[STARMAN 352ND]

I got this in a email this evening ...I thought i share it with you guys.
A double-finned F5 from Iran...I heard about this a year ago or so but never saw a picture of one
until now.
JP

[smartd]

Iran said it has developed a new warplane named "Thunder," which it described as similar to the American F-18 fighter jet.

The fighter jet is "similar to the F-18 fighter jet, but it is more capable and has been manufactured domestically," the commander of the Iranian army General Attollah Salehi was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA.

Iranian state television reported that the jet "is able to fire rockets and also to drop bombs and is equipped with an advanced radar system.

"The fighter jet Saegheh (Thunder), after successful military operations and accurately firing air-to-surface rockets in the Zolfaghar Blow maneuvers, came into the service of the Iranian air force today," the report said.

The air force, army and navy have been showing off their capabilities and new hardware for the last month in the Zolfaghar Blow war games, which come amid mounting international concern over Tehran's nuclear programme.

The report added "the plane, which has flown dozens of experimental flights during the last year, joined the air force with full fighting capacity."

Salehi told IRNA the jet was "designed, remodeled, optimized and made more capable by our engineers," and added that "no country has aided us in its production."

The above was posted on another site Sept 2006

[ZS-VAN]

It does look very interesting. The real question would be how much more effective is it? Would/could the engines have been upgraded? The nose doesn't seem to have been altered either, how big an avionic upgrade was done? It may have improved dynamic capability. More details would be interesting indeed.

When the Mirage IIIs were upgraded to the Cheetah here the changes were significant and altered the appearance of the aircraft, looking more like a Kfir afterwards. More powerful engine, new avionics, canards and dogtooth leading leading edges on the wings.

[Hornchurch]

When I 1st read 'Star's post I thought it had been 'photoshopped' ???????

I reckon someone should re-post this on Apr.1st

Even if it did/does 'exist' it'll get 'Minced' going up against our 'Coalition' stuff !!!!!!!!

Still, I guess it saves money for the West, Re; 'Drones' LOL !!!!!!!!

[flyXwire]

Originally Posted by Hornchurch

Even if it did/does 'exist' it'll get 'Minced' going up against our 'Coalition' stuff !!!!!!!!

Still, I guess it saves money for the West, Re; 'Drones' LOL !!!!!!!!

At the risk of sounding arrogant, yes you're absolutely right, HC!

[Rush104]

Here's some pics of a couple of other Iranian modified F-5s on the IranDefense Forum. Not sure what the diff is between the blue twin fin vs. the grey one pic'd above. On the single fin shown below, it looks like it has a new wing; the wing is mounted above the intakes instead of below like on regular F-5s.



I gotta admit, I was entertained reading some of the posts on IDF. Some of those members seem to think that since Iran can now modify F-5s, it will shortly be a major player on the world aircraft scene. Good for some laughs!

[Berkut76]

Originally Posted by Rush104

I gotta admit, I was entertained reading some of the posts on IDF. Some of those members seem to think that since Iran can now modify F-5s, it will shortly be a major player on the world aircraft scene. Good for some laughs!

Actually, I was reading an Israeli report on this (of course, I can't find it right now, but it was on Debka) and even the paranoid Israelis (for good reasons, though) think it's a POS. Avionics is crap, since Iranians couldn't even make a copy Iraqis MiG-29 that sought shelter during the Desert Storm.

Also, Iranians know that's it's a piece of crap and were pressuring, Russians, Indians, and the French to sell them Su-30s in the exactly same configuration as supplied to Indian Air Force. For reasons unknown, the Russians refused to provide even the stripped Sukhois.

However, as things currently stand, the Iranian air defense system is very good, and if the Iranians get their hands on S-300 along with Russian technical advisers, it might cause a lot of grief to even the USAAF.

Regards,

Sergey

[Rush104]

Originally Posted by Berkut76

However, as things currently stand, the Iranian air defense system is very good, and if the Iranians get their hands on S-300 along with Russian technical advisers, it might cause a lot of grief to even the USAAF.

Regards,

Sergey

Very good point, Sergey. I am not doubting the effectiveness of the S-300, but I have to ask- doesn't Syria also use this system? If they do, it seems like the Israelis found a way to get around it back in September...

[Berkut76]

Originally Posted by Rush104

Very good point, Sergey. I am not doubting the effectiveness of the S-300, but I have to ask- doesn't Syria also use this system? If they do, it seems like the Israelis found a way to get around it back in September...

I don't know what Israelis have knocked out and how they did it in order to get to the Syrian site. Furthermore, S-300 has undergone significant upgrades recently because the old version was compromised when Mossad got his hands on some vital parts of the system (some claim that Israelis have the whole thing) in the late-1990s.

Israel has one huge advantage when it comes to cracking Russian hardware and software. Most of the folks who used to design it, from tanks to missiles to whatever you can imagine currently live in Israel, that's part of the reasons why the Iranians demand form Russians to provide them with weaponry, which incorporates European, mostly French technologies.

Regards,

Sergey

[Rush104]

Originally Posted by Berkut76

I don't know what Israelis have knocked out and how they did it in order to get to the Syrian site. Furthermore, S-300 has undergone significant upgrades recently because the old version was compromised when Mossad got his hands on some vital parts of the system (some claim that Israelis have the whole thing) in the late-1990s.

Israel has one huge advantage when it comes to cracking Russian hardware and software. Most of the folks who used to design it, from tanks to missiles to whatever you can imagine currently live in Israel, that's part of the reasons why the Iranians demand form Russians to provide them with weaponry, which incorporates European, mostly French technologies.

Regards,

Sergey

Thanks for the info, Sergey!
BTW, here's the link on the Iran Defense Forum discussing the twin finner- make of it what you will...
Iran to produce stealth 4th and 5th gen. of Saeqeh,3rd gen. of it to Fly this year - Iran Defence Forum