Why all the F-14 Tomcats were Shredded

Check out https://chatllm.abacus.ai/ to access all top AI models like ChatGPT-5.2, Gemini 3.1 Pro, Claude Opus 4.6, plus AI image & video generation, PPT creation, humanization tools, and a powerful app-building AI agent — all for just $10/month. This video was made possible thanks to everyone on the Simple History Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/simplehistory When the US Navy retired the legendary F-14 Tomcat in 2006, fans hoped the iconic jet would live on in storage or foreign service. Instead, nearly every remaining aircraft was shredded in the Arizona desert. Why destroy one of history’s most famous fighters? The answer lies in Iran, national security, and a Cold War legacy that refused to die. Check out our other Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPdc6bs3I8s6Y4QE_3g3MZw Discord server: https://discord.gg/JZsPQXHeYC Become a Simple History member: https://www.youtube.com/simplehistory/join Copyright: DO NOT translate and re-upload our content on Youtube or other social media. SIMPLE HISTORY MERCHANDISE Get the Simple History books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Daniel-Turner-%60/e/B00H5TYLAE/ T-Shirts https://teespring.com/stores/simple-history-official-merch Simple history gives you the facts, simple! See the book collection here: Amazon USA http://www.amazon.com/Daniel-Turner/e/B00H5TYLAE/ Amazon UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/Daniel-Turner/e/B00H5TYLAE/ https://www.facebook.com/Simple-History-549437675141192/ https://twitter.com/SimpleHistoryYT Further Reading: Kass, Harrison. “Iran Still Loves its Ancient F-14 Tomcat Fighters.” NationalInterest.org. February 21, 2025. https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/iran-still-loves-its-ancient-f-14-tomcat-fighters Nye, Logan. “Aviation Nerds are Mourning Iran’s F-14 Tomcats.” WeAreTheMighty.com. June 20, 2025. https://www.wearethemighty.com/military-news/aviation-nerds-are-mourning-irans-f-14-tomcats/ Aguiari, Moreno. “Persian Cat in Flight: Quite Possibly the Last Chapter of Iran’s F-14 Tomcats.” VintageAviationNews.com. December 20, 2024. https://vintageaviationnews.com/warbirds-news/persian-cats-in-flight-quite-possibly-the-last-chapter-of-irans-f-14-tomcats.html Theimer, Sharon. “Swift, deadly F-14 Tomcats being shredded into bits at D-M 'boneyard'” Tucson.com. https://tucson.com/business/local/article_d35ff8bc-7642-51d0-8fe5-449da680a0a2.html “Shredding F-14s to Keep Parts from Iran.” From the Associated Press CBSNews.com. July 7, 2007. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/shredding-f-14s-to-keep-parts-from-iran/ “F-14A Tomcat.” National Naval Aviation Museum. https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/museums/nnam/explore/collections/aircraft/f/f-14a-tomcat.html Britannica Editors. "F-14." Encyclopedia Britannica, September 19, 2025. https://www.britannica.com/technology/F-14. Kass, Harrison. “The F-14 Tomcat Question Explained in Three Words.” NationalInterest.org. November 22, 2024. https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/f-14-tomcat-fighter-question-explained-3-words-208412 Credit: Simple History Creator: Daniel Turner (B.A. (Hons) in History, University College London) Video Directors: Lav Velimirovic, Ognjen Jovic Script Review: Peter Turner Script Writer: Robert De Graaf Narrator: Chris Kane (https://vocalforge.com) Artists: Fiona Phan, Selma Belegic, ShyShelly Animators: Nancy Bhalla, Krishna, Guillermo G. Caasi. Jr, Kuldip Bheda, Krunal Editor: Artem Dobrohodov Thumbnails: Fiona Phan, ShyShelly Brand Partnerships: Justin St-Laurent Senior Production Manager: Umar Ijaz Simple History Channel Manager: James Dowse