Iranian Air force

The Air force of the Islamic Republic of Iran (acronym IRIAF ) is the air branch of the armed forces of Iran.

History

The history of the Iranian air force starts with the imperial Air force of Iran, which was founded in 1920 by the Shah, Reza Pahlavi, and which was operational with the pilot first completion formed on February 25th, 1925.

Until the second world war, the fleet of the air force consisted entirely of European apparatuses (mainly German). However, after the joint invasion of Iran by the British and Soviet during the Second world war following the declaration of neutrality of Reza Shah, the bases of the Iranian air force were occupied by the allies and all the existing apparatuses were destroyed or dismantled by the British.

The fall of the Shah after the Iranian Révolution modified the organization of the Iranian army. The air force itself was decimated by purgings and many pilots were drawn aside or left the country. That left the air force little prepared for the Guerre Iran-Iraq. Iran was the only country in the world to acquire Grumman F-14 Tomcat, American fighter plans in the Seventies to one time when the relations between the the United States and this country were very good, the reception of the 80ème ordered apparatus was cancelled following the takeover by the islamist ones. Because of the conflict relations between Iran and the western world, Iran had to get new equipment with the Brésil, in Russia and Popular republic of China.

Since the revolution, the exact composition of the Iranian air force is hard to determine, but estimates exist. Many apparatuses belonging to the Iraqi air force found refuge in Iran during the Guerre of the Gulf and many are the apparatuses which were brought into service in the Iranian air force or dismantled for their spare parts.

Because of continuous lacks of spare parts, the decision was made at the end them years 1990 to develop a local aircraft industry to support the air force.

Markings

Markings of the air force of the Islamic Republic of Iran are not different from those used by the imperial air force. The only difference being the name of the army. The disc remains unchanged, it is standard and made up of 3 concentric circles. The external circle being green, that of the white medium and red interior. The flag of tail is a simplification of the Drapeau of Iran with the central symbol in less.

See too

External bonds

  • HESACO
  • imperial Air force of Iran
  • Information on the Iranian air force on GlobalSecurity.org]
  • The Islamic Republic off Iran Air Force - IRIAF

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