This is How Iran Develops Advanced Missiles Despite Three Decades of US Sanctions

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, TEHRAN – The Islamic Republic of Iran has been able to continue developing advanced missiles despite years of sanctions from the US and its Western allies. What is the secret?

The US sanctions against Iran began when the Islamic Revolution overthrew the US and British puppet regime, Shah Reza Pahlavi, in 1979. At that time, Iran had received a shipment of 79 F-14 fighter jets as part of an agreement with the previous regime.

The presence of the F-14 played a crucial role in Iran’s ability to develop its weaponry. At that time, Iran was the only foreign country that possessed F-14s.

These fighter jets were a nightmare to maintain, as their TF30 engines, originally designed for the F-111 Aardvark bomber and not for fighter jets, were unreliable in high-intensity air combat environments. Estimates suggest that the fighter jets required 40 hours of ground crew work for every hour of flight.

In other words, this was a combat platform that could not survive without continuous technical support. However, Iran turned the tables. In 1982, the Islamic Republic declared what it called a “self-sufficiency jihad,” and the domestic production of basic aircraft components soon began.

Complex systems, such as avionics, hydraulics, and flight control computers, were reverse-engineered by Iranian engineers using components salvaged from scrapped F-14s. Selective dismantling – dismantling non-flyable aircraft to preserve others – became standard practice in Iran, and as domestic production declined, a parallel market emerged: a black market.

For three decades, the United States has watched Iran try to keep its American fighter jets operational, despite comprehensive sanctions, arms embargoes, and a complete technology shutdown. Every time one supply chain was closed, another emerged. Every time Iran could not obtain essential spare parts, its engineers reused them.

The hard work of keeping the F-14 operational is what has made Iran adept at finding ways to develop its weaponry in the face of three decades of sanctions from the West.

Missile development…