Hobo wrote:

My understanding is that the Shah of Iran was
offered either the F-14 or
F-15 in response to his complaints of Soviet
violations of his airspace.
Why did the Iranians choose the F-14? The F-15
would have seemed a
better choice for non-carrier use. The USAF
seemed to think so.

TIA
Grumann and the Navy put on an air show at Andrews AFB in 1973 for the
Shah, where he was viewing the F-15 also. The test crew broke some of the
flight rules, but impressed the Shah enough for him to order the aircraft
(not on the spot, but within days). Also, the AIM-54 was seen as a perfect
anti-Foxbat weapon, as Iran was being constantly overflown by Soviet AF MiG-25Rs
in the early and mid 1970s. Check Tom Cooper's Iran-Iraq War in the air for
more info.
(It's a good read, BTW)

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