Israeli F-15s vs Iranian F-14s: The World’s Oldest Heavyweight Fighters Go Head to Head

<p>Following the initiation of Israeli attacks on Iran on June 13, and the penetration of Iranian airspace by Israeli fighter aircraft to launch strikes on targets across <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/israeli-f35s-take-out-iran-most-valuable-aircraft" target="_blank">much of the country</a>, the role played by the <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/poor-deterrent-iran-fleet-300-fighters-equipped-stop-israel" target="_blank">Iranian Air Force’s fighter fleet </a>in defending national airspace has increasingly been in question. After the publication of footage showing an Israeli Air Force <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/israeli-fighters-take-out-iranian-f14s" target="_blank">precision strike </a>on an air base near the central Iranian city of Isfahan, which targeted and destroyed at least two Iranian F-14 fighter aircraft, further attention has been drawn to the possible participation of the F-14 in air defence operations. As Israel’s own premier air superiority fighter, the F-15, has spearheaded offensive operations into Iran, comparisons between the two fighters’ capabilities have become increasingly relevant, as speculation has grown that the first ever engagement between the two rival fighter classes could occur. Iran and Israel were notably the first countries in the world to import fourth generation fighters, with their respective F-14 and F-15 fleets being the oldest in the world of their particular classes. The two are today the oldest fleets of heavyweight fighter aircraft worldwide, with the fleets’ similar ages making comparisons particularly insightful into the main contrasts between the aircraft’s designs. </p><p><img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/06/18/article_685232f8726ed4_21600394.png" title="Iranian F-14 and Israeli Strike on Grounded F-14"></p><p>Preceding the outbreak of hostilities, both air forces had reached deals to phase their ageing heavyweight fighters out of service, with Israeli F-15A/B and F-15C/D fighters procured from the late 1970s and early 1980s respectively set to be <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/israel-f15-208million-order-each" target="_blank">replaced by the F-15EX</a>, while Iranian F-14s are reportedly set to be <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/can-su35-delivery-turn-tide-iran-favour-russia-jets-onorder" target="_blank">replaced by Russian Su-35s</a> currently on order. Both fighter classes are considered effectively obsolete, despite both countries having made<a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/the-f-14-tomcat-in-iranian-service" target="_blank"> extensive efforts</a> to modernise them domestically. Iran’s lack of newer and more capable fighters has made the modernisation of its F-14s particularly important, withe efforts having included the integration of Russian R-73 air-to-air missiles, <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/absent-iran-ultra-long-range-fakour90-missiles-firing-israeli" target="_blank">indigenous Fakour 90</a> long range air-to-air missiles, and the completion of over 250 other modifications to the aircraft. Israeli F-15s have seen their communications systems and other more minor parts of their avionics suites enhanced, although they still continue to rely on obsolete variants of the AIM-9 missile for visual range air-to-air combat and on the ageing Cold War era AIM-7 that has largely been phased out abroad. While the air forces of China, Russia and the United States have <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/china-s-new-j-11b-variant-with-aesa-radar-tested-in-south-china-sea-drills-combat-simulations" target="_blank">initiated programs</a> to modernise older heavyweight fighters by integrating new phased array radars, which in the U.S. Air Force has significantly enhanced its F-15C/D and F-15E fighters, neither Israeli or Iranian F-15s or F-14s have been similarly modernised, with both fighter classes relying on obsolete  mechanically scanned array radars.</p><p><img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/06/18/article_68523327cc0a46_49499165.jpeg" title="Israeli Air Force F-15A/C Fighters"></p><p>Should Iranian F-14s engage Israeli F-15s in air-to-air combat, both aircraft would have very different advantages. The F-14’s AN/AWG-9 radar is considerably more powerful than any other Western Cold War era fighter radar, and when paired with AIM-54 or Fakour 90 missiles it can facilitate beyond visual range engagements over far greater distances, and with ‘fire and forget’ capabilities than the F-15’s AIM-7 lacks. The F-14 pairs a larger radar with a much greater endurance, allowing it to carry a much larger weapons payload and remain in the air for longer. The F-15 has the advantages of a much faster more manoeuvrable  airframe that can operate from significantly higher altitudes. Primary advantages Israeli F-15s will retain, however, are the much longer training times pilots receive, and the significant array of supporting aircraft which can give them an edge in air-to-air engagements. These include G550 airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) systems, as well as<a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/custom-built-specifically-war-iran-modified-israel-f35i" target="_blank" > F-35I fighters</a> which can use their far superior sensors to pass on surveillance and targeting data. Electronic warfare support from F-35s and more specialist assets like the RC-12D could also potentially jam the F-14 fleet’s radars, with Iran lacking similar support aircraft to bolster its fighters.</p><p><img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/06/18/article_68523374735263_20541329.png" title="Iranian Air Force F-14"></p><p>Although modern variants of the F-15 <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/west-heaviest-longest-ranged-fighter-expanding-f15ex" target="_blank">such as the F-15EX </a>have far surpassed the capabilities of the Cold War era heavyweight jets of both countries, among the two the F-14 continues to retain a greater combat potential, albeit at the expense of very high operational costs, while the much healthier state of the Israeli Air Force overall is expected to give the F-15s an edge due to their greater pilot training and support from other aircraft. With no signs that Iran has integrated modern data links onto its F-14s, which would have otherwise potentially allowed them to utilise targeting data from the country’s vast array of ground-based air defence systems, the fighter’s reliance solely on its obsolete radar for targeting remains a major constraint on its capabilities. Despite facing significantly greater threats from enemy air power, the continued high standing of the F-14 in the Iranian Air Force reflects the country’s neglect for fighter procurements over several decades, with its belated decision to acquire Russian Su-35s having come too late for these aircraft to contribute to air defence operations in the country’s time of greatest need.</p>