Iranian Tomcats carry the type's service story to its end

Iran remained the only Tomcat operator after the U.S. Navy retired the type. In this account, the surviving Iranian aircraft were ultimately destroyed on the ground by Israeli forces. That endpoint is an anticlimax for a fighter whose reputation rested on long-range detection, interception, and combat presence. An aircraft's technical potential still depends on the strategic conditions under which a fleet can preserve and employ it.