IRIAF | News and Discussions

[Mr Iran Eye]

Is he basically just referring to a large drone or just cargo plane refitted to carry weapons also remote controlled planes aren’t anything new been around since world war 2, would work well enough on static targets guessing not to well on an adversary because of large size,unless it’s the most advanced advanced advanced AI controlled 7 generation military aircraft in the world sorry I’m making fun of guy he makes very vague statements and if something comes out even 1% saying I told you so guys see see, some guy who lives in Canada doesn’t have insider knowledge on Iranian military like he hints at and if he did I would think Canada would have an on him. Also @OldTwilight he’s one of the guys I have on ignore silly posts aren’t worth reading as much as pretentious posts.

Good observation, good intuition, true intelligence is universal, transcendent and has no connection with a particular country or race. Through videos, photos, Iranian statements and other outside analysis, Iran gives us food for thought with clues but you don't see anything. You are saturated on this forum except SalarHaqq who is more intellectually alert than the average person here

 

[aryobarzan]

“Talking” about AESA radar. Why not show it?

I also remember the last time they claimed that a single F-14 was flying with domestic produced engine.

Air Force “talks” a lot along with Navy and Space Force.

If I had a toman for every time one of these branches “talked”, I could own half the companies in Iran.



Clearly that was what I ment. Everyone knows Iran has ground based AESA. Thank you for pointing out the obvious. Let me know once you figure out H2O is also another way to say water.



No it is not an upgrade when the platform is a 1960’s F-4 and a modernized F-5. These things will be shot out of the sky before they can even get close to a Rafael, F-16, F-18. Let’s not even talk about F-35 or F-22 as that is just laughable.

These are desperate measures taken to keep these antique planes somewhat releavent. Yet no realizes how old these airframes are and the fatigue and cracks they have suffered. So what good is an upgraded F-4 that cannot be depended on for 100+ sorties a day without going into the shop or falling out of the sky?

Iran is lagging Turkey in the R&D of Air Force by about 15-20 years. That is simply unacceptable.

Turkey already has unmanned fighter jet in trial testing and now 5th Gen fighter and flying wing designed UAVs. Iran claims Qaher will be unmanned fighter jet. It’s been 10 years. Where is it?

Iran in the field of Navy, Air Force, and Space is a disgrace to this prestigious nation. The generals should have been fired a long time ago and sent to pasture to collect retirement. New forward thinking minds need to reach upper management.

Iran is a late Commer to the airforce..It took Iran 20 years to feel relaxed about having a top of the line missile force. Now they have a missile tech envy of most..Turkey put all their eggs in airforce basket so if and that is a big if they manage to produce their FTX craft in some quantities I will agree that they are ahead of Iran in that domain but far behind Iran in missiles, space , AD and of course they have no tech on nuclear domain..we call this "a one pony horse show" situation.

Now about Iranian airborne radar..first of all the man talking is not an airforce guy..he is the head of giant IEI a company now with 9 subsidiaries all dedicated to electronics products for iranian military (hence no talk of engines).. now Is the radar PESA or AESA..my personal guess is that If Iran has obtained the micro electronics to make either of them they will go for AESA..software development for AESA has already done by Iran for AD systems so the bottle neck would be miniaturization of TRMs..knowing this company a bit I put my bet on AESA. they will surprise as they did with HMDS...sorry for typos..I am typing on mobile.

 

[HGV]

If you are following Iran military news as long as me , then you know there is a syndrome among Iranian official calked 'microphone syndrome' ...

When they see a microphone , they start to says bullshits which after years you will found out almost every word was is baseless and dream ....

Unfortunately, you are correct.

Everything they announce as "in operation" is actually nowhere close to that. Soumar cruise missile announced in 2015 (?) with 2000km+ range but later they admitted it only has 700km range (and probably never put into operation). Bavar 373 supposedly in operation since 2019, but no one can find it. Must be stealth version. Fateh submarine as well, supposedly in operation in 2019 but still in sea trials after that for many years.

I remember only a few months ago they talked about 2-3 more satellite launches before the end of the (last) Iranian year. Instead we got 0. Nobody asked them what happened, we just accept their lies and moved on already.

 

[TheImmortal]

Iran is a late Commer to the airforce..It took Iran 20 years to feel relaxed about having a top of the line missile force. Now they have a missile tech envy of most.

Bad Example. What’s funny is Iran’s production of domestic missile program and domestic Air Force program BOTH began both in late 90’s.

