HESA Azarakhsh

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HESA Azarakhsh
HESA Azarakhsh with full armament
Type: Light fighter aircraft
Design country:

IranIran Iran

Manufacturer:

Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company

First flight:

August 2007

Number of pieces:

unknown (6 confirmed)

HESA Azarakhsh ( Persian آذرخش, 'Blitz') is the first fighter aircraft designed and manufactured in Iran . It has been in production since 1997. However, it is assumed that so far only six units are actually in service with the Iranian Air Force .

history

For a long time, the world had no information that Iran was producing warplanes on its own. In April 1997, however, the Iranian chief of staff announced that his country had successfully developed and tested its first fighter jet.

According to reports, the aircraft has been in series production (ten pieces per year) since 1999. In 2001, however, there were only six in the inventory of the Iranian Air Force.

A successful test flight was reported by the press agency Fars News Agency in August 2007. In the same year the Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najar declared that the aircraft was now in the status of “industrial production” and that “mass production” would start in the future. At the same time he announced that work was being carried out on a successor to the 5th generation ( HESA Saeqeh ) based on the Azarakhsh .

construction

The HESA Azarakhsh has clear design features of the American type Northrop F-5 , which is in the Iranian service in the versions E and F. It is believed that the Iranian aircraft is basically a modified F-5E / F, with features of other Iranian-owned western types ( Grumman F-14 and McDonnell F-4 ) also being incorporated.

It is assumed that the Azarakhsh is equipped with an Iran-made radar based on the Russian type Fasotron N019 Topas as well as Russian avionics components.

Technical data and performance

Since the development of the aircraft has so far been subject to confidentiality, there is currently no reliable information about its performance characteristics. Which is seised with the global security policy organization Globalsecurity.org classifies the performance of Azarakhsh in the same category as that of the Northrop F-5E / F . Iranian sources, on the other hand, are optimistic about the aircraft type compared to the US F / A-18 Hornet .

Web links

Commons : HESA Azarakhsh  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Equipment of the Iranian Air Force according to Globalsecurity.org (Eng.)
  2. Information about the Azarakhsh at Globalsecurity.org (Engl.)
  3. New fighter plane tested successfully: Defense minister ( Memento of October 14, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) IRNA
  4. Payvand News Saeqeh fighter planes tested successfully in Iran (English) September 20, 2007