Absent From the Fight: Why Aren’t Iran’s Ultra-Long Range Fakour 90 Missiles Firing on Israeli Fighters?

Following Israel’s initiation of large scale air strikes and bombing raids against Iranian targets in the early hours of June 13, significant questions have been raised regarding the capabilities of Iranian air defences. Although Iranian <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/iran-top-air-defence-bavar373-f35-shootdowns" target="_blank">ground-based systems </a>have been credited with multiple interceptions of Israeli missiles, and with the <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/iran-shoots-down-third-f35-captures-second-pilot" target="_blank">downing of three </a>F-35 fighters deep inside the country’s airspace, the Iranian fighter fleet is not reported to have played any significant role in air defence operations. Although Iran’s large fleet of over 300 fighters is <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/poor-deterrent-iran-fleet-300-fighters-equipped-stop-israel" target="_blank">very much obsolete</a>, the modernisation of its F-14 fighters and significant enhancement of their armaments was previously expected to allow them to play important roles in defending the country’s airspace. While very far from cutting edge, the sheer size of the F-14’s radar and its ability to carry oversized very long range missiles were expected to allow it to serve as a launch platform for long range missile attacks against Israeli fighters and tankers far outside Iran’s airspace, with the indigenous Fakour 90 air-to-air missile having been developed in the mid-2010s specifically for this purpose.&nbsp;&nbsp;<img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/06/15/article_684ee4845a9a41_73903841.jpeg" title="Israeli F-15s and F-35s Refuel During Simulated Attack on Iran">The Fakour 90 was developed as a heavily enhanced derivative of the American AIM-54, which was supplied to Iran in the 1970s to equip its F-14 fleet. The AIM-54 was until the 2020s the longest ranged air-to-air missile ever operationalised in the Western world, and had an estimated engagement range of 190 kilometres. Although its specifications were highly formidable, with the missile carrying a large 60 kilogram warhead and pioneering the use of active rather than semi-active radar guidance, the AIM-54’s reliability proved poor both during the Iran-Iraq War and in multiple clashes between U.S. Navy F-14s and Iraqi combat jets in the 1990s. The Fakour 90 was expected to improve on the AIM-54’s reliability issues, while integrating a modern seeker, and was confirmed to have a much extended engagement range estimated at close to 300 kilometres. Although not able to shoot as far as the 400km range <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/longest-ranged-aam-performs-ukraine-su57" target="_blank">Russian R-37M</a>, the 500km range <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/longest-ranged-aam-first-service-undo" target="_blank">Chinese PL-XX</a>, or the 400km range <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/aim174-f18s-missile-gap-chinese-russian" target="_blank">American AIM-174</a> unveiled in 2024, the Iranian missile could still comfortably outrange any other deployed by a Middle Eastern state including Israel, providing an opportunity for the F-14 to play an important role in air defence operations.&nbsp;<img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/06/15/article_684ee3e858d602_93514940.jpg" title="Six AIM-54 Missiles Carried by F-14 Fighter">Despite the Fakour 90’s impressive performance specifications, a number of factors have likely prevented the missiles and the F-14s carrying them from playing a major role in air defence operations. A primarily limitation of the F-14 is the age of its AN/AWG-9 mechanically scanned array radar, which is expected to be relatively straightforward to jam, and which would in any case be beyond its capabilities to guide missiles against targets close to 300 kilometres away. Although these constraints could be circumvented by networking the fighters and their missiles with ground-based air defence systems, it <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/iranian-slipup-key-information-defences-natanz" target="_blank">appears unlikely</a> that Iran has invested in modern data links to integrate its assets in such a way. Although Iranian F-14s may have had limited utility had Israeli fourth generation F-15 and F-16 fighters operated near the country’s airspace, the fact that they have given it a wide berth, and been used to fire missiles into the country from safe distances has prevented this. The ageing F-14s are not expected to have any significant capability to target Israeli F-35 stealth jets that have been used on penetration missions, with the advanced radar evading capabilities of the cutting edge aircraft being far beyond the capabilities of the AN/AWG-9 to track at range. Thus although the Fakour 90 may be a highly potent missile class, the requirements for a modern sensor suite or for advanced data links to make effective use of such of such armaments has serve as a major constraint.&nbsp;