This is a list of aircraft types operated by the Iranian Air Force, not including those operated by the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. This list also includes aircraft operated by Imperial Iranian Army Aviation prior to the foundation of the Air Force as a separate service in August 1955.
In 2007, Iraq asked Iran to return some of the scores of Iraqi fighter planes that flew there ahead of the Persian Gulf War in 1991.[1] And as of 2014, Iran was receptive to the demands and was working on refurbishing an unspecified number of jets.[2] [3] In late 2014, Iran returned some of the impounded Iraqi military aircraft to Iraq.[4]
| Aircraft | Origin | Type | Versions | Number | Years | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Russia | Multirole-fighter Trainer | MiG-29 (9.12B) MiG-29UB | 30 | 1991 | 24 MiG-29 delivered in 1990. Iran also took several ex-Iraqi MiG-29 aircraft flown over in 1991, including one MiG-29UB. The current number of MiG-29 in active service is unknown. According to Russian media up to 30 (24 MiG-29 product 9.12B and 6 MiG-29UB 9.51) of all MiG-29s have been overhauled and can now be armed with Nasr-1 anti-ship missiles.[5] [6] In 2018, a MiG-29 crashed and was destroyed due to a technical fault. | ||
| US | Multirole-fighter | F-14A | 40 | 1974–present | 80 examples ordered, 79 were originally delivered; the only plane to use the Phoenix missile. 40 in inventory.[7] Iran currently has about 40 F-14 remaining with two of them having been upgraded to F-14AM[8] around 20 Fully Mission Capable and the other 20 Partially Mission Capable |
| Aircraft | Origin | Type | Versions | Number | Years | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iran | Light fighter | Saegheh-1/2 | 6[9] | 2006–present | Is claimed to be heavily upgraded and indigenously made | ||
| HESA Kowsar | Iran | Fighter aircraft | 4[10] | 2018–present | Western analysts have described the plane as inefficient as a weapon, but having potential for training a new generation of Iranian fighter pilots. According to the Iranian state-media, this fighter jet has "advanced avionics" and multipurpose radar, and it was "100-percent indigenously made". It also uses digital data networks, a glass cockpit, heads-up display (HUD), ballistic computers and smart mobile mapping systems. | ||
| HESA Azarakhsh | Iran | Light fighter | First Generation (includes twin-seat version) | 4 | 2015 | Rebuilt F-5E. | |
| Chengdu J-7 | China | Fighter aircraft | N/MB | 24 | 1991–present | Chinese license-built MiG-21 | |
| France | Fighter aircraft | F1EQ/F1BQ | 23 | 1991–present | Iran received 24 F1BQs and F1EQs flown over from Iraq, during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. One Mirage F1BQ from Mashhad AFB (TFB.14) was shot down on July 8, 2001 by the Taliban with Sa-16/18 Manpad while involved in countering drug-smuggling at the Afghan border. | ||
| US | Interceptor | F-4D/E RF-4E | 64 | 1968–present | 225 examples ordered and delivered. According to Global Security 60 F-4D/E and 4 RF-4Es remain. 10 are F-4Ds and 50 are F-4Es.[11] F-4Ds/Es are currently undergoing an upgrade program which includes a new Chinese-built radar and other avionics and weapons namely PL-5E, PL-11 and C-801.(According to the aviationist (October 2013) the Qader cruise missile that went into mass production was successfully tested on an F-4). | ||
| US | Light fighter | F-5E F-5F | 60 | 1974–present | 181 examples ordered and delivered. According to Global Security 60 F-5's remain This includes about 16 F-5F dual seat trainers and 44 F-5E fighter bomber |
| Aircraft | Origin | Type | Versions | Number | Years | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Russia | Strike/air-to-air refuelling "buddy" tanker | Su-24MK | 32 | 1991 | 12 aircraft supplied by Russia in 1991. 24 Iraqi examples were evacuated to Iran during the 1991 Gulf War and were put in service with the IRIAF. 3 of them crashed and was destroyed due to a technical fault.30 Su-24MKs in service as of January 2013.[12] Iran tested domestically produced, anti-radar smart missiles carried by Su-24 aircraft in September 2011.[13] | ||
