IRIAF | News and Discussions

[Mr Iran Eye]

A Mirage fighter jet has been overhauled at an Iranian army base in Mashhad.

Young Iranian military experts and specialists overhauled a Mirage fighter plane in the "Martyr Habibi" base in Mashhad.
The aircraft is one of the Iranian Army’s most sophisticated air force aircraft with fourth generation technology. The Mirage's radar is able to intercept and identify land, air and sea targets.

All avionics systems and the thruster on this aircraft have been overhauled after 20,000 man hours and during a complicated engineering process and the aircraft is 100% operational.


After the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the Iranian Army Air Force developed its capabilities one after another and manufactured and unveiled several weapons and equipment, thanks to the support of the Ministry of Defense, Industry local and Iranian expert capacity.

In this straight line, the Deputy Commander of the Air Force of the Iranian Army, Brigadier General Hamid Vahedi, said that all phases of the overhaul of the transport and fighter planes had been completed by the Iranian specialists in the interior of the country whereas it was the American military advisers who did it before the victory of the Revolution.

"In addition, the spare parts that the Air Force needs are now produced by Iranian industry," Hamid Vahedi said on February 8, on the anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution. “The C-130 and MiG-29 planes were recently revised by Iranian specialists,” he explained.

The Army's Deputy Air Force Commander said new cameras have been fitted to an F-4 to increase the capabilities of that aircraft. “We have had a lot of success in the promotion of our aircraft, particularly in terms of radar capabilities,” he noted.


Hamid Vahedi then referred to the Saeqeh fighter jet and the modern Yassin trainer plane, designed and manufactured from A to Z in Iran, adding that the Iranian-made Kowsar fighter plane had been enhanced by radars and a modern avionics system before being handed over to the Air Force.

“The Kowsar avionics system and engine were produced in Iran. This aircraft is equipped with a very sophisticated radar and the guided missiles will be mounted there in the future ", explained the senior Iranian officer before adding:" We try to give a stealth character to our planes of all kinds ".

He said the Iranian air force had successfully fitted the Ababil-3 drones with rockets and fired a 500-pound bomb from the Karrar drone. “These are only a small part of what we have learned. The others will be publicized after their finalization ”.

 

[sahureka2]

“The Kowsar avionics system and engine were produced in Iran. This aircraft is equipped with a very sophisticated radar and the guided missiles will be mounted there in the future ", explained the senior Iranian officer before adding:" We try to give a stealth character to our planes of all kinds ".

“The Kowsar avionics system and engine were produced in Iran"
What about the other parts of the Kowsar?

 

[aryobarzan]

These overhauls sound great and qudos to Iranian Techs for doing them. But as many people in here have pointed out it is a nightmare to do logistics for a country that operate aircraft types from four nations (US, RUSSIA FRANCE and Iran too!).
I do not know how they do it but it sure take a lot of work to catalog, store parts, write maintenance manuals, Operating procedures, training, simulator...etc etc..

I give them more credit for doing that..lol

“The Kowsar avionics system and engine were produced in Iran"
What about the other parts of the Kowsar?

Kowsar is 88% domestic (do not ask why 88 not 90) as per airforce.

Landing gear
Ejection seat
Radar
Cockpit (MFD, HUD, CDUs,..etc)
Missile warning system
Radar Altimeter
IFF/Transponder
Weapon racks (Pylons)
Stores management system
Cannons (does it have !!!..do not know)

 

[thesaint]

These overhauls sound great and qudos to Iranian Techs for doing them. But as many people in here have pointed out it is a nightmare to do logistics for a country that operate aircraft types from four nations (US, RUSSIA FRANCE and Iran too!).
I do not know how they do it but it sure take a lot of work to catalog, store parts, write maintenance manuals, Operating procedures, training, simulator...etc etc..

I give them more credit for doing that..lol

Kowsar is 88% domestic (do not ask why 88 not 90) as per airforce.

Landing gear
Ejection seat
Radar
Cockpit (MFD, HUD, CDUs,..etc)
Missile warning system
Radar Altimeter
IFF/Transponder
Weapon racks (Pylons)
Stores management system
Cannons (does it have !!!..do not know)

+ engine (2 Owj)

 

[sahureka2]

These overhauls sound great and qudos to Iranian Techs for doing them. But as many people in here have pointed out it is a nightmare to do logistics for a country that operate aircraft types from four nations (US, RUSSIA FRANCE and Iran too!).
I do not know how they do it but it sure take a lot of work to catalog, store parts, write maintenance manuals, Operating procedures, training, simulator...etc etc..

I give them more credit for doing that..lol

Kowsar is 88% domestic (do not ask why 88 not 90) as per airforce.

Landing gear
Ejection seat
Radar
Cockpit (MFD, HUD, CDUs,..etc)
Missile warning system
Radar Altimeter
IFF/Transponder
Weapon racks (Pylons)
Stores management system
Cannons (does it have !!!..do not know)

And fuselage, wings, tail?
Maybe the structural components of the F-5s that were out of order are recycled, repaired and reset to zero hours?

 

[WudangMaster]

And fuselage, wings, tail?
Maybe the structural components of the F-5s that were out of order are recycled, repaired and reset to zero hours?

Very likely to be the case as there are plenty to work with before spending time & resources on building brand new airframes from scratch. It really depends on what is involved in the refurbishing of the structure and What kind of damage does it accumulate and if that damage can be reversed to 0 hours during an overhaul.
For instance, is the airframe totally melted and reformed? Are there cracks in the airframe and if so, how are those fixed? Is there local welding taking place at the site of a crack?

