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From what I've read, Egypt has 17 SU-35s currently in inventory and 30 were on order from Russia. Obviously that order has been cancelled.

Supposedly 12 have already been built. I'm not sure what Iran's order entails but it might actually end up being 36 SU-35s or just the 24. For some reason the 24 number keeps coming up everywhere.

Anyways from what I've been able to gather, each SU-35 sells for $63 million a piece, whereas SU-30s are priced at around $42 million a piece.
 
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The Chinese already offered Iran the JF-17 in exchange for oil. Iran however wanted to exchange oil for the J-10. China and Iran could not come to an agreement. The JF-17 is like a watered down, poor mans F-16. After all this time Iran wants something worthwhile.
Thats most likely a myth I`m afraid.
The only way that iran would`ve got the jf17 was if,just as with pakistan,it was going to be partially manufactured in iran,and pakistan certainly didnt have any excess production capacity in the late 2000s to spare for sales to iran,not to mention that by 2010 iran was subject to a un arms embargo that prevented any sales of jet fighters.
The problem with the j10 was the lack of an indigenous chinese power plant.This effectively ruled out any foreign sales as it would`ve required russian approval for the re-export of the russian al31 that powered the earlier versions of the j10,indeed its only been very recently that the indigenous chinese ws10b turbofan was considered to be up to par with the al31 and good enough to replace it as the engine for the j10c version.
 
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F-5 platform has future, that is an aircraft derived from it.

Successful reverse engineering of J85-GE-21 means that reverse engineering J79 is possible yet Iran managed to reverse engineer FJ33 that is twin shaft hence Iran could design a small twin spool low bypass turbofan engine for F-5E that fits inside engine bay.

F-5 is not a waste of time and resources, with careful redesign and new components it can be turned into a multirole fighter while components tested on it can be later on used for a new fighter jet design. Primary current limitation that Iran has is lack of indigenous SARH / ARH AAMs besides heavy AIM-23B / Fakour-90.

It would be waste of not develop a F-5E derivative with single turbofan engine with output that is more than two J85-GE-21.
 
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Come on folks...are we really discussing a Pakistani jet copied from a Chinese one? Really?
 
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Yes recently Chinese have been replacing Russian engines and other components with Chinese.

I'm pretty sure that China would be willing to sell Iran JF-17s for oil. It's essentially a Chinese bargin bin jet, which is why the Chinese themselves don't use it.

Thats most likely a myth I`m afraid.
The only way that iran would`ve got the jf17 was if,just as with pakistan,it was going to be partially manufactured in iran,and pakistan certainly didnt have any excess production capacity in the late 2000s to spare for sales to iran,not to mention that by 2010 iran was subject to a un arms embargo that prevented any sales of jet fighters.
The problem with the j10 was the lack of an indigenous chinese power plant.This effectively ruled out any foreign sales as it would`ve required russian approval for the re-export of the russian al31 that powered the earlier versions of the j10,indeed its only been very recently that the indigenous chinese ws10b turbofan was considered to be up to par with the al31 and good enough to replace it as the engine for the j10c version.
 
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Yes I agree the F-5 for the price is well worth it. It especially fits perfectly into Iran's doctrine of assymetrical warfare and swarm tactics.

With AWACS support and modern components it's a great light multirole fighter. 4 of these fit into a 737 for transport. It's low cost to build, low maintenance and extremely efficient.

I believe it can be equipped with a larger radar with a relatively simple modification in the front nose section.

However the issue is that in the end the aircraft is too light to carry a serious payload. It can however be modified to carry a Phoenix (Fakour) missile no ?

Also we don't know if Iran has a lack of air to air missiles like the sidewinder and Phoenix. Realistically Iran's specialty is missiles so why would Iran have a shortage ? Just because they don't show it off to the world, doesn't mean they don't have it.

F-5 platform has future, that is an aircraft derived from it.

Successful reverse engineering of J85-GE-21 means that reverse engineering J79 is possible yet Iran managed to reverse engineer FJ33 that is twin shaft hence Iran could design a small twin spool low bypass turbofan engine for F-5E that fits inside engine bay.

