 A single AIM-54 fired in July 1982 by Captain Hashemi may have destroyed two Iraqi MiG-23s flying in close formation.Cooper claims the AIM-54s were used only sporadically during the start of the war, most likely because of a shortage of qualified radar intercept officers, and then more frequently in 1981 and 1982—until the lack of thermal batteries suspended the missiles' use in 1986.There were also rumors that suggested that Iran's Tomcat fleet would be upgraded with avionics derived from the MiG-31 "Foxhound".