Production of its own Missile force was Shahab 1-2-3 in late 90’s then in no particular order over the course of 25 years the following were developed:

• Qiam
• F-110
• F-313
• Ghadr
• Emad
• Ashura
• Sejill 1
• Sejill 2
• Khorramshahr
• Khorramshahr 2
• Zolfghar
• Dezful
• Kehibar Shekan
• Solemani

Compare that to Iran’s airforce in 25 years during that same time

• F-5 modernization test bed project starts in late 90’s under name Azarakhsh—> goes thru various iterations —> currently Kowsar-2 and no mass production or significant quantity produced in 23 years
• Owj engine development —> lack of mass production —> slow rate of production?
• Qaher mock up —> propaganda taxi run under Rouhani after years of no info —> project shelved —> now reinvented into an UCAV (so they say)
• F-14AM —> already obsolete upgrade program and never applied to entire fleet
• F-4 upgrade program —> another desperate Upgrade program

That right there is 25+ years of Iran’s airforce achievements in the field of a domestic fighter jet. At this rate, countries will be landing on Mars and Iran will be on Kowsar-3 test bed project.

Please don’t insult our missile engineers, both living and shaheeds, by comparing them to the dumpster fire that is Iran’s Air Force R&D program.

 

[Joe_Adam]

Is there a timetable? Say, is it known when will it make it's maiden flight, if ever?

Waiting for Erdogan Afandi to give his permission.

 

[Joe_Adam]

Nothing particularly new besides the helmet. We knew about F-4 upgrade and we knew about F-5 upgrade to radar as we guessed the particular class for F-5 based on stats provided.

Again Iran said “phased array Radar” or at least that’s the translation so likely PESA rather than AESA. Iran still lacking AESA radar let alone long range AESA radar. F-35 and F-22 are 200KM or greater in range.

As for electronic pod and subsystems improvements. Lack of details will keep me skeptical. Until you start showing off your tech or providing real stats on them, it’s hard to quantify what generation the tech is.

No reason for secrecy, if Iran shares details on its surface ships, missiles, UAVs, etc then no reason they wouldn’t tell us about how their Air Force achievements perform.



we knew that for years



Again we knew that for years they are building medium and heavy fighters. “Plan” is the key word. Turkey is almost at Taxi stage and Iran is still at “plan”

Also telling was not a single update on the domestic medium/heavy jet engine project. No 5th Gen fighter without a RD-33 to AL-31 class engine.

The imaginary Turkish aircraft is just that, imaginary that will never materialize due to reliance on outsourcing from western sources which spells trouble and could be halted whenever the supply source decides to stop their goods . Their MBT project has been ongoing for over two decades now, and yet, that MBT is 100% Korean product "power pack and all subsystems" with a licensed German 120mm gun made by KraussMaffei "now a Chinese owned company". Still, it's nowhere near completion.

Comparing Iran to Turkey is big joke considering what Iran has been through since 1980 but still managed to outpace many world powers in many fields. This reality is attested to by actual and real products and most of which are very effective. For Turkey to reach that threshold, it will take several decades, at least.

A good example would be India which spent almost over 50 years on a fighter-jet project and ended up with a French Mirage imitation sporting US, Israeli made radar, navigation, and weapon systems etc. So, where is the beef in this picture? Making something for political reason always ends with failure. By the way; Egypt manufactured a fighter jet in 1960s that flew but it was never produced due to its reliance on German designers and engineers who had to leave Egypt and some were assassinated by western spooks. Still to this day, Egypt makes no notable weapon system as it depends completely on imports for its defense needs which is the case with Turkey as well.

A country with no real industrial base, no hi-tech manufacturing base and knowhow, lacking experienced engineers and scientists, void of research and development background could never succeed in creating complex systems or platforms purely based on imported knowledge base since making such things must start from concept development to commissioning, and Turkey is nowhere near that level. Frankly, all Turkish grand talk about weapons and manufacturing is pure political propaganda and the end result will be nothing but a huge disappointment by the Turks for believing their crooked politicians who have been taking them on this wild ride of deception that leads nowhere.

 

[jauk]

Bad Example. What’s funny is Iran’s production of domestic missile program and domestic Air Force program BOTH began both in late 90’s.