| Russia | Fighter-Bomber | Su-22M3/M4 | 20 | 1991–present | The Iranian Air Force received 40 Su-20/22s from Iraq in 1991.[14] While non-operational for several years, Iran started in 2013 an overhauling program for these.[15] In March 2015, 10 of the Iranian Air Force Su-22 were transferred to the Syrian Arab Air Force to fight in the ongoing Civil War.[16] In July 2018, Iranian military technical experts successfully overhauled and modernized 10 Su-22s, giving them the ability to carry smart bombs, fire precision-guided munitions, transfer data from UAVs and in the near future the necessary systems to use air-launched cruise missiles with a range of 1500 km. The overhauled planes are being used by IRGC's Air Force.[17] [18] |
| Aircraft | Origin | Type | Versions | Number | Years | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HESA IrAn-140 | Iran | Transport/AWACS/Maritime patrol | 7 | Project appears to have been stalled or cancelled.[19] | |||
| Ilyushin Il-76 | Soviet Union | Transport/AWACS | IL-76MD Adnan | 1 | 1991–Present | One AWACS-converted Il-76 crashed in 2009.[20] |
| Aircraft | Origin | Type | Versions | Number | Years | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antonov An-74 | Ukraine | utility transport | 12 | All assigned to IRGCAF, not IRIAF. | |||
| Ilyushin Il-76 | Russia | tactical airlift/transport | 12 | ||||
| Dassault Falcon 20 | France | VIP transport | 3 | ||||
| Dassault Falcon 50 | France | VIP transport | 1 | ||||
| Fokker F27 Friendship | Netherlands | tactical airlift/transport and target towing | F27-400M F27-600 | 12 | 1972–present | ||
| Pilatus PC-6 Porter | Switzerland | utility transport | 15 | ||||
| Boeing 707 | US | VIP transport transport air-to-air refuelling tanker | 707-368C 707-3J9C | 1 2 | 1974– | 1 tanker, 2 transports Global security reports that one 707 is a tanker and two are transports. | |
| Boeing 747 | US | VIP transport/freighter | 747-100 747-100F 747-200F | 6 | 2 tanker, 4 transports.One is used for electronic warfare. | ||
| Lockheed C-130 Hercules | US | tactical airlift/transport | C-130E C-130H | 27 | Nine visible on Google Maps at Mehrabad Air Base, with various underwing stores and some do not appear to have all four engines installed. | ||
| Lockheed JetStar | US | VIP transport | JetStar 8 | 2 | 1 operational in 2008 |
| Aircraft | Origin | Type | Versions | Number | Years | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fajr F.3 | Iran | trainer | F.3 | 2 | |||
| HESA Dorna | Iran | Trainer | 1 | 2016 | Prototype | ||
| IRIAF Parastu-14 | Iran | trainer | 12 | 12 as of 2005. | |||
| HESA Yasin | Iran | Advanced Trainer | 2+ | HESA Yasin (formerly known as Kowsar 88) is a light aircraft and advance training aircraft designed and manufactured by Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Company at the request of the Air Force of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Yassin uses two 7,000-pound turbojet engines and is on par with the Russian MiG-AT jet. | |||
| HESA Simorgh / Northrop F-5 B | Iran | Advanced Trainer | 9 | F-5As converted domestically to F-5B standard. | |||
| Chengdu FT-7 | China | Advanced Trainer | FT.7 | 14 | Dual-seat J-7 conversion trainer. Some reports indicates that 5 are in service. Scramble notes 14 active.[21] | ||
| TB-21 Tobago / TB-200 Trinidad | France | trainer | 12 | 12 trainers in service. | |||
| PAC MFI-17 Mushshak | Pakistan | trainer | 25 | 25 trainers in service. | |||
| Pilatus PC-7 Turbo Trainer | Switzerland | trainer | 45 | ||||
| Beechcraft Bonanza | US | trainer | F.33 | 28 | |||
| Yak-130 | Russia | trainer/CAS | 2+ | [22] |
| Aircraft | Origin | Type | Variant | Number | Years | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agusta Bell 206 | Italy | Light utility/trainer | AB 206 | 20 | Licence-built in Italy. | ||
| Agusta-Bell 212 | Italy | Utility | AB-212 | 1 | Licence-built in Italy. 1 lost 19 May 2024.[23] | ||
| Boeing CH-47 Chinook | US | Heavy-lift transport | CH-47C | 20-30 |
These types were also purchased by the Iranian government
A number of other types have been in recent, or reported to be in, Iranian service. Many remain in reserve storage or are operated by the Army or Navy. Some recent types include:
Iran has a number of UAVs and UCAVs, currently under operation of the Iranian Army Aviation.
