Yadollah Javadpour
Encyclopedia
Major Yadollah Javadpour was a fighter pilot
in the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force
, serving for the full duration of the Iran-Iraq War
. His record qualifies him as an ace and one of the most successful pilots of that conflict.
He began his service as an elite pilot in the IIAF, and was a member of the Iranian Air Force flying team, the Golden Crown, from 1975 to 1978. He continued to serve with the IRIAF after the revolution, this being a time when it was dangerous for pilots to do so.
Javadpour's fame came while flying the F-5 Freedom Fighter
. He claimed 5 air victories, which makes him an ace, but only two have been definitively confirmed by western sources. His greatest fame came on August 6, 1983 when he claimed (later to be reliably confirmed) to have shot down an Iraqi MiG-25. This was a significant achievement for an F-5 pilot as the MiG-25 is a much bigger and faster aircraft with a substantial altitude advantage. His other confirmed kill was an Su-20 on October 17, 1980.
These results make Javadpour the most successful F-5 fighter pilot ever.
Fighter pilot
A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained in air-to-air combat while piloting a fighter aircraft . Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and dogfighting...
in the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force
Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force
The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force ' is the aviation branch of the Iranian armed forces. The present Air Force came into being in the early 1980s when the former Imperial Iranian Air Force was renamed....
, serving for the full duration of the Iran-Iraq War
Iran-Iraq War
The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between the armed forces of Iraq and Iran, lasting from September 1980 to August 1988, making it the longest conventional war of the twentieth century...
. His record qualifies him as an ace and one of the most successful pilots of that conflict.
He began his service as an elite pilot in the IIAF, and was a member of the Iranian Air Force flying team, the Golden Crown, from 1975 to 1978. He continued to serve with the IRIAF after the revolution, this being a time when it was dangerous for pilots to do so.
Javadpour's fame came while flying the F-5 Freedom Fighter
F-5 Freedom Fighter
The Northrop F-5A/B Freedom Fighter and the F-5E/F Tiger II are part of a family of widely-used light supersonic fighter aircraft, designed and built by Northrop...
. He claimed 5 air victories, which makes him an ace, but only two have been definitively confirmed by western sources. His greatest fame came on August 6, 1983 when he claimed (later to be reliably confirmed) to have shot down an Iraqi MiG-25. This was a significant achievement for an F-5 pilot as the MiG-25 is a much bigger and faster aircraft with a substantial altitude advantage. His other confirmed kill was an Su-20 on October 17, 1980.
These results make Javadpour the most successful F-5 fighter pilot ever.