Remember........
Our good buddy the Shah had US MADE AA missiles for the F-15s we sold him. The were dual-purpose in that they could also be use onboard ships.
They had large warheads for the BIG Soviet bombers.
The Mullahs would have JUST LOVED to use a US-built missile on one of our own planes.
And did.
I think you meant F-14’s
not sure about your aam missile theory
The Shah was never sold F-15s.
Iran never had f 15s. They had F 14 Tomcats. They had the Phoenix Missle system. It was too sophisticated for the towlies to operate without our technical support or spare parts. Certainly non of them were in operational condition since the overthrow of the Shaw in 1979, 17 years earlier.
“Our good buddy the Shah had US MADE AA missiles for the F-15s we sold him. The were dual-purpose in that they could also be use onboard ships.
They had large warheads for the BIG Soviet bombers.
The Mullahs would have JUST LOVED to use a US-built missile on one of our own planes.
And did.”
They never got the F-15. They had the F-14, but not the AIM-54’s to go with them.
Any air to air missile can be modified for surface launch look at the RIM-7 Sea Sparrow, and the MIM-72 Chaparral