Iran reveals ‘first home-built fighter jet’
Iran revealed what it said was its first domestic fighter jet yesterday, in a show of force that appeared to be aimed at the US after its withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was in the cockpit of the new Kowsar fourth-generation fighter at the National Defence Industry exhibition in the Iranian capital.
The photos and reports of the fighter jet were widely circulated by Iranian state media and government-aligned outlets.
State media said the jet had “advanced avionics” and a multi-purpose radar. It claimed it was “100 per cent indigenously made”, for the first time in Iranian history.
In a speech before today’s National Defence Industry Day, Mr Rouhani said the jet signalled a new phase of deterrence against the Islamic republic’s enemies.
“When I speak of readiness to defend, it means we seek lasting peace. If we lack readiness, we welcome war,” he said. “If we don’t have a deterrent it gives a green light for others to enter this country.”
Addressing the US and President Donald Trump, Mr Rouhani said the country that had railed against Iranian ambitions in the Middle East would never attack it because of its military might.
“Why does the US not attack us? Because of our power, because it knows the consequences,” Mr Rouhani said.
State television footage did not show the new jet flying, only taxiing along a runway at the defence show.
Iran unveiled a stealth fighter, the Qaher F-313, in November 2013, but it was never seen again and is not believed to have flown. It was scorned by western defence analysts as a mock-up.
They were also quick to downplay the Iranian announcement, saying that the jet displayed was a variant of a 1970s fighter, the Northrop Grumman F5 Tiger II.
“From a military standpoint, the unveiling of the Kowsar is not significant at all,” said Jordan Steckler, Iran research analyst at the US-based think tank United Against Nuclear Iran.
“Today’s unveiling is for domestic propaganda purposes, coming at a time when the regime faces mounting internal pressure due to the reimposition of US sanctions, as well as escalating protests over its economic and environmental mismanagement and corruption.”
Iran’s adversaries, such as Israel and Gulf nations, have a superior air force to Tehran’s fleet of Russian and US strike aircraft that predate the 1979 Islamic revolution, he said.
“The sanctions regime against Iran has effectively limited its ability to maintain its ageing fleet and increased its reliance on China and Russia for parts,” Mr Steckler said.
The notion that Iran’s air force poses a deterrent to the US, Israel or America’s Gulf allies is not credible,” Mr Steckler said.