 

[aryobarzan]

And fuselage, wings, tail?
Maybe the structural components of the F-5s that were out of order are recycled, repaired and reset to zero hours?

Fuselage definitely..I doubt they will recycle any of the old fuselages easier just to build new ones using the CAD drawing they already have produced.

 

[WudangMaster]

Fuselage definitely..I doubt they will recycle any of the old fuselages easier just to build new ones using the CAD drawing they already have produced.
View attachment 717804

So is it more likely they are actually melting and reforming the airframe and skeleton to be truly brand new? Might they also be using other alloys rather than reusing the original material? Are there any known weight difference between Kowsar and F-5?

 

[aryobarzan]

So is it more likely they are actually melting and reforming the airframe and skeleton to be truly brand new? Might they also be using other alloys rather than reusing the original material? Are there any known weight difference between Kowsar and F-5?

Good questions...I have not seen anything regarding that... They may have done a SEM analysis of the old material to ensure they stay within the strength tolerances..I know Iran has an extensive honeycomb structure building ..They also might have done few changes to the structure we do not see. For example I heard the Engine room is on purpose bigger to take bigger engines (Turbo fan version)!!!.but how does that affect Aerodynamics..???

Test bed plane for fuselage and ejection seat

 

[sahureka2]

then disassemble each component of the fuselage, do a thorough check, replace the defective elements, make changes for the new elements and then reassemble the fuselage as new?
But I think the critical part is the wings, rudder and tail moving parts which are subject to heavy stress, will they be newly built or will they reuse those of the F-5 after long work?

 

[Mr Iran Eye]

Iranian pilots love the F-5, Kowsar. Iran are going to make it more stealthy, and they will certainly add artificial intelligence to it. This platform will always improve and that's why the Kowsar should not be underestimated.

From generation 4 to 4+ to 4 ++ and after that the 5th generation. They improve the technology in a combat aircraft so the price is as low as possible. For me, this plan is awesome

 

[WudangMaster]

But I think the critical part is the wings, rudder and tail moving parts which are subject to heavy stress, will they be newly built or will they reuse those of the F-5 after long work?

That's what I'm wondering about too; if they melt them and reform them totally reusing the original alloy or have they moved onto different materials altogether? Is melting down parts of fuselage and reforming even a thing with aircraft?

 

[sha ah]

 

[gambit]

Concept of Stealth was first developed by the Germans in WWII. If I remember correctly a first German made stealth aircraft was made of wood in order not to reflect the early radars (I have seen a photo of it). Americans stole the aircraft and moved it to the US

Completely wrong. The subject of the Horten 229 have been debated before and the argument that Nazi Germany was the 'father' of 'stealth' debunked.

The US is the real 'father of stealth'. Not Nazi Germany. Not the Soviet Union. But the US. Deal with it.

To start off...

The flying wing have been experimented with since the 1920s. All the major aviation powers had their respective designs. Remember that the first powered heavier than air flight was in 1903. So it was a great leap from biplane to flying wing. The first radar was in WW II. So just on the timeline alone, that debunked the argument that the flying wing design of the Ho 229 was a 'stealth' aircraft.

It was already well known that materials produces diverse reflection behaviors of radio signals and a component of that is reduced strength of the reflected signals. So the use of wood with embedded iron particles was a crude attempt to reduce reflectivity. The Horten Brothers deserves credit for that.

But what made the US the true 'father of stealth' is that American designs were DELIBERATE. Not guessing and hope that something will come out like how the Horten Brothers were working. We do something, then we measure. We modify a part, then we remeasure. We removed something, then we remeasure. The modification/measurement cycles continues until we can make no more compromises.

You brought on old and debunked news.

So you believe that Iran is decades ahead in stealth bombers and UCAVs even before having the copy of the RQ170?

Go easy. The most he can do is spell the word 'stealth'. Other than that, there is no understanding of concepts and practical applications there.

 

[Sina-1]

Completely wrong. The subject of the Horten 229 have been debated before and the argument that Nazi Germany was the 'father' of 'stealth' debunked.

The US is the real 'father of stealth'. Not Nazi Germany. Not the Soviet Union. But the US. Deal with it.

To start off...

The flying wing have been experimented with since the 1920s. All the major aviation powers had their respective designs. Remember that the first powered heavier than air flight was in 1903. So it was a great leap from biplane to flying wing. The first radar was in WW II. So just on the timeline alone, that debunked the argument that the flying wing design of the Ho 229 was a 'stealth' aircraft.

It was already well known that materials produces diverse reflection behaviors of radio signals and a component of that is reduced strength of the reflected signals. So the use of wood with embedded iron particles was a crude attempt to reduce reflectivity. The Horten Brothers deserves credit for that.

But what made the US the true 'father of stealth' is that American designs were DELIBERATE. Not guessing and hope that something will come out like how the Horten Brothers were working. We do something, then we measure. We modify a part, then we remeasure. We removed something, then we remeasure. The modification/measurement cycles continues until we can make no more compromises.

You brought on old and debunked news.

Go easy. The most he can do is spell the word 'stealth'. Other than that, there is no understanding of concepts and practical applications there.

Completely wrong. Reimar Horten himself always argued that Horten ho 229 was indeed intended to be a stealth aircraft.
just the fact that Northrop just happened to sit on all ho 229 IPR further strengthens that!
many American wonder technologies are essentially copies of German ones-> rockets, jet propulsion, stealth, flying wing etc. Deal with it!

you also employed proven nazis like von Braun who were backbones to your moon landing program.

So stop taking credit for what the Germans did decades before you!