Light fighters / trainer aircraft Iran can do, however for a modern fighter jet to replace much of the inventory Iran's only viable options seem to be SU-27 flanker variants (SU-30/SU-35) from Russia or J-10 from China. Iran could have purchased JF-17, but the higher ups in the airforce are not interested. The Ukraine conflict has probably made it more likely than ever that Iran will get something sooner or later but we have to wait and see.
Anyways looking at the wars in Ukraine and Nagorno/Karabakh recently and seeing how important UAVs and air defenses are to modern warfare, I'm glad Iran has invested heavily in UAVs and its air defense network. UAvs can always saturate an airspace and make a huge difference but as we've seen with the limited success of the Bayraktar in Ukraine compared to Nagorno/Karabakh, against an adversary with a multi layered and dynamic air defense network, UAVs will only have limited success unless you hundreds or thousands of them.
Ukraine bought approx 4 dozen Bayraktars from Turkey. At $5 each did they get their moneys worth ? I mean yes they did do some damage to Russian troops, especially at the start, but lately we haven't seen much at all from them. It's very likely, based on Russian claims, that most of them have simply been shot down. Oh well that's $250 million down the to1let for Ukraine.
Especially if Ukraine losses access to the ocean after this war, which I believe will last another 3 months approximately, then the country will be bankrupt and basically enslaved to western institutions like the IMF and World Bank. GDP before the war was $150 billion, now it's expected to drop 50% and they have to pay $600 billion to $1 trillion just for rebuilding infrastructure. Add to that the price of weapons and interest and they're basically enslaved for 50+ years.
Anyways looking at the wars in Ukraine and Nagorno/Karabakh recently and seeing how important UAVs and air defenses are to modern warfare, I'm glad Iran has invested heavily in UAVs and its air defense network. UAvs can always saturate an airspace and make a huge difference but as we've seen with the limited success of the Bayraktar in Ukraine compared to Nagorno/Karabakh, against an adversary with a multi layered and dynamic air defense network, UAVs will only have limited success unless you hundreds or thousands of them.
Ukraine bought approx 4 dozen Bayraktars from Turkey. At $5 each did they get their moneys worth ? I mean yes they did do some damage to Russian troops, especially at the start, but lately we haven't seen much at all from them. It's very likely, based on Russian claims, that most of them have simply been shot down. Oh well that's $250 million down the to1let for Ukraine.
Especially if Ukraine losses access to the ocean after this war, which I believe will last another 3 months approximately, then the country will be bankrupt and basically enslaved to western institutions like the IMF and World Bank. GDP before the war was $150 billion, now it's expected to drop 50% and they have to pay $600 billion to $1 trillion just for rebuilding infrastructure. Add to that the price of weapons and interest and they're basically enslaved for 50+ years.
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