Iran's air defenses.
 

Could a Vulcan or similarly equipped bomber get through Iran's air defences?What kind of condition are they in?

No.

-S

Russia sold them Tor M-1 missiles in 2007.

Out altitude capabilities would be a problem for them, however....

They also sold them S-300's - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SA-10A_Grumble

They also have a mixture of upgraded SA-2's, known as Sayyad-1 in Iran, and have a system based on the Chinese HQ-7 (An ultra low altitude missile) and it is known in Iran as Shahab Thaqeb.

-S

In terms of aircraft for air defense, Iran has a pretty interesting mix of planes:

They've got the MiG 29: http://www.airliners.net/photo/Iran---Air/Mikoyan-Gurevich-MiG-29A-(9-12A)/1494589/M/

They've got the F-14's left over from the Shah's days. They're still flying, but I don't know if they're combat capable: http://www.airliners.net/photo/Iran-...cat/1494015/M/

Also from the Shah's days, the F-4 Phantom is still flying: http://www.airliners.net/photo/Iran-...-4E/1486518/M/

They've also got some planes that fled Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War. Here's a Mirage F1: http://www.airliners.net/photo/Iran-...1BQ/1345290/L/

And here's an Il-76 AWACS plane: http://www.airliners.net/photo/Iran-...nan/1345546/L/

Then there's the really interesting native modifications of American designs. First, a twin-tailed derivative of the F-5... in Blue Angels colors?: http://www.airliners.net/photo/Iran-...ghe/1272144/L/

And to cap it all off, a 747 air refueling tanker! Maybe they could use this for the KC-45 ;): http://www.airliners.net/photo/Iran---Air/Boeing-747-131(SF)/1487680/M/

Much as I like the Vulcan, I expect that the only way it would get into Iran is as debris :wah:

Don't forget Allah's divine will.

Well, that's what would happen if you try to get a single bomber that was retired 25 years ago to get through a modern air defense, or any kind of competent air defense for that matter

Well, I suppose it could, given plenty of air cover and SAM suppression, but then, I could get a Cessna through that way too

Perhaps with a really niffty ECM upgrade? Can any of these missiles get up to 60 000 feet?

Pretty much all the aircraft in the Iranian arsenal are armed with da good ol' autocannon, even if you have such a nifty ECM that will effectively jam all the missiles they can throw at you (which I thoroughly doubt)

Could a Vulcan even reach 60,000 feet?

Yes the B2 versions had their altitude increased to 60,000, and the only remaining flying Vulcan is a B2 .

I take it an F 14 has no problem getting to 60 000 feet then.But would the missiles from the ground get up rthere?

I also heard in a theatre brief we had last year that maintainance issue with all their equipment means that a lot of stuff would fail.

The SA-2 has shot down U-2's at altitude, so unless you're in an SR-71 or something we don't know about you can't evade it by flying high.

Maintainance/combat readiness is the great unknown of the Iranian military. My hunch is that they're in better shape than a lot of people think, but I don't have anything concrete to back that up.

Iranian technicians are some of the most ingenious people out there. They've kept their Western airliners and combat aircraft (like the F-14) flying despite 30 years of embargo and a decade long war. The Iranians are also pretty good at working the black market for spares. So if anybody can keep those planes operational and combat ready, it's the Iranians.

Which is why they need the new arms deal with Russia , which is why people don't want the deal to go through , which is why Russia can use it as leverage over the American systems going to eastern europe .

Don't you just love International Relations :)