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Iranian F-14 Tomcat Escorted Putin’s Il-96 And Accompanying Flankers On Their Way To UAE

Republished By Plato
Republished By Plato

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F-14 escorts Putin
The Il-96 escorted by four Su-35S Flankers and a single F-14 (highlighted) over Iran on Dec. 6, 2023. In the box, a file photo of an IRIAF F-14 (Image credit: The Aviationist, using @shiraz_magazine video via @mhmiranusa, and Tasnim News photo)

At least one IRIAF (Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force) F-14 Tomcat flew alongside the Russian presidential aircraft and its Su-35S Flanker escort over Iran.

On Dec. 6, 2023, Russia’s President Putin made a rare, lightning trip to the Middle East to meet with UAE and Saudi leaders, in an attempt to stake out a more influential role in the region. Escorted by four Su-35S Flankers armed with R-77 and R-73 air-to-air missiles, the Presidential Il-96-300PU, flew to the United Arab Emirates and then visited, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Flying as RSD501, the Il-96 could be tracked online during its trip from Moscow to Abu Dhabi and then to Riyadh, being, at a certain time, the most tracked flight on Flightradar24.com.

The route the Il-96 flew to UAE crossed the Iranian airspace, where the Russian presidential “convoy” of 5 aircraft was intercepted and escorted by at least one IRIAF F-14A Tomcat. The group of six aircraft was spotted and filmed from the ground at high altitude.

It was not the first time the Persian Tomcats, world’s last operational F-14s, escorted a Russian aircraft over Iran. In 2015, Iranian F-14 Tomcat  escorted Russian Air Force Tu-95 Bear bombers flying in Iranian airspace during their 9h 30mins missions from Engels airbase and back, along the Iraq-Iran-Caspian Sea 6,500 km-long corridor, against targets in Syria.

Iran initially ordered 80 examples, with 79 being delivered beginning in February 1976. According to different sources, Iran has currently around 40 – 42 airframes at its disposal, some of those upgraded to F-14AM (“Modernized”) standard that includes domestic avionics (radar and RWR) and weapons: R-73E, AIM-54A, AIM-7E and AIM-9J. IRIAF has two types of F-14As: PMC (Partially Mission-Capable) ones, usually suitable for Training and can become FMC in case of war; and Fully Mission-Capable Tomcats with fully operable fire control system, armament system and INS. These FMC F-14As are usually used for 24/7 Quick Reaction Alert and other combat missions (Usually 70% of the airworthy Tomcats are FMC).

In 2018, during Iran International Air Show at Kish Island, Iran, around two dozen F-14s were estimated to be fully ready for combat, with partial readiness maintained for 16 more airframes. These aircraft are based at TFB.8 (Tactical Fighter Base 8) Baba’i near Eshahan, in central Iran.

A Persian Tomcat during Kish 2018 airshow. Image credit: Leszek Kujawski/FoxTwo.pl

According to Al Jazeera, after landing in Abu Dhabi, Putin was escorted to the presidential palace, where he was greeted with a 21-gun salute and a flyby of UAE military jets trailing smoke in the colours of the Russian flag.

The Russian President then met President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to discuss, among the other things, cooperation in the energy industry and advanced technologies. Putin then flew to Riyadh, to meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, with oil cooperation and the Israel-Hamas war on the agenda.

Interestingly, during its Middle East trip, besides its Flanker escort, the VVIP plane was also supported by a Tu-214SUS, an Airborne Communication Center, “equipped with a communication and special technical means to communicate anywhere in the world en-route and designed to carry the head of state, as well as government delegations” as well as a Tu-214SR, whose role is to acting as a flying radio relay system between the Presidential/Government plane, ground-based receivers and satellites.

Remarkably, the video of the Russian aircraft departing at night for their trip back home shows that at least three Flankers took off in formation.



About David Cenciotti
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.
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