Iranian Fighters to Fly with Russian Engines
// Iran buys 50 engines to equip domestically manufactured aircrafts
A major deal to sell turbo-jet engines to Iran is to be signed during the upcoming visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Tehran, a Kommersant source reported. The deal will help Tehran to set up the serial output of its domestically manufactured jets. Russia in its turn hopes to gain access to an up-and-coming market. However, this is most likely to bring a chill to relations with the United States which is unhappy about Russias cooperation with the Iranian regime.
A Kommersant source reported that a deal may be signed to supply Iran with 50 RD-33 turbo-jet engines produced at the Chernyshev Moscow Machine Works for MiG-29 planes during Vladimir Putins visit to Tehran. Experts estimate the deal to be worth $150 million. Iran is going to use the engines for domestically manufactured Azarakhsh (Lightning) supersonic combat jet fighters. Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar has recently announced the serial production of Azarakhsh jets. We will soon be able to produce jets like Azarakhsh on an industrial scale to add them to the arsenal of the Iranian army, Mr. Najjar said.
Fighter aircraft Azarakhsh was built by Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial on the basis of the U.S. fighter plane F-5E produced in the 1960s. The United States sold these aircrafts to Irans shah before 1979. 50 F-5Es are still in the arsenal of the Iranian army. Iranian engineers increased the length and weight of the F-5 and changed the shape of its tail fin and engine unit. Two American engines J85-GE-21B were replaced by Russian RD-33s. The plane also received a new radiolocation station. According to media repots, this may be an Iranian radar with Russian component parts or the N-019ME Topaz radar produced by Russias Fazotron-NIIR. The Azarakhsh performed its first flight in June 1997. Four jets with engines taken from old Russian MiG-29s have already been successfully tests. The planes are to be equipped with new Russian engines.
President Putins visit is also going to be marked by signing an agreement to supply with Iran several RD-5000 engines which are a modification of the RD-93 engine without the boost camera. They are to be used on the Iranian Shafaq test jet which is being developed by the Aviation University Complex. The first Shafaq is to be tested next year. Unofficial sources report that the jet has been designed with the help of Russian engineers. It will also be equipped with the Russian K-36 ejection seat. Iranian officials say that Shafaq will be built from materials which absorb radio waves, making it barely visible (the Stealth technology). A two-seat modification will be used as a training jet while the one-seat plan will be engaged as a battle plane.
It is worth noting that the RD-93 engine was initially designed in Russia at Chinas order and its money. The Chernyshev Moscow Machine Works already sells these engines for FC-1 fighters to China which will be re-exporting them to Pakistan. The MiG corporation decided to install the RD-5000 modification without the boost on its multi-purpose unmanned combat aircraft Skat. Its full-scale engineering mock-up was demonstrated at the MAKS 2007 show in August.
The largest number of fighters in Irans arsenal was sent to the country from the United States in the shahs time. After 1979 the American embargo barred supplies for their component parts. The Iranian leadership decided to replace foreign components by domestically produced ones as well as design its own new fighter planes.
Analysts believe that Iran will continue buying additional supplies of Russian engines. 50 is just the beginning, says Konstantin Makienko, expert at the Center for Strategy and Technology Analysis. Iran is soon going to need at least one hundred engines like this to produce its own fighter jets. He believes that the sum and size of the first contract are not important in this case unlike the fact of entering a new market. Russia has previously signed deals on selling engines for military jets produced abroad only with China and India.
A jet engine contract with Iran may bring new tensions to Moscow-Washington relations as Russian firms may fall under U.S. sanctions. A U.S. law as of 2000 bans cooperation with Iran in weapons of mass destruction and technology that may help Tehran to acquire such. This law, however, has so far been no impediment for Russia to sell conventional arms to Tehran. Russia and Iran signed an $800 million deal in late 2005 on 29 Tor-M1 anti-aircraft short-range missile complexes. The contract was executed in early 2007.
At the same time, the U.S. State Department imposed sanctions on Russian arms trader Rosoboronexport and jet maker Sukhoi suspecting them of helping the Iranian air force to modernize front bomber Su-24MK. Sanctions were lifted from Sukhoi two months late but Rosoboronexport is still under the restrictions. This threat exists but it should not hamper military and technical cooperation with Iran, says Mr. Makienko. It is our traditional partner. There are no international sanctions against this country to bar Russian from sending conventional arms there.
What Is Flying In Irans Sky
Most fighters of the Iranian air force were bought before 1979 during the shah rule. These are U.S. fighters about 50 F-14 Tomcats, 47 F-4 Phantoms, about 50 F-5s as well as 24 French-made Mirage F1s. Among newer planes, Iran has some 75 Russian MiG-29 fighters, 32 Su-24MK front bombers, 13 Su-25 battle planes, 24 MiG-27 fighter-bombers and some 20 J-7 Chinese fighters.
Iranian Fighters to Fly with Russian Engines - Kommersant Moscow