Production of its own Missile force was Shahab 1-2-3 in late 90’s then in no particular order over the course of 25 years the following were developed:

• Qiam
• F-110
• F-313
• Ghadr
• Emad
• Ashura
• Sejill 1
• Sejill 2
• Khorramshahr
• Khorramshahr 2
• Zolfghar
• Dezful
• Kehibar Shekan
• Solemani

Compare that to Iran’s airforce in 25 years during that same time

• F-5 modernization test bed project starts in late 90’s under name Azarakhsh—> goes thru various iterations —> currently Kowsar-2 and no mass production or significant quantity produced in 23 years
• Owj engine development —> lack of mass production —> slow rate of production?
• Qaher mock up —> propaganda taxi run under Rouhani after years of no info —> project shelved —> now reinvented into an UCAV (so they say)
• F-14AM —> already obsolete upgrade program and never applied to entire fleet
• F-4 upgrade program —> another desperate Upgrade program

That right there is 25+ years of Iran’s airforce achievements in the field of a domestic fighter jet. At this rate, countries will be landing on Mars and Iran will be on Kowsar-3 test bed project.

Please don’t insult our missile engineers, both living and shaheeds, by comparing them to the dumpster fire that is Iran’s Air Force R&D program.

Note, this difference can be rationalized away by 'Iran does not need an air force'. This same rationalization cannot as easily be applied to the ISA which, I believe, is a more stark comparison.

 

[HGV]

That right there is 25+ years of Iran’s airforce achievements in the field of a domestic fighter jet. At this rate, countries will be landing on Mars and Iran will be on Kowsar-3 test bed project.

Please don’t insult our missile engineers, both living and shaheeds, by comparing them to the dumpster fire that is Iran’s Air Force R&D program.

It is true, the two programs have experienced very different growth/development. But it is obviously much easier to develop missiles than 4G+ fighter jets with thousands of advanced sub components. And it is to be expected when the air force gets a budget barely big enough to maintain the existing antiquated fleet and the majority of funds are allocated to missile programs instead.

Also Raad-500 is arguably the most impressive missile of them all, along with Sejjil which was a fully indigenous Iranian design 2000km range solid-fuel BM in 2008, for its time it was very advanced.

 

[aryobarzan]

The content of interview tells me that finally there is a master plan for the airforce..you do not develop the systems he touched upon for random upgrades of old platforms..$$$ seems to be finally available to the airforce...waiting to hear news about " engine".. my personal opinion..better to aim for a capable F-15 type aircraft rather than F35.. we can bypass F35 and in a decade or so go for 6th generation aircraft with even better engines and avionics.

 

[TheImmortal]

Note, this difference can be rationalized away by 'Iran does not need an air force'. This same rationalization cannot as easily be applied to the ISA which, I believe, is a more stark comparison.

Correction: the theory that Iran does not need a “bomb truck” airforce is debatable. A single Shahab-3 only delivers a 750-1 ton payload. A F-16/F-18 type father can deliver more than that on each sortie run and run tens if not hundreds of sorties. So one fighter jet is equal to potentially 1000+ of Shahab-3 in terms of ordnance deliver.

Nonetheless, only a fool would not provide Iran with capable interceptors to defend the air space and reduce strain on the network.

Look at how many Air Defense missiles/systems Ukraine expended keeping Russian Air Force at bay. That is with a $100B Western resupply line.

Take that and multiply by a factor 50x to understand the amount of air defense missiles Iran will expend trying to stop the US AF from penetrating and destroying its network and sensitive sites. Also you have to remember Russian Air Force is not built as a penetrating and air superiority Air Force but rather to support the frontlines. USAF will be challenging Iran’s air defense systems and overall network many magnitudes more than Russian AF challenges Ukraine.

Does Iran have that enough AD missiles to keep US at bay for 12-24 months? Probably not. And if factories that produce these get destroyed then Iran will be at the mercy of Russia or China to deliver a suitable replacement. A scary thought.

The only answer is for an large and capable of interceptor force to help reduce strain and keep the systems safe and from having to expend ammo.

 

[HGV]

Correction: the theory that Iran does not need a “bomb truck” airforce is debatable. A single Shahab-3 only delivers a 750-1 ton payload. A F-16/F-18 type father can deliver more than that on each sortie run and run tens if not hundreds of sorties. So one fighter jet is equal to potentially 1000+ of Shahab-3 in terms of ordnance deliver.

Does Iran have that enough AD missiles to keep US at bay for 12-24 months? Probably not. And if factories that produce these get destroyed then Iran will be at the mercy of Russia or China to deliver a suitable replacement. A scary thought.

The only answer is for an large and capable of interceptor force to help reduce strain and keep the systems safe and from having to expend ammo.

How much does F-16 cost over its lifetime vs Shahab-3? $50m vs $200,000? 250x more expensive is just to buy it, not including maintenance or training or storage or runways or fuel or the actual bombs it uses. F-16 also cannot reach Israel from Iran (and survive) so for that purpose it has literally 0 utility vs 250x cheaper Shahab-3 missile.

