Sometime in 1980, a number of Iranian ASH-3Ds – including serial numbers 8-2309, 8-2310, 8-2312, and 8-2313 – were overpainted in the same blue-grey colour as worn by AB.212ASWs. 8-2310, had its service title and serial number applied in white; 8-2309 had a combination of the ‘last three’ of its serial in black and service titles in white, and the other two had all such markings in black. All wore the full set of maintenance and warning stencils in white. Thanks to extensive maintenance facilities constructed in the 1970s, and large stocks of spare parts, the fleet was maintained in good condition and deployed very intensively during the war with Iraq. Following the cancellation of the contract for delivery of Marte Mk. 2s, Iranian Sea Kings lacked weapons for anti-surface operations, and their ASW capability was never required because Iraq had no submarines. However, they served in reconnaissance, search and rescue, and troop transport roles. (Artwork for Tom Cooper)