F-5 is not a waste of time and resources, with careful redesign and new components it can be turned into a multirole fighter while components tested on it can be later on used for a new fighter jet design. Primary current limitation that Iran has is lack of indigenous SARH / ARH AAMs besides heavy AIM-23B / Fakour-90.

It would be waste of not develop a F-5E derivative with single turbofan engine with output that is more than two J85-GE-21.
 
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Yes I agree the F-5 for the price is well worth it. It especially fits perfectly into Iran's doctrine of assymetrical warfare and swarm tactics.

With AWACS support and modern components it's a great light multirole fighter. 4 of these fit into a 737 for transport. It's low cost to build, low maintenance and extremely efficient.

I believe it can be equipped with a larger radar with a relatively simple modification in the front nose section.

However the issue is that in the end the aircraft is too light to carry a serious payload. It can however be modified to carry a Phoenix (Fakour) missile no ?

Also we don't know if Iran has a lack of air to air missiles like the sidewinder and Phoenix. Realistically Iran's specialty is missiles so why would Iran have a shortage ? Just because they don't show it off to the world, doesn't mean they don't have it.
If AIM-23B / Fakour-90 is comparable weight to AIM-54 Phoenix then maybe it could carry three of those.

Main limitation of F-5E is lack of space for large radar antenna, but removing cannons and its ammunition would allow for more powerful processing components and liquid cooling.

Redesign of F-5E/F by introducing more modern, up to date design elements should be possible with manufacturing tools that there are.

A single turbofan engine of equal or greater output than two J85-GE-21 would take up less space and then with modification of intakes it would allow rear landing gear inside body.

Then wings could be made stronger with some capacity to carry fuel where previously two landing gears in wings would have been thus less need to use fuel drop tanks.

Also with turbofan there would not be need for small air intakes to cool the jet engine and more diverterless supersonic inlet would be viable that are more aerodynamic and lighter.
 
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If AIM-23B / Fakour-90 is comparable weight to AIM-54 Phoenix then maybe it could carry three of those.

Main limitation of F-5E is lack of space for large radar antenna, but removing cannons and its ammunition would allow for more powerful processing components and liquid cooling.

Redesign of F-5E/F by introducing more modern, up to date design elements should be possible with manufacturing tools that there are.

A single turbofan engine of equal or greater output than two J85-GE-21 would take up less space and then with modification of intakes it would allow rear landing gear inside body.

Then wings could be made stronger with some capacity to carry fuel where previously two landing gears in wings would have been thus less need to use fuel drop tanks.

Also with turbofan there would not be need for small air intakes to cool the jet engine and more diverterless supersonic inlet would be viable that are more aerodynamic and lighter.
I doubt that an f5 could carry a single f90/aim54,and even if it could its radar would lack the capability to take advantage of the capabilities and range of either missile.
It would actually make a lot more sense,not to mention be far,far easier,to reengine the mirage f1 fleet with the mig29s rd33 turbofan,rather than attempting to virtually rebuild the f5 to take an rd33.The reengining of the f1 was actually done back in the mid 90s by the south africans and proved to be an excellent conversion,tho ultimately they didnt go ahead with converting the entire fleet on cost grounds.In addition it was also adapted to carry the excellent aa-11/r73 wvr missile,this would also make an ideal conversion for arming the rest of the older western supplied aircraft as currently they only have obsolete sidewinders and sparrows.
Another potential huge force multiplier would be upgrading the mig29 fleet to fulcrum C standard,the dprk has some numbers of fulcrum Cs in its mig29 fleet,so this would in theory allow iran to acquire an example to reverse/reegineer a local equivalent,if combined with a reverse engineered r77,which both the yemenis and venezuelans possess,so no real problems with acquiring samples,this would allow iran to effectively double the size of its bvr capable fighter force.This would obviously be a huge capability upgrade.It would also allow for the possibility of upgrading irans other fighters to be equipped with a modern bvr missile,for instance imagine an f5 with a modern radar and data link capability packing 2 r77s+2 r73s,this would be a nasty combination in anyones book,and theres no reason that you couldnt do the same sort of thing with the f1,f4,f14 etc..
The airforces two biggest problems,imho,seem to be a lack of leadership on the one hand,and with that a lack of [realistic] clear vision and set of goals for the future,and on the other hand just as critically both a lack of technology and a seeming unwillingness,or at least reluctance,to work with those who have that technology,altho one thing that does give one some small hope in that regard was the airforce effectively having no choice but to work with and acquire drones from the irgc affiliated drone producers,plus during the latest military exercises we saw the firing of an old maverick a2g missile that had been upgraded with a modern all weather flir seeker,likely donated from a drone launched munition,instead of the obsolete 1970s era seekers that the iriaf still uses.
In short theres a hell of a lot that the iriaf could do to upgrade both the existing airfleet and its weapons,sadly tho its shows little inclination to do any of these things,and I dont think you can just blame it on a lack of resources,as there were obviously resources when it came to the iriafs 15+ year long failed drone program,not to mention all of the fvcking around with the f5 that the iriaf seems so fixated on for the last 20+ years.
Honestly its pretty sad...
 
