Why America Shredded Its F-14s (and Iran Kept Flying Them)

In 2007 the US Navy paid a contractor nearly a million dollars to feed retired F-14 Tomcats into a shredder in the Arizona desert. The reason was Iran: the only other air force on Earth still flying the Tomcat, and the only buyer for the parts that were leaking out of the Pentagon's own surplus stores. Iran kept its F-14s flying for forty-seven years without the manufacturer's help, until Israeli strikes on Isfahan in March 2026. And in April 2026 the US Senate voted unanimously to let one of the last American Tomcats fly again. This is the story: the swing-wing fighter built to stop Soviet bombers, the Phoenix missile that never scored an American kill, Iran's Tomcats in the war with Iraq, the last launch and last flight in 2006, the federal agents who seized F-14s sold for $2,000, the shredder, the Fakour-90, the Isfahan strike, the Maverick Act, and where you can still see one. MID-ROLL BREAKS (set manually): 1:45 · 4:20 · 6:30 · 8:20 Chapters 0:00 The shredder, Arizona, 2007 1:10 Built to stop Soviet bombers 2:10 Two Libyan jets, one helicopter, and Top Gun 2:50 Iran's Tomcats 3:30 The last launch and the last flight, 2006 4:20 Parts for Iran, and the shredder 5:30 Forty-seven years on their own… 📎 SOURCES & CREDITS (used in this video) YouTube: • F-14 Tomcat shredder — intrudera6 — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W7pph9KhYY • F-14 demo, NAS Oceana airshow 2005 — PlaneBrain1JB — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=239_OLfpI4g • F-14 Tomcat final fly-in, NAS Oceana, 10 March 2006 — commcart — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlrGO-0j724 • Tomcat Sunset ceremony and final flight, 2006 — 2985Splash — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmhADncp_1s • Tomcat Sunset, last flight of the F-14 — F14sForever — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKojLYYlgeg • VF-213's last carrier takeoff, 2006 — 213Maverick — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUltbapMQxU • F-14D Felix 101 rollout, Cradle of Aviation Museum — CradleofAviation — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeT8-m-KaV0 • F-14 on the Intrepid — TRYPlaneSpotting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be9DoZwk3DU • F-14A walkaround, Pima Air & Space Museum (4K) — PaulStewartAviation — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCDieiDmaOI • F-14 at Pima Air & Space Museum — aircraftexpeditions — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKTwKUvpCmM • Tillamook Air Museum walkthrough — Tepidburrito — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6dg2rZglzw Wikimedia Commons: • F-14B at AMARC before being scrapped 2009.jpg — USAF (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:F-14B_at_AMARC_before_being_scrapped_2009.jpg • 164341 Grumman F-14D Tomcat U.S. Navy (8801197822).jpg — Aeroprints.com (CC BY-SA 3.0), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:164341_Grumman_F-14D_Tomcat_U.S._Navy_(8801197822).jpg • 164603 - NE-105 Grumman F-14D Tomcat (cn 631-D-36) US Navy. (8274391962).jpg — Andrew Thomas from Shrewsbury, UK (CC BY-SA 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:164603_-_NE-105_Grumman_F-14D_Tomcat_(cn_631-D-36)_US_Navy._(8274391962).jpg • 162700 Grumman F-14B Tomcat (cn 546) US Navy. (8274119967).jpg — Andrew Thomas from Shrewsbury, UK (CC BY-SA 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:162700_Grumman_F-14B_Tomcat_(cn_546)_US_Navy._(8274119967).jpg • 162701 - AG-111 Grumman F-14A Tomcat (cn 547) US Navy. (8273325897).jpg — Andrew Thomas from Shrewsbury, UK (CC BY-SA 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:162701_-_AG-111_Grumman_F-14A_Tomcat_(cn_547)_US_Navy._(8273325897).jpg • Grumman F-14A Tomcat "01" - AG US Navy. (8217090926).jpg — Andrew Thomas from Shrewsbury, UK (CC BY-SA 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grumman_F-14A_Tomcat_%2201%22_-_AG_US_Navy._(8217090926).jpg • 162701 - AG-111 Grumman F-14A Tomcat (cn 547) US Navy. (6987256534).jpg — Andrew Thomas from Shrewsbury, UK (CC BY-SA 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:162701_-_AG-111_Grumman_F-14A_Tomcat_(cn_547)_US_Navy._(6987256534).jpg • 2019 Iranian military aviation achievements expo at Mehrabad (07).jpg — Hossein Zohrevand (CC BY 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2019_Iranian_military_aviation_achievements_expo_at_Mehrabad_(07).jpg • 161291 Grumman F-14A Tomcat (cn 417) US Navy. (8274119773).jpg — Andrew Thomas from Shrewsbury, UK (CC BY-SA 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:161291_Grumman_F-14A_Tomcat_(cn_417)_US_Navy._(8274119773).jpg • US Navy 020902-N-2147L-002 An F-14.jpg — U.S. Navy photo (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_Navy_020902-N-2147L-002_An_F-14.jpg All footage, images and recordings belong to their respective owners and are used under their stated licenses or as fair-use commentary/education. Contact us for credit updates or removal.