HESA Fighter Kowsar Program - Current and Next Generation

[Mahabahu kaunteya]

kaveri has only one problem, it produces a thrust of 80kn and not required 98 kn

 

[Mahabahu kaunteya]

It has nickel and huge deposits of them (just behind russia, actually).

Mate. This dosent prove anything to be honest .
Africa has largest sources of minerals of all kinds, but can gabon or Niger make a air craft engine

 

[BlessedKingOfLonging]

Mate. This dosent prove anything to be honest .
Africa has largest sources of minerals of all kinds, but can gabon or Niger make a air craft engine

You misunderstand. The grade of nickel they mine is more than suitable to be used in aerospace industry.

The reason why Cuba can't benefit off them is US sanction. But Iran is also sanctioned so there should be no hurdles for purchasing from Havana.

 

[Mahabahu kaunteya]

You misunderstand. The grade of nickel they mine is more than suitable to be used in aerospace industry.

The reason why Cuba can't benefit off them is US sanction. But Iran is also sanctioned so there should be no hurdles for purchasing from Havana.

Its good , very good .
Then you should purchase it , america can shove the sanctions in its nitambh

 

[drmeson]

The next step in air warfare , well may it not be the next step as it already started with airplane like F-35 & JAS-39 is interchanging data with other airplanes or simply the data link not unmanned fighters . And I hope the next generation kowsar come with a very strong data link that be able to share every single piece of data with other friendly airplanes .

According to BT in his written article (Air International) about IRIAF operations during Nagorno Karabakh war, IRIAF uses a some form of a novel data link that works for upgraded F-14 AM, Kowsar (Serial 3-7401 was deployed for battle testing) as TAB-2 Tabriz based squadrons and nearby Airdefence batteries (S-300, Bavar-373 he says) were all connected with Sepeher OTHR on Datalink. BT says these radars work as a extra long range G-WACS for IRIAF/IRGC-AF and Air defence. F-14AM upgraded radar itself has a range of ~400 KM and we know IRIAF uses it as a mini AWACS during "Gashtzan" patrol, so datalink makes sense.

Btw for those who don't know .. these are Iranian G-WACS Qader and Sepeher. We use others too like ground-based AESA ASR (third pic).

 

[drmeson]

Some useless discussion is going on I see.

Iran has shown zero intention of reverse engineering RD-33 or anything. OWJ has pushed out OWJ J-90 turbojet which powers Kowsars and we have our novel Jahesh-700 turbofan, two of which may probably power the more functionalized near future squadrons of the following.

Other than that we have only the evidence of extreme level overhauls (probably with local parts) of J79, TF-30, RD-33, AL-21, and nothing else. Like I said before we might see a larger Jahesh-700 turbofan version soon which will be FJ44-4A equivalent.

 

[drmeson]

If F-7N, Mirages F1EQ retired within the next few years (30 operational, total 56+24 total airframes = 80 ) then we might see 90-100 Kowsars-I (Current model) which will cost IRIAF 700-900 million.

If they unveil a newer generation with more powerful AESA radars and 4+ gen combat suite, armed with 4 X all aspect HOBS R-73E or 4 x R-77E then that will get into production which I hope happens. With a rate of some 14-16 aircraft/per year starting in 2026, we can end up with 100 x Kowsars-II (or whatever the name will be) in 2031-2032. A fighter aircraft as capable as any lightweight 4+ Generation Fighter in the world.

 

[Hack-Hook]

If F-7N, Mirages F1EQ retired within the next few years (30 operational, total 56+24 total airframes = 80 ) then we might see 90-100 Kowsars-I (Current model) which will cost IRIAF 700-900 million.

If they unveil a newer generation with more powerful AESA radars and 4+ gen combat suite, armed with 4 X all aspect HOBS R-73E or 4 x R-77E then that will get into production which I hope happens. With a rate of some 14-16 aircraft/per year starting in 2026, we can end up with 100 x Kowsars-II (or whatever the name will be) in 2031-2032. A fighter aircraft as capable as any lightweight 4+ Generation Fighter in the world.

kowsar in correct form is a lot more advance than those aircraft and by replacing those two aircraft , IRIAF can streamline maintenance reduce cost and complexity. and free a lot more resource that can go toward developing Kowsar-II.

it only need to make a brave decision

 

[drmeson]

kowsar in correct form is a lot more advance than those aircraft and by replacing those two aircraft , IRIAF can streamline maintenance reduce cost and complexity. and free a lot more resource that can go toward developing Kowsar-II.

it only need to make a brave decision

You are right. Kowsar's next generation with an even more powerful avionics+combat suite can retire F-7N, MirageF1EQ, and rugged F-5E/F (that's some 56+24+64 airframes).

