F-14: DOMINATION of the Skies above IRAQ

[@IrisAviation91]

Just one correction - As someone pointed out earlier, 12:46 is meant to be a 2x Air Force MH-53s NOT a Navy one doing the rescue.

[@RJFlyer]

Another note: (Reference the almost downing a mig section) Semi-Active Radar Homing Missiles brevity is Fox-1, not Fox 2.

[@solidlift]

Those were actually Air Force MH-53s. The Army never flew any version of the CH-53.

[@IrisAviation91]

@@solidlift no clue why I put army, must’ve not been thinking right 😅

[@2ksnakenoodles]

Desert Storm really did the Tomcat dirty, so many missed opportunities :(

[@IrisAviation91]

I agree, researching it you just come across so many ‘what ifs’ 😅

[@30AndHatingIt]

How about Tomcat crews screaming over comms for permission to fire and being denied? Absolutely disgusting. The Air Force was handed kills on a silver platter, often by enemy aircraft running in fear of Tomcats.

[@colbypupgaming1962]

It wasn't Desert Storm that did the F-14 dirty, it was the lack of USN integration within the Coalition and the lack of NCTR that led to the Tomcat only getting a single kill. The F-15 got most of the kills because it had NCTR capability and because the ATOs had to be flown to the carriers in hard copy form instead of transmitted, which meant they had to be "locked into" their assignments and couldn't get updates nearly as easily if the situation changed as those who could get an updated ATO electronically. Remember, this was in the very early stages of when the military branches began to work cohesively together in joint operations after Goldwater-Nichols. I wouldn't be surprised if Desert Storm was the first time most of the Navy pilots involved had ever refueled from an Air Force tanker or taken direction from an Air Force Sentry AWACS.

[@Jaeh1]

I was a Yellow shirt, USS Saratoga CV-60. We lost birds during Desert Storm. I know a F-18 (Striker the pilot) RIP, and an A-6, crew taken prisoner, Wetzel and Zahn, VA-35. Good video.

[@IrisAviation91]

Thank you, my respect goes to all those guys

[@tmobaile1187]

Thats very excellent information about the F 14 capacity 👍

[@junkjack1015]

Dcs clips are beautifully integrated! Good job!

[@IrisAviation91]

Thank you!

[@AmmoRacks]

Fantastic video! That footage was integrated so well and was fun as hell to film 😎

[@IrisAviation91]

Thanks so much man, the video would be nothing without your help

[@dk5468]

Cracking video as always!

[@IrisAviation91]

Thank you man!

[@oneshotReker]

This one's going into the top favorite list! XD Well done man! It was great!! 🥰

[@IrisAviation91]

Haha thanks Reker

[@paul123ggggggggg]

our boy iris never disappoints.

[@IrisAviation91]

Thanks man

[@tmobaile1187]

Nice 👌 as always... F 14 TOP GUN MAVRICK ... 👍

[@IrisAviation91]

THANKS 👍

[@bvrcavalera2786]

Wow. I never knew the new engines allowed them to take off in dry thrust. They must have been one hell of an improvement.

[@yanktornado5121]

Oh boy 😍😍😍

[@IrisAviation91]

This is going to be a good one :)

[@yanktornado5121]

1:20 seconds or so that VF-33 Starfighter low viz weathered by the sea and constant slapping on of different shades of grey to give it the perfect cat rode hard and put away wet look!!!!. A scheme hunters delight are the Tomcats. Tails are even there own religion in the modeling community practically. I’m barley a minute into the 20 you spoke of and I can tell you now I’m glued to it. Thanks man. Positive vibes your way and back to the action I go!

[@yanktornado5121]

Found myself back here 😂

[@joshuameader8898]

The MH-53 that rescued the downed pilot was a USAF helo.

[@IrisAviation91]

So going off memory wasn’t so smart then! I thought it was Navy MH-53s not army - I’ll add in a correction

[@joshuameader8898]

@@IrisAviation91 No worries mate. It happens. Fantastic video btw.

[@kazm4760]

Will you be able to do anything about the Turkish Airforce? i.e the invasion of Cyprus where the Turkish Sabres went against Hellenic Phantoms

[@IrisAviation91]

I have never heard of this, but phantoms and sabres would’ve been quite a dogfight. I’ll note it down for the future!

[@kazm4760]

@@IrisAviation91 I know there are couple of Turkish sources for the sorties could be useful but they're in Turkish. If you need help translating I could help with that

[@Eirik36]

Gotta hand it to you for feeding into the internet fandom of the tomcat by making a 20 minute video of it’s very little combat exposure in the gulf lol

[@IrisAviation91]

There's a load to cover and could easily go on for hours if we could get some interviews of aircrew and their stories together 👍

[@2ksnakenoodles]

Oooh lesgooo

[@raymondyee2008]

When it came to “SFMC” in selecting the F-14A under the Desert Storm 1991 campaign I chose that of VF-1 markings take a guess why.

[@lusse4873]

What is your opinion on the 1996 classic "Space Jam" featuring Michael Jordan?

[@IrisAviation91]

pretty jammy

[@GregEmbury]

The F-15 was the dominator in the Middle East, not the F-14.

[@arashgallehdari7440]

That is because of experience they had with Iranian f 14s