Qaher F313: Iran unveils home-made 'stealth' fighter

[The Puss]

Saying nothing, just waiting on Star turning up.

Iran has unveiled a new home-made combat aircraft, which officials say can evade radar.

The single-seat Qaher F313 (Dominant F313) is the latest design produced by Iran's military since it launched the Azarakhsh (Lightning), in 2007.

President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad said it had "almost all the positive features" of the world's most sophisticated jets.

He said the "development of the Iranian nation's military power is... for deterrence and defensive purposes".
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In an unveiling ceremony inside a Tehran hangar broadcast on State TV on Saturday, Mr Ahmadinejad said he ranked the aircraft as "among the most advanced fighter jets in the world".

Pictures of the jet were released by state television, showing a steely grey jet that Iran's Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi said was built with "advanced materials" and had a very low radar signature.

The ceremony was timed to coincide with the 34th anniversary of the 1979 revolution, which replaced the US-backed shah with an Islamic regime.

Iran this week claimed to have successfully sent a monkey into space in a Pishgam rocket, which reached an altitude of some 120km (75 miles) for a sub-orbital flight.

Western nations responded by expressing concern that Iran's space programme was being used to develop long-range missiles that could potentially be used to carry nuclear warheads.

Iran denies it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons and insists its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes.

Cyrus Amini
BBC Persian

The Qaher F313 looks like a cheap copy of the American F22 and its capabilities are unknown. State TV did not even show its take-off or landing. Iran is in dire need of planes to boost its ageing fleet. The 1980-1988 Iraq-Iran war left a big dent in Iran's air force arsenal of US-supplied planes.

Damaged ones were used for spare parts and some of them (mostly Northrop F-5s) were turned into a new generation of planes like the Azarakhsh. Their capabilities are also unknown as they have not seen any real action.

Iran has been under tight sanctions since its war with Iraq and has not been allowed to obtain new hardware or spare parts for its old fleet. Buying Russian or Chinese jet fighters is not a ready option for Iran due to new sanctions imposed over its controversial nuclear programme.

So the big challenge for Iranian military planners remains - having an air force that it can maintain and support locally, as buying parts on black market has been very costly.

[LongBlade]

I saw that the other day.

Funny thing is, at least the display they were showing had a canopy that was so distorted that it had to be a mockup. I suspect that, like pretty much every new Iranian technology development, this one is fake.

[mirth]

Don't worry, Clint Eastwood is already on his way to steal it.

[Capn Darwin]

Why. It's a crappy model.

[GDS_Starfury]

I built mine years ago

[GDS_Starfury]

Im guessing its based on an F-5.  it doesnt have a HUD and those wings look a bit chunky.

[Staggerwing]

I dunno... there seem too many 'versions' of this thing around the internet. The one on the display almost looks like a 3/4 mockup based on the size of the cockpit as compared to other images on the net. Perhaps the Iranians watched the movie 'Stealth' a few too many times and were so distracted by Jessica Beals that they forgot that it was all done with CGI. (The aircraft that is, not Jessica... ;))

[TheCommandTent]

I'm sure our flyboys would be more than willing to help them test their new jets.  Send them up and see if they can out run us and not get shot down  ::)

[LongBlade]

Im guessing its based on an F-5.  it doesnt have a HUD and those wings look a bit chunky.

I know they've got some really old US airframes from the late 70's. Not sure what kind of Warsaw Pact tech they've tried to purchase since them.

Look how crappy that canopy looks. *I* could have cast a better looking plastic mold and I've never even tried to do it before. Even the fuselage looks like total crap. This is clearly a fake.

[bayonetbrant]

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2013/02/iran-new-stealth-fighter-jet-fake/61781/

That seat is tiny. As The Aviationist's David Cenciotti points out, the "cockpit seems to be too small, to such an extent a normal pilot doesn't properly fit in the ejection seat. Have you ever seen a pilot with his knees above the side borders of the cockpit and his helmet well beyond the ejection seat's head pad?" Granted, our knowledge of fighter-plane ejection primarily comes from scenes out of Top Gun, but Cenciotti's point makes sense. The only possible explanation for this could be if Iran was raising an army of smaller than average fighter-jet pilots, but that's as ridiculous as this plane actually working.

[mirth]

It looks like it's made with duct tape. Is duct tape stealthy?

[Staggerwing]

Is that the back of a Realistic 8 track player I see in last pic above? Oh the memories...

[Staggerwing]

It looks like it's made with duct tape. Is duct tape stealthy?

Depends on how kinky things get. Especially if the tape-ee is a moaner...

[LongBlade]

It looks like it's made with duct tape. Is duct tape stealthy?

Depends on how kinky things get. Especially if the tape-ee is a moaner...

Agreed. Remember the psychopath's motto? "Silence is golden, duct tape is silver."

[GDS_Starfury]

there are also no cockpit latches on the underside of the canopy.
maybe its for their space monkeys.