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WASHINGTON — The Defense Department's effort to block Iran from obtaining much-needed hardware for its fleet of F-14 Tomcat fighter jets has led the military to pull far more than parts from F-14s out of its surplus auctions.

The Pentagon's retired F-14s contain roughly 76,000 components. Many of those parts are usable on other planes and until this year, were sold by the military on the surplus market.

The Defense Department in January halted the sale of all parts from its Tomcats. On Thursday, it disclosed that the suspension went far beyond items from F-14s, and actually sweeps in 163,000 types of components, including parts from other planes and any support equipment that could be used in connection with Tomcats.

"You're talking about things like the nuts and bolts … to military-unique and -specific things, to ground equipment, to igniters and engine parts," said Dawn Dearden, spokeswoman for the Defense Logistics Agency, or DLA.

"We want to make sure that we're doing the prudent thing here, we want to make sure that we hold onto everything that could be used on the F-14," she said.

The Defense Department stopped the surplus parts sales temporarily as it reviews whether they would endanger national security. Law enforcement experts say Iran is aggressively seeking parts for its Tomcats, the jets made famous by actor Tom Cruise in the movie "Top Gun."

Iran received U.S. permission to buy the fighter jets in the 1970s when it was an ally and now is the only country known to be trying to keep F-14s airworthy. The United States retired its Tomcats last year.

The Pentagon surplus security review will likely be completed this year, Dearden said.

The review comes as legislation moves through Congress that would permanently ban the sale of surplus F-14 parts.

The Associated Press reported that middlemen for countries including Iran and China had exploited weaknesses in Pentagon surplus sale security to obtain sensitive military equipment. The gear included missile components and parts for Tomcats and other aircraft. Law enforcement officials are aware of at least one case in which a surplus purchase made it to Iran.

"The new development, when we're talking about this range of parts, this is an incredible number," Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said Thursday in an interview, adding that it makes him wonder what else other countries are acquiring through the military's surplus sales.