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If AIM-23B / Fakour-90 is comparable weight to AIM-54 Phoenix then maybe it could carry three of those.

Main limitation of F-5E is lack of space for large radar antenna, but removing cannons and its ammunition would allow for more powerful processing components and liquid cooling.

Redesign of F-5E/F by introducing more modern, up to date design elements should be possible with manufacturing tools that there are.

A single turbofan engine of equal or greater output than two J85-GE-21 would take up less space and then with modification of intakes it would allow rear landing gear inside body.

Then wings could be made stronger with some capacity to carry fuel where previously two landing gears in wings would have been thus less need to use fuel drop tanks.

Also with turbofan there would not be need for small air intakes to cool the jet engine and more diverterless supersonic inlet would be viable that are more aerodynamic and lighter.


Oh please … to think an F-5 based airframe could carry three missiles in the class of an AIM-54 is so much ridiculous that it makes any further discussion useless. :crazy:
 
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Serious question: what if the IRGCAF was the one to purchase Su-30's / Su-35's? What if the IRIAF were to be disbanded altogether once its ageing fleet reached its ultimate ovehauling limit? Just a thought. Could this be why sardar Bagheri of the IRGC publicly observed that Iran has signed contracts for fighter jet purchases with Russia? I mean, aren't 43 years enough to switch the center of gravity of the air force? Come on... Of course, personally I'd be all for it. Wa Allāhu 'ālam.
 
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Serious question: what if the IRGCAF was the one to purchase Su-30's / Su-35's? What if the IRIAF were to be disbanded altogether once its ageing fleet reached its ultimate ovehauling limit? Just a thought. Could this be why sardar Bagheri of the IRGC publicly observed that Iran has signed contracts for fighter jet purchases with Russia? I mean, aren't 43 years enough to switch the center of gravity of the air force? Come on... Of course, personally I'd be all for it.

Bagheri went to Artesh to create a greater unity between two military powers.
 
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Bagheri went to Artesh to create a greater unity between two military powers.

You're right. And contrary to what the enemy desires, there's no distance between the two military corpses (Army and IRGC) anyway. They are perfectly synched together, especially thanks to repeated war games. But just that the recipient of new Russian-made fighter jets, if such a thing were to materialize, could well be the IRGCAF. Who knows?
 
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You're right. And there's no distance between the two military corpses (Army and IRGC) anyway. They are perfectly synched together, especially thanks to repeated war games. But just that the recipient of new Russian-made fighter jets, if such a thing were to materialize, could well be the IRGCAF. Who knows?

Last I heard IRGCAF was focused on developing a CAS fighter to support troops on frontlines based on lessons learned from Syrian war.

SU-35 is more an F-35 type fighter.

But I do think you are right and that eventually IRGC will expands its AF arm.
 
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Chinese export variant fighter jets (JF-17 and J-10) all use Russian engines. Therefore China is not allowed to export any flanker variants.

 
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