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Bring itWant to know what the image was that came to mind when I read this over at the Vodkapundit?
It’s the classic “pig wearing a rolex” thing: It may look good on him, but he can’t do a damn thing with it, and it won’t save his life come harvest time. Brash, says you? Honest arrogance, says I. 25 comments to Bring it |
 
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Copyright © 2009 Neptunus Lex - All Rights Reserved |
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OMG ok now that I have stopped laughing my a$$ off and my sides have stopped hurting…. “similar to the F-18 but more powerful!?!?!”
“optimized and improved by Iranian experts?!?!”
this was from the Hindustani Times “COMICS” section right?
I’ve got to see this thing but I’m not having any luck finding a picture. Please post a link if you find one…
Foobert; There are some links to pics and some text in the third comment of Vodkapundit’s positng that Lex linked to at the top.
Who knows what’s really going on in Iran? To think that their weapons development capabilities is anything close to ours (or the europeans) is laughable. This may be just another badly executed PR exercise like their supersonic torpedo.
Perhaps they’re getting a lot of Russian help. They sure seem to be spending a lot of money but I suspect it’s not enough to produce much more than prototypes or pretty mockups. Systems of the sort described in the article take HUGE amounts of money and engineering effort not to mention experience. I don’t care how good the Iranian engineers are. There aren’t enough of them and I doubt that many, if any, of them have the needed experience.
There’s a still frame from Iranian TV of what looks like the non-trainer version here.
It really does look like a twin-tailed F-5. There have been a lot of arrests in the U.S. over the past few years for export control violations involving jet parts to Iran; maybe this has something to do with it.
RJL, the photo you link to isn’t, I don’t think, the same plane. You’re correct that the photo you have supplied looks like an F-5 with two tails – very much so. But the photos on Vodkapundit show a much different airframe with and odd discshape to which the wings ‘attach’. Interesting to hear what an aeronautically trained person would prognosticate from the design features.
If it had canards, I’d be saying, “So, that’s who France sold the Rafale to….”
Thanks for the pointer to the links in Vodkapundit’s comments. And, it seams that I was either completely blind earlier (quite likely) or Lex helped us out with a link above as well.
There are indeed curious discrepancies in the photos. I reckon that further Iranian bragging will have them releasing (leaking) more info to support their claims. None-the-less, it should be interesting to see what happens if (when) they attempt to gain actual combat experience.
~john
Shipmates,
Well, Murdoc has an article that says the Iranians succesfully mated and test-fired a Hawk missle from an F-14. Now, I’m not one to be taken aback by such things, but I don’t know what’s more incredulous. The Iranians launching a Hawk (read US Army SAM) from an F-14. or actually being able to get an F-14 off the ground.
Back in the day (think wayyyybackkkkk) the UIS sold the Iranians (under the Shah) a large group of F-14s. However, after the revolution, we cut off spare parts to them. that means that they have been cannibalizing those on hand for almost 30 years. Hard to say how many are still flyable, but it’s got to be counted on one hand at most.
These guys are (logically) counting on the gullibility of the foreign press (Al-CNN, Al-Reuters, etc) to believe all this crap. Me, I’d love to be on the sidelines watching the show… gotta be full of laughs these daze…..
Respects,
AW1 Tim
Honest arrogance???
If you’ve done it, it ain’t braggin’.
No brag, just fact.
Subsunk
Subsunk,
yup.. It’s like Kid Rock says: “They say I’m cocky, and I say what? It aint bragging m*tha F*ka if you back it up..”
The Iranians have GOT to understand there are hundreds of US Navy Aviators just thinking to themselves “Oh Puleeeaazzee God… Please let them call us out… Please!”…
I honestly don’t think that these folks know the difference between arrogance and confidence…
Respects,
AW1 Tim
Does it go underwater like that “rocket torpedo”?
B2
A google or two later…
Iran apparently has several tactical aircraft development programs going. One is called “Shafagh” (”the light before dawn”) and is the unusual-looking vehicle pictured in the Vodkapundit link. This is Iran’s stealth fighter program, until very recently developed with active Russian assistance (hence the resemblance to some of the fourth-generation Mikoyan stealth fighter prototypes). It’s not clear that Shafagh has ever progressed beyond the mockup stage.
See here for some additional pics (scroll down to the photo third from bottom).
The other is called “Saegheh” (”thunderbolt”, also transliterated as “Sae’qeh” or “Sae-qeh-80″) and is a locally-manufactured F-5 derivative with a second vertical stab and presumably an avionics upgrade. This (much less ambitious design) has actually flown. See here for pics of the rollout.
Hope this hasn’t appeared above.
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=17387
The article has more holes than the cheese industry in Switzerland.
Looks like this bird has a farily large RCS.
The looks are definitely F-5 with a nose job.
I do want to see the war games they mention:
Doesn’t look like the aft fuselage was modified a whit—so probably still J-85-21’s back there.At 5k thrust each performance will not come close to matching a Hornet.My $0.02.
There is considerably less to these exercises than what the Iranians (and MSM) would have us believe…
-SJS
Oh, please…
Semper Fi,
Mattski
Okay, now I’ve seen the right photos…. good grief. If they were going to copy the F5 couldn’t they have at least upgraded it to the F20 Tigershark level?
Remember, Rolex’s are based on 1930’s technology and are in no way as capable as the 30.00 Casio.
That F-5 looks funny..
Shipmates,
Back in 1976 there was a large contingent of Iranians being trained in aviation basics at NAS Millington, TN. It’s where the Navy had it’s Aviation “A” schools. I was there.
One lovely weekend, one of the Iranian cadets bought a tricked-out van, tossed a keg in the back, and went for a ride with several of his friends. A half hour or so later, the van, at high speed, left Austin P. Highway and rolled several times, injuring those on board.
It was later determined that shortly before the accident, the driver had set the cruise control, and got out of his seat to get a beer, under the mistaken assumption that the cruise control was the vehicle’s autopilot…..
Respects,
AW1 Tim
Tim,
I agree with you, son. While I am certain that there are indeed extremely intelligent Iranians in this world, and that the majority of the Iranian people don’t really want to hurt us, I am also very sure that the average Iranian is neither as smart, as dedicated to their country, nor as competent at their job as the average American. And that the average American jet jockey is about 10 times better than the average Iranian (or any Muslim country’s) fighter pilots. Our proficiency, training, and personal commitment to our profession is without equal.
I have never felt that our enemies were anywhere near as competent as our Men who defend us for a living. I know it is bad form to underestimate our enemies. However, we have overestimated them as a consequence of our training, and intelligence techniques ever since WWII. We always see the worst because we have to be ready to combat the worst. It is what got us where we are today.
But Iran is the paper tiger. They are an accident looking for a US pilot to make it happen. And I am tired of treating our foes as 10 feet tall and bulletproof when the rational and intelligent person knows that Lex and his compatriots are the giants in their field, and everything else is second best.
Subsunk out.