 According to research by Tom Cooper, Iranian F-14s scored at least 50 air-to-air victories in the first six months of the war against Iraqi MiG-21s, MiG-23s, and some Su-20s/22s.During the same period, only one Iranian F-14 suffered damage after being hit by debris from a nearby MiG-21 that exploded.Iranian Tomcats were originally used as an early-warning platform assisting other less-sophisticated aircraft with targeting and defense.