Israeli Air Strikes Destroy Three More Iranian F-14s: Are They Priority Targets?

In the late hours of June 21, the Israeli Air Force reported the deployment of approximately 60 fighters to conduct a new wave of air strikes against Iranian targets. The attacks marked the beginning of the ninth day of Israeli air attacks, after over 200 Israeli fighters were used to strike military and civilian targets across Iran early on June 13, to which the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps responded by <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/iran-launches-first-strike-isreal-mach-13-fattah-hypersonic" target="_blank">launching</a> multiple successful missile and drone attacks on Israel. The latest wave of Israeli strikes shortly preceded the United States’ full entry into the war in the early hours of June 22, during which B-2 bombers were deployed to <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/american-b2-strike-iran-join-war" target="_blank">strike Iranian nuclear sites</a>, while American electronic and cruise missile attacks were launched simultaneously. Commenting on Israeli air operations, Israel Defence Forces spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin elaborated that the attacks destroyed three Iranian Air Force F-14 fighters at an airfield on the ground, following the destruction of two grounded F-14s the previous week.&nbsp;Footage of both successful strikes was released to confirm the destruction of all five fighters.<img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/06/22/article_6857f7bfe7acf2_90226089.png" title="One of Two F-14s Seconds Before Targeting on June 16">The extent of possible contributions by Iranian F-14 squadrons to ongoing air defence efforts remains unknown, as does whether the five aircraft destroyed on the ground were at all operational. The targeting of the fighters could reflect concern that the aircraft could pose a threat to the Israeli air campaign if operationalised, or may reflect the need for public relations victories at a time when the Israeli home front faces unprecedented strain, which destroying an adversary’s top fighter aircraft has consistently brought. Destroying inactive fighters may also be intended to weaken the Iranian fleet in the longer term. With the F-14 being Iran’s only fighter capable of carrying active radar guided missiles, and its <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/absent-iran-ultra-long-range-fakour90-missiles-firing-israeli">Fakour 90 air-to-air missiles </a>having longer ranges than those of any aircraft in Israel service, it was previously speculated that the Iranian jets could pose a serious challenge in the air. The F-14’s lack of known contributions to Iranian air defence efforts may reflect the fact that the fighters are hampered by the obsolescence of their radars, and that a lack of data links to use targeting data from ground-based radar systems may have limited options for using offboard sensors for targeting and weapons guidance.&nbsp;<img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/06/22/article_6857f81b46dee2_05190230.jpeg" title="Iranian Air Force F-14s in Formation">Iran’s lack of investment in procuring modern fighter aircraft, despite advanced classes such as the Chinese J-10C and Russian Su-35 having been offered to the country, has been <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/could-su35-j10c-fighters-saved-iran-marine-analyst" >strongly criticised </a>as a primary factor which prevented it from deterring Israeli attacks. Such fighters could have been a major game changer when deployed alongside the country’s advanced network of ground-based air defence systems. The lack of modern fighters opposing the Israel’s air campaign has placed the Israeli Air Force in a highly dominant position, despite fielding only around 40 modern F-35 fighters, and relying on obsolete variants of the F-15 and F-16 for the vast majority of missions. Although Iranian air defences have reportedly <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/iran-shoots-down-third-f35-captures-second-pilot" >shot down four F-35s</a>, this loss rate is considered conservative when considering how the Israeli stealth fighters have operated, with much higher losses being likely had ground-based systems been supported by modern fighters. Iran’s F-14s and other fighters are unlikely to have been priority targets, leaving a significantly possibility that sizeable portions of the country’s <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/poor-deterrent-iran-fleet-300-fighters-equipped-stop-israel" >fleet of over 300 fighters</a> is still intact. The neutralisation of leadership targets, key infrastructure, ballistic missile sites, drone facilities, and ground-based air defence systems, have instead been prioritised, reflecting the obsolete state of the Iranian Air Force’s inventory and the resulting very limited threat it is able to pose.&nbsp;