consider key engagements and the central figures involved, illustrating the realities, successes and failures of the Iranian air campaign.