Iran keluarkan jet pejuang pertama

TEHERAN, Iran 6 Ogos - Iran telah memulakan pengeluaran pertama pada skala industri jet pejuang buatan sendiri Azarakhsh, dalam usahanya menjadi sebuah negara yang kendiri dalam mengeluarkan peralatan ketenteraan.

“Pesawat Azarakhsh dibuat oleh pakar-pakar Iran dan ia telah mencapai tahap pengeluaran skala industri,” lapor televisyen kerajaan yang memetik Menteri Pertahanan Iran, Mostafa Mohammad sebagai berkata.

Berdasarkan kepada laporan sebelum ini, Azarakhsh atau “Kilat” yang telah diuji pada tahun lepas, direka untuk sokongan udara jarak dekat.

Selepas berdekad lamanya bergantung kepada senjata buatan asing, Iran menyatakan bahawa negara itu telah berjaya meningkatkan kemampuan pengeluaran senjata sendiri dan mendakwa eksport tahunan peralatan ketenteraannya kepada lebih 50 buah negara bernilai lebih RM346.5 juta (AS$100 juta).

Mostafa turut mengumumkan bahawa Iran merancang mengeluarkan lebih banyak pesawat yang lebih maju.

Azarakhsh (Lightning)



Iran was not known to have possessed advanced technology to build fighter planes or tanks. However, In April 1997 Iranian Brigadier General Arasteh, a deputy head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces (serving under Major General Ali Shahbazi, the joint chief of staff) claimed that Iran had successfully designed, constructed, and tested its first fighter aircraft, the Azarakhsh(Lightning). According to one theory, Iran cobbled together an aircraft by reverse-engineered elements from a number of other aircraft.

Evidently a modified F-5, this Iranian design evolved from an examination of the wide variety of fighter aircraft in Iran's inventory [which include both the F-4 and F-5], along with training and experimentation.

A scaled-up version of the US Northrop Grumman F-5f Tiger, Azarakhsh features shoulder mounted air intakes. It is said to be a 10- to 15- percent larger than the F-5. It incorporates an Iranian-designed radar, but with some of the avionics modules actually of Russian design.

Brigadier General Arasteh stated in April 1997 that the "production line of this aircraft will begin work in the near future." And Iranian officials announced in September 1997 that Iran had started mass producing its first locally-designed fighter-bomber. In February 1999 commander of the Air Force Brigadier-General Habibollah Baqaei offered a report on the achievements of the air force.

He said the Air Force had made great progress since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in the operational, technical, educational and research fields and in manufacturing fighter planes of Azarakhsh and training plane of Tondar as well as radar receivers and is strong enough to defend the air-space of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In June 1999 it was reported that Iran had begun series production of the Azarakhsh. As of 2000 only four examples of the Azarakhsh were thought to be in existence, and series production was expected to start in 2001.

As of 2001 there were six in inventory, with a production schedule established for 30 aircraft over the following three years.