Iran’s first indigenously
developed fighter jet looks a lot like the American F-5
3
minutes read
Iran on Tuesday unveiled the “Kowsar,” it’s first
domestic fighter jet that President Hassan Rouhani said was designed to create
a “lasting peace.”
In a speech shortly after sitting in the cockpit
of the fourth-generation fighter at the National Defence Industry exhibition,
Rouhani said: “When I speak of our readiness to defend, it means we seek
lasting peace. If we lack readiness, we welcome war.”
Defense Minister Amir Hatami first announced the
jet last week, saying that Iran’s moves to boost its defense program was
motivated by the eight-year Iran-Iraq war and threats from the United States
and Israel.
President Rouhani also attended the unveiling.http://ptv.io/2co2 pic.twitter.com/3J7LP6Aeat
Iran's president in the
cockpit of the newly-unveiled domestic fighter jet. #Kowsar. pic.twitter.com/dPohoiYpQ9
State news agency Tasnim said the
two-seat Kowsar had an advanced avionics system and “multi-purpose radar” and
stressed that it was “100 percent” domestically produced.
Commentators quickly noted that the Kowsar,
despite state media assertions, looked familiar.
“An hour ago, a 42 yrs old U.S. made F-5F which is
just a testbed for avionic of Iranian Air Force future training jet (Kowsar-88)
was unveiled & claimed to be a 4th Generation Fighter jet completely
designed & manufactured in Iran,” Iranian aviation historian Babak
Taghvaee tweeted.
Joseph H. Dempsey, Research Associate for Defence
and Military Analysis at the International Institute for Strategic
Studies, noted the physical similarities between the two planes:
#Iran 'Kowsar' indigenous
fighter - prototype 3-7400 (2018)#US Northrop F-5F Tiger II
combat capable trainer - prototype 00889 (1974)
·
“It is possible that Iran has reversed engineered
the F-5 design and can produce their own versions locally – as opposed to using
existing airframes. There remains some questions over this, particularly in
respect of building engines and sourcing updated avionics independently,”
Dempsey told The Defense Post.
“Whilst the Kowsar shown today is externally an F-5F it is not going to be identical to the ones received from the U.S.,” he added. “For example, interior images portray a more modern digital cockpit display and ejection seats based upon the Russian K-36, as used on the Mig-29.”
Iran’s F-5 fleet
Iran purchased more than 200 F-5A and F-5B
variants from Northrop Grumman in the 1960s and 1970s, many of which were sold
off or destroyed during the Iran-Iraq war in the following decade.
The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, created
after the 1979 revolution, kept its remaining aircraft in decent shape with
spare parts from outside the U.S., as the F-5A is inexpensive and easy to
maintain.
Iranian F-5s in the Iran-Iraq war. Image:
iranmilitaryforum.net/Public Domain
The Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial
Company (HSEA) was tasked in the last decade with converting the remaining F-5A
one-seater into F-5B two-seater jets, and successfully remodeled the
single-seat F-5E, now called the Saeqeh (Thunderbolt). A second Saeqeh
variation with two seats was introduced in 2015.
Overhauled F-5s were still entering the
IRIAF as late as August 5.
The plane displayed on Tuesday appears similar to
the two-seat F-5F Tiger, a training variant of the F-5E.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani sits in the
cockpit of the ‘Kowsar’ fighter jet on August 21, 2018. Image: Iranian
President’s Office
Iran first announced the Kowsar in 2012, saying
that it was one of two new trainer jets under development. General Manouchehr
Yazdani, then the Iran Air Force Deputy Commander for Training, said at
the time that the Kowsar-88 would be similar to the Saeqeh.
The semi-official Fars News Agency published
a video of
the aircraft last year, and again said it would be used for training.
European Defence Review reported earlier this year
that the Kowsar trainer was still incomplete during that ceremony due to budget
constrains and the impact of Western sanctions on Iran. The magazine
reported that the aircraft will use F-5A/B components from the remains of the
IRIAF’s fleet.
Taghvaee suggested the
Kowsar could be an upgraded Azaraksh (Lightning), a modified F-5E that was
under development in the late 1990s but never seems to have reached full
production. He told The Defense Post that the Kowsar simply wasn’t ready to
fly.
“The real Kowsar-88 is a training jet,” Taghvaee said.
“That was just a Northop F-5F Tiger II, but its
fuselage was produced by the Iranian Aircraft Manufacturing company. Its
J85-GE-21 [engine]s and other components are U.S. made.”
“Despite all the lies, the true achievement in
this Azarakhsh II is its modern and domestically manufactured avionic systems,”
he added.
Whatever the aircraft really is, there is no proof
it can fly. AFP noted that the live feed of the Kowsar taxing down the runway
was cut before the plane took off.
Iran’s defense technology pronouncements are
almost uniquely scrutinized, and subjected to skepticism that most other
countries’ advances are not, but the Islamic Republic has a history of boasting
about military developments that don’t quite ring true.
Last month, Reza Mozaffarinia, the Deputy Defense
Minister for Armed Forces Logstics, said the Iranian Army and Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps could receive up to 800 domestically manufactured tanks, including
the Karrar battle tank..
But the Karrar, unveiled in March 2017, bears a
striking resemblance to the Russian third-generation T-90 tank.
Even the “100 percent domestically-made” Fatah
Mobin ballistic missile, announced just
last week, looks similar to the Fatah-110 missile, in service since 2002.
The fact is, most of Iran’s domestic military
development programs are suffering from Western sanctions – sanctions on its
ballistic missile program weren’t included in the 2015 nuclear deal, so many
defense manufacturers and procurement agencies, includingthe Iranian
Aviation Industries Organization to which HSEA belongs, are still unable to do
business with most of the world.
“The wider picture is an Air Force that has a
large number of ageing aircraft, including those delivered pre-1979 revolution.
Capability is based on keeping these flying and integration on newer technology
and will likely remain so until sanctions lift and it can import more modern
platforms, most likely from Russia,” Dempsey said.
Ingen kommentarer:
Legg inn en kommentar
Merk: Bare medlemmer av denne bloggen kan legge inn en kommentar.