Combat miscellany: Iran's mix-and-match airforce still poses a threat

The Iranian air force inventory is a mix of Western, Russian and Chinese combat aircraft, most of them obsolescent. Any spares will have to be bought surreptitiously or be work-arounds and spares support is also problematic with the Russian aircraft. But these issues do not necessarily indicate that the air force is tactless since it exercises regularly with units of F-14 Tomcat, Mig-29 Fulcrum, F-4 Phantom, F-5, and Mirage F1aircraft and also operates a network of air defense radars.