In 1988, an Iranian F-14 Battled Four Iraqi MiG-29s

One of the last dogfights of the Iran-Iraq War

by KASH RYAN

In 1988, an Iranian air force F-14 tangled with four Iraqi MiG-29s. It was one of the last dogfights of the long Iran-Iraq war.

“At the time of this incident, Saddam Hussein’s Air Force had just received its brand new MiG-29A fighter jets from the Soviet Union,” Maj. Asad Adeli, the F-14’s pilot, told me.

It was July 27, 1988. The war would end just a few weeks later.

“On one of the last [combat air patrol] missions of this long war, I was crewed with Capt. Habib Kazerouni, who was one of the most capable F-14 backseaters in the 82nd Tactical Fighter Squadron based at Isfahan air base,” Adeli recalled.

Adeli and Kazerouni were assigned the F-14A with the serial 3-6079. “As soon as preflighting began, I noticed our jet was armed with two rounds of AIM-23C missiles on each wing pylon,” Adeli said.

The AIM-23C was an air-to-air version of the surface-launched MIM-23B Hawk that Iranian engineers had developed owing to shortage of reliable medium-range air-to-air missiles for the F-14 fleet. “Moreover, it helped Iran preserve its expensive AIM-54A missiles.”

“In that instant, I had a strange feeling,” Adeli said. “ Not that I had any doubts about the air-to-air Hawk’s performance. I knew that this system had been proven both during testing and in real combat. But deep down on this day, I wished we had been given the AIM-54 Phoenix instead.”

Adeli and Kazerouni departed Isfahan’s Runway 26L and turned north. “Usually we would head south as that was where our F-14 jets had been patrolling for the most part,” Adeli said. “Yet, today our CAP area was to the north and northwest.”

The F-14 crew immediately refueled from a tanker plane then hurried to its patrol station while under the control of a ground-based radar crew.

“Shortly after our arrival over head, my capable [radar-intercept officer] Kazerouni managed to detect and acquire two targets around 50 miles away.

The ground controller chimed in. “Two targets, possibly MiG-29s, at your 10 o’clock, 30,000 feet.”

“For a quick second I wished I had been armed with two rare Phoenix missiles. But, alas, the danger was closing and I did not have the luxury of daydreaming. Habib was preparing the target info for me as I started banking left.

“I am going to engage,” Adeli told the ground-control-intercept operator.

“These look to be headed for our high value assets or they are headed for Hamedan’s 3rd Tactical Air Base,” the controller responded. “Stop them at all costs. Repeat. Stop them at all costs.”

“I really did not have a chance to respond,” Adeli recalled. “By now, these bandits and our aircraft were 25 miles apart. As I was preparing for a launch, the controller urged us to stop our attack run. But moments later, he came back on and asked us to press on.”

“This stop-and-go back-and-forth lasted less than 10 seconds but it made us vulnerable. It made me feel like a prey. My RIO beautifully locked the first one up and I pulled the trigger. But again deep down, I wanted a Phoenix to come off the rail.”

The AIM-23C fell free of the F-14. “The missile started to gently turn which indicated it was correcting its path toward the target,” Adeli said. “Not long after that, two tiny dots came into my view and I noticed that both were breaking away. Maybe they had either seen me, or the missile smoke trail.”

The missile banked left. “Then all I saw was a fireball. I could see the poor MiG breaking apart in a ball of fire and going down.”

“Incoming from right,” Kazerouni shouted.

“I had not yet fully turned my head around but a thick contrail had filled
the canopy view,” Adeli said. “I was shocked. This was coming from the Iraqi wingman who had managed to get close to us.

“My instinct, like a good fighter, was to turn as sharp as I could into the path of the incoming missile and then bank left. I banked so sharp and so sudden that I think I could not breathe.”

“I can only imagine what my backseater must have felt,” Adeli mused.

“Asad, it is a missile,” Kazerouni said. “Left.”

Adeli banked but the F-14 still shook. “It dawned on me that we had managed to evade the missile, and this must have been the shock wave. The jinking had caused us to lose the energy and a considerable amount of altitude. We needed to gain altitude and, as we were short on fuel, needed to refuel.”

Adeli was thinking about finding a tanker when Kazerouni shouted on the intercom. “I have got two targets! Twelve miles and 5,000 feet above us.”

The ground controller confirmed. “This must be the second flight. Are you engaging?”

“We are already engaging,” Kazerouni responded.

“This second flight of two MiG-29s had managed to take us by surprise,” Adeli said. “The first flight had us engaged, and as a result these two were now in their [weapon engagement zone]. I saw another contrail coming from our 12 o’clock high position.”

Adeli pulled up and rolled. Kazerouni told him to invert and turn harder. “In an instant, the enemy missile passed right in front of my face and our aircraft shook very violently again,” Adeli said. “My ears popped. At first I thought we were on fire. The impact that I felt from the bottom of the cockpit was like nothing I had ever experienced.”

The instrument panel went mad. “Every gauge was showing a different thing. Every dial was pointing to where they were not supposed to. Like a slow motion video, Tomcat’s radome was coming apart and disintegrating. A whole lot of fluids and what I suspect hydraulics were gushing out of my aircraft in every direction in front of us.”

Adeli called back to Kazerouni. He said he was alright. “I still had control of the airplane,” Adeli said. “Slowly each indicator was showing some level of normalcy. A few gauges had popped out and some wires were out of place. A quick glance at engine gauges told me the right engine was not okay. It was vibrating and producing an ominous noise. It must have ingested parts of the radar and radome.”

Adeli surmised that the incoming missile’s proximity fuse had done its work and exploded slightly under the F-14’s nose. “We had to bug out as the enemy aircraft also left the area,” Adeli said.

“Since we were not sure about the performance of the right engine or the extent of the damage, I declared emergency and landed at the nearest air base, which was Hamedan 3rd Tactical Fighter Base.”