Starting in 2026 till 2032 we can replace all that 3rd Generation circus with a 4+ generation light fighter. It will save lives of IRIAF men and money too.

 

[Hamza913]

Aerial warfare is going under its most dramatic transformation since ww2. In my opinion, conventional manned warplanes will be obsolete soon.

I remember barely 10 years ago, everyone and their mothers were mocking Iran for heavily investing in drones and ucavs. first Iran was doing it out of desperation because it couldnt get airplanes. Then it was that Iran was incapable of making UCAVs, as this magic alien technology (that was invented by Iran) Can only be produced by the white men.

After Iran produced it, it became a case of "oh its just a toy, only wunderwaff americans and white man UCAVs are real"

I think the most decisive drone attack in military history was the ones the 'houthis' did that shut down half of saudi oil production in a single strike.

not only was it absolutely crippling, but it showed how much superior drones were actually to fighter aircraft. Sending attacking fighters into an enemy that has their air defenses up fully is suicide, a declaration of war, and risks hundred million dollar planes + priceless trained pilots.

a drone can do all that, without any of the risks involved/negatives..

Didn't Lockheed also test an unmanned variant of the F-16 a few years ago?

 

[drmeson]

Didn't Lockheed also test an unmanned variant of the F-16 a few years ago?

They did I guess.

For us the first A2A capable UCAV is being tested with a WVR all aspect IR missile with a 40 KM range.

 

[drmeson]

 

[aryobarzan]

Do you think Kowsar-II will retain the same airframe ...if so then they can retrofit any original airframe to the next gen version...how confident are you that there will be a version II..

 

[Abid123]

Great fighter jet for ground attack role.

 

[drmeson]

Do you think Kowsar-II will retain the same airframe ...

It all depends upon what the designers learnt from Saeqeh Tech demonstrators. I do not think they will retain the original airframe in Kowsar-II because otherwise what was Saeqeh for then ? not boredom offcourse. They played around with the aerodynamics of Saeqeh too much to see what can be done with this airframe design.

Confirmed Tests
- Larger nosecone (Success, retained in Kowsar)
- Twin tails (more maneuverability but probably had drag, might be deployed in Kowsar-II)
- 2 tandem seats (Success, two brains are better than one, retained in Seaqeh-II, Kowsar
- Squared air intakes (failed as 3-7600's squared intakes were reverted back)

Probables or requirement
- Addition of 2 x least drag small 350-400 Conformal tanks on both sides above the air intakes would give the plane some additional 2563 (Internal) + 800 ltr of JP-1 = 3363 ltr total fuel.
For a 2 Fatter +2 x PL-12 configuration 2 x OWJ do 0.42 KM/Ltr, which means a range of 1400 KM just on internal fuel. For a BVR CAP mission with a central 1040 ltr standard fuselage tank, we get a menacing range of 1800+ KM for BVR CAP mission.

- Jahesh-700 turbofan (like FJ33) becomes Jahesh-X (like FJ44-4A) (2 x ~7000 lbf with afterburner). Far better speed, range, and performance than the current OWJ.

Possibility
- There will be a V-tailed, 2 seater powered by 2x Jahesh (FJ44 like) Turbofans with AESA like Grifo-E/NRIET KLJ-7A, retaining Kowsar's avionics like datalink maybe HMD, very distant possibility of CF tanks.

Basically, combine all of this together.

how confident are you that there will be a version II..

This R&D project has been going on for 16+ years and we still have not seen IRIAF inducting anything in large numbers, the only reason being the product is not finalized yet. The government was ready to pay 85 mln$ a piece for Su-35S to fill the heavy air superiority fighter place, they can pay some 9-10 million for 4+ Gen Kowsar-II I suppose.

Great fighter jet for ground attack role.

Actually it has much better specs for a light combat A2A fighter. Longer radar range, very low RCS, very good maneuverability, with datalink from G-WACS and HMD guided All-aspect weapons it can wreak havoc on any intruder while heavier fighters and LORADS/SHORADS can take care of the rest. That is what light combat planes are supposed to do.