Nobody has enough missiles to keep US fully at bay for 12-24 months, they will establish aerial supremacy over anyone except for China and maybe Russia. Asymmetric AD doesn't require the prevention of that.

It's quite a wise investment for Iran to supply Russia with crucial weaponry in its time of need. If Iran reaches a similar time of need Russia is one of the only countries which can supply Iran (via Caspian).

Agreed on need for interceptors, putting all the strain on AD network is asking for trouble. But ultimately even 200 interceptors won't stop the US establishing air supremacy in a prolonged conflict, but it may complicate and deter a Zionist attack since they can't spam Tomahawks against Iranian AD from 2000km away like the US can.

 

[hyperman]

Anyone got any pics of the Iranian Su-35s?

 

[TheImmortal]

How much does F-16 cost over its lifetime vs Shahab-3? $50m vs $200,000? 250x more expensive is just to buy it, not including maintenance or training or storage or runways or fuel or the actual bombs it uses. F-16 also cannot reach Israel from Iran (and survive) so for that purpose it has literally 0 utility vs 250x cheaper Shahab-3 missile.

You realize even the best militaries in the world have 20-40% failure rate for their missiles (BMs + CMs)?

So out of 1000 Shahab-3’s launched you can expect 30-40% to miss the target, fail in flight, and get intercepted.

And F-16 was an example for sake of argument. For me my solution is a high altitude supersonic AI driven bomber using a delta wing design off a modified RQ-170 frame. I think those are much more viable than a fighter jet and if each one can deliver 1 ton worth of ordnance and be launched from trucks to highways or any strip of land then it solves the runaway issue.

Also don’t forget about underground air bases (another theory of mine that Iran is taking seriously) to keep survival rates high.

Nobody has enough missiles to keep US fully at bay for 12-24 months, they will establish aerial supremacy over anyone except for China and maybe Russia. Asymmetric AD doesn't require the prevention of that.

I wouldn’t be so confident. Everyone thought that Russia would steam roll Ukraine in 2 weeks and we are at over a year and they have suffered 100K casualties (dead + WIA).

So as long as Iran plays it’s cards right and builds a strong defensive military jt can prolong and inflict severe pain on an opposing military and force a diplomatic solution.

Agreed on need for interceptors, putting all the strain on AD network is asking for trouble. But ultimately even 200 interceptors won't stop the US establishing air supremacy in a prolonged conflict

Again you are too sure on that. US has not fought a country with the capability to inflict harm on it since Vietnam. The rest were rusted bucket militaries or an Iraq coming out of brutal war.

The role of the interceptors would be to be prolong the conflict while Iran inflicts pain on his enemies until a diplomatic solution (ie. Ceasefire) can be agreed to. That can take 12-24 months.

Barring an all out war (WW3) the USA will be very sensitive to casualties and look for diplomatic solution if casualties exceed 25K soldiers (maybe as low as 10K soldiers).

 

[Blue In Green]

Anyone got any pics of the Iranian Su-35s?

No evidence as of yet to their presence or arrival on Iranian soil.

 

[Flotilla]

Nothing particularly new besides the helmet. We knew about F-4 upgrade and we knew about F-5 upgrade to radar as we guessed the particular class for F-5 based on stats provided.

Don´t be so demanding. Iran has very good reasons to lack behind Turkey in aeronautical technology (something I agree).
First has been the sanctions. Hey it is so evident that you should smile; Iran cannot import something more aeronautical than a typewriter for the last 43 years. Second it has been the unfair (to put it mildly) budget problems agains IRGC Aerospace Forces.
It is not fair to compare IRIAF with Turkish Air Force or their respective projects. Iran has been fighting many foes in the MENA region, even with people came from Morocco to fight IRGC in Syria (don´t forget it).
Not only Iran survived that war against regional foes, in first instance. After some years Iran has been able to take out US Navy from Persian Gulf at second instance, and nowadays you see open dialogue with the nemesis Saudi Arabia. That have taken a crazy lot of money that would have been spend in R&D in conventional army and air force projects.
The political situation now allow to invest in conventional warfare programs, from MRAP to UAV and attack helicopters, to... fighters. Kowsar it is very good starting point. You can test even IRST equipment in that small fighter, and after it, those technology can be transplanted in some air to ground weaponry for Su35 or even Mig29.
Sometimes persians are more self-criticals than spaniards are.
It is enough and remarkable to have been capable of maintaning those old fighters, but nowadays the IRIAF and many companies did a step forward improving those. The question should be, what can do the IRIAF with some J10 or Su35 in their inventory?.