The government seized four retired F-14 Tomcats today that were insufficiently prepared to be put on display this morning. Under the law, all military aircraft need to be demilitarized and be made incapable of flight. Apparently these four aircraft were not sufficiently dismantled enough.
One of the fighters was used as a prop for USA Network's popular "JAG" series. Another was said to still have military grade afterburners.
Iran is the only nation on earth that flies the F-14 as part of it's air force now; the U.S. retired it's entire fleet of F-14s last year due to the cost of operating them and the amount of time needed on the ground to keep them in the air. Government officials were worried that Iranian agents could acquire needed parts from the retired aircraft to service their F-14s.
Iran is scouring the globe for parts for the fighter; many are not airworthy anymore, and those that are need a lot of work. The U.S. recently banned selling of F-14 parts worldwide, partly out of concern that the parts could be transferred to Iran.
The four F-14s seized were at airports in California.
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