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Iran's New Fighter Plane: Technology of Two Generations Ago

[Weekly Standard] Reuben F. Johnson - The Sa'eqeh (Lightning), the first military aircraft to ever be designed and produced in Iran, is not a modern-age weapon system. It is based almost entirely on the old Northrop F-5 fighter, the chief U.S. export fighter of the 1960s and 70s, 166 of which were sold to Iran before the revolution. After the embargo was initiated, the Iranian armed forces were able to purchase spares through illegal channels and on the arms black market. In one case Iran was able to purchase F-5s and a large stock of spare parts from Ethiopia, which had initially purchased the aircraft from Vietnam. The communist government in Hanoi had captured these aircraft from the South Vietnamese when they took Saigon. The Sa'eqeh - a copy of yesterday's military technology and less powerful than the oldest fighter in the U.S. or Israeli air forces - is entirely for show.
2007-10-01 01:00:00
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