Great stuff!!
Does anyone happen to know if the engine is domestically made or if it is imported? Also, do we have any images of the plane's cockpit; would be awesome to see indigenous avionics and electronics on board.
very interesting question, which I too had asked myself.
Observing some photos during the assembly of the Simorgh, it was noted that the pylons that support the engines are the same as the IrAn-140 (AN-140) and the engine covers are the same as in the last published photo. this leads me to think that they use the same Motor Sich AI-30 engine, probably in stock and improved as alleged recently, when they said that the problems that arose while using the IrAn-140 had been solved, modifications that should have been implemented by Iranian industry technicians. Now the question is which powerplants will Iran use in production aircraft?
1) very difficult, almost impossible for obvious reasons the Ukrainian ones by Motor-Sich, which I think have been modified to equip the prototype;
2) ok the Russian Klimov still holds the original patent of the turboshaft called TV3-117VMA-SBM1, but at the moment it does not have them in production as it had issued the license to Motor Sich to make the modified turboprop version for commercial aircraft.
3) alternatively, the Iranians have also become good at decoding aeronautical engines and with the newfound friendship for common interests with the Russians, the work could receive important help from Klimov who continues to make the turbolators of the TV3-117 series and later used on helicopters.
My further guess:
a close Iran - Russia collaboration could even bring benefits for both, Iran putting the Simorgh into series production faster Since ;
Russia has an extreme need to replace the now old AN-24-26 both in transport and as passenger aircraft, the Simorgh could be a valid alternative for many segments of flight activities in Russia, also because the AN-140 was produced also in Russia by Aviakor which had to stop production due to a ban by Kiev on sending the components produced to the territory of Ukraine.
Therefore, the Russian Aviakor in collaboration with Iranian companies could put into production an aircraft that it already knows in part, thus facilitating mass production.