Up-close and personal with Iran's Air Force: rare insight into pilot's traditions, procedures, equipment

An interesting behind the scene video was shot on Apr. 17, when Iran commemorated National Armed Forces Day with a military parade at Tehran.

It shows, Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) pilots before, during and after the flybys providing some interesting details on their traditions, including kissing the Koran before their mission and kissing three times each time other at the end of the sortie; their flight gear (unit patches and flight helmets), and F-4, F-14 and Su-24 hardware.

Unfortunately, no subtitles are available for this documentary.

About David Cenciotti
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.