WarSclerotic

After the monkey that didn’t quite make it to space, the Iranian ‘stealth bomber’ Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper.

Iran continues to showcase its technological achievements in commemoration of 34 years to the Islamic Revolution, with the aim of presenting Iran as at the forefront of technology, despite its international isolation.

In this picture obtained from the Iranian Students News Agency, ISNA, an Iranian technician holds a monkey which has been prepared for riding Iranian rocket into space, in an undisclosed location. Photo by AP

A screenshot of a video showing the Iranian ‘stealth bomber.’

Iran continues to present unique technological achievements as part of its Ten Days of Dawn, a series of events commemorating 34 years to Ayatollah Khomeini’s Islamic Revolution. One of the celebrations’ main messages is Iran’s self-reliance, its resources and capabilities that enable it to remain at the forefront of technology despite the international sanctions and isolation.

Last week it was the monkey who supposedly was launched into space and then returned to earth. It has since transpired that not only was this little more than a PR stunt, not disclosing any extraordinary capabilities, but according to reports, comparing the different photographs published by the Iranians proves that there were at least two different monkeys in on the act. This indicates that even if there was a space-launch, the astronaut failed to come back in one piece. On Friday, Iran heralded a new scientific milestone, the Qaher 313, a stealth bomber no less, which according to the breathless Iranian reporters is capable of carrying out low-level attacks while evading enemy radar.

A stealth fighter is without doubt an impressive technical feat. The United States invested decades of development in the development of the F-22 and ceased its production early due to its high cost. The next U.S. stealth bomber about to enter operational service is bedeviled with technical problems and its price is sky-rocketing faster than the plane. The Russians and Chinese are both working on stealth fighters but are still a the prototype stage. Iran has now joined the super-powers club.

At first sight, the Qaher 313 does look like a fighter with stealth capabilities and is externally similar to the F-22 and F-35. A closer look at the example presented to the regime’s leaders, including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi looks like little more than a glorified mock-up which seems to have been build from leftover props of a cheap science-fiction flick. Since the Iranian media broadcast the first pictures Friday, aviation and military online forums have been debating the aerodynamic failures of the plane. It seems that it will probably never take off, let alone make it into aerial combat.

The list of the plane’s design flaws is long and varied, we will mention just a few. The inlets which are supposed to supply air to the jet engine are too small and situate on the plane in a position which will not ingest enough air at some angles. The engine doesn’t even have a nozzle from which it powers the aircraft. The cockpit is too small (the pilot who was supposed to ‘model’ the fighter barely managed to get his legs and torso inside) and its instruments seem to have been taken from a much less advanced aircraft. The forward “canard” winglets which are supposed to improve control are fixed without any maneuverability. The blurry video published by the Iranians which purports to show the Qaher 313 in flight seems to show not a manned fighter-jet but a small radio-operated drone.

The Qaher 313 won’t cause any panic in the Israeli Air Force’s intelligence wing, or at any other serious intelligence organization. The only serious question the new “plane” that almost certainly never appeared on an aeronautical engineer’s drawing table but doubtlessly took thousands of Propaganda Ministry man-hours to construct raises is who are the Iranians trying to kid? Do they think anyone in the west or their rivals in the Middle East are stupid enough to swallow this? It seems more likely that they are trying to impress their own people, whose financial suffering from the international sanctions is worsening by the day, with yet another glorious achievement of the Islamic revolution.

This entry was posted on February 3, 2013 at 6:52 AM and is filed under Uncategorized. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.