The managing director of the Iran Aviation Industries Organization (IAIO),
a subsidiary of the Defense Ministry, announced in a televised interview on
Saturday that the Qaher fighter jet project has reached full maturity in technologies.
General Afshin Khajefard said the Defense Ministry is working on the diversity of the final product,
adding that the Qaher fighter jet is going to emerge as a pilotless aircraft.
A series of versions of Qaher will be unveiled in the middle
of the next Iranian year, which will begin on March 21, he added.
The general noted that the Defense Ministry has made modifications to
the Qaher fighter jet to adapt it for the utilities of two military units.
Khajefard also stated that Iran has begun to develop electric airplanes
and is going to test two prototypes next year.
Iran has fully gained the technical know-how to manufacture electric drones,
but the production of manned electric planes requires more research and development, he added.
The general also highlighted Iran’s progress in the production of firefighting drones,
saying two representatives from foreign countries have purchased this Iranian drone.
The Iranian fighter jet Qaher-313 was unveiled in February 2013.
The single-seat stealth fighter jet can take off and land on short runways.
Iranian military experts and technicians have in recent years made great headways in manufacturing
a broad range of indigenous equipment, making the armed forces self-sufficient in the arms sphere.
On presstv says "The Qaher project has reached full maturity in terms of technology,
but we are producing more diversified products. It means that by the middle of next year,
you will see [new] versions of this aircraft that will be delivered to the armed forces," he said.
"The Qaher project will emerge as an unmanned aircraft.”
Khajefard also emphasized that Iran is self-reliant
in the field of overhauling commercial aircraft
and manufacturing components in defiance of sanctions.
“We have reached a level of self-sufficiency in the field of engines so that today we can
produce 10 types of engines, most of which are used on drones and cruise missiles.
Of course, our defense industries have also reached self-sufficiency
in designing and making heavy engines,” he added.
Referring to electric aircraft, Khajefard
said that the IAIO has started working on several prototypes that will be tested next year
“Of course, our electric drones have reached full maturity,
but manned eclectic aircraft require more improvements,” he explained.
Touching on Iran’s achievements regarding development of unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAVs), he said,
“We have various classes of missiles, precision-strike bombs,
electronic warfare avionics and reconnaissance drones.
However, we are trying to develop drones with civilian applications,
because drones can be used for agriculture,
mapping and firefighting." Irania
n military experts and technicians have in recent years made substantial
headway in manufacturing a broad range of indigenous equipment,
making the armed forces self-sufficient in the arms sector.
Iranian officials have repeatedly warned that the country will not
hesitate to strengthen its military capabilities
which are entirely meant for defense.
Meanwhile, Iran’s then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ahmad Vahidi,
then the country’s defense minister, unveiled the Qaher 313 at a staged event in February 2013.
Officials claimed the plane could carry two 2,000-pound
bombs or at least six air-to-air missiles.
But the sleek, single-engine, single-seat aircraft
with the non-stealthy front canards and anhedral wingtips seemed … off.
Video footage of an alleged “test flight” likewise
was unconvincing and clearly involved a small-scale drone.
Photographs depicting the Qaher 313 in flight over snow-capped mountains obviously were forgeries.
Journalist Steve Weintz scrutinized the purported
Iranian stealth fighter in the most old-fashioned way possible.
He built a scale model of the plane using a kit from boutique model-maker Fantastic Plastic. In so
doing, he discovered that there literally isn’t enough space under the Qaher 313’s
wings for the bombs and missiles Iranian officials claimed the plane could carry.
“The size of the plane is weird,” Cenciotti continued.
“The cockpit seems to be too small,
to such an extent a normal pilot doesn’t properly fit in the ejection seat.
Have you ever seen a pilot with his knees above the side borders
of the cockpit and his helmet well beyond the ejection seat’s head pad?”
Alfred Wong, the pattern-maker who crafted the master for the Qaher 313 kit,
found perhaps the most damning evidence of the Qaher 313’s fraudulent provenance.
“When I was examining the photos of the prototype/mock-up I guessed that they actually
cut up an old MiG-17’s wings for it—the wings have a very distinctive plan shape,” Wong said.