ToddE
Trusted Member
Uninformed lazy post. Iranian aviation sector has demonstrated the indigenous capability to 100% locally produce a 4.0 Gen CAS/Light CAP/Advanced Trainer. They could indigenously produce a 3rd gen AT/CAS 25 years years ago. I am not talking about build a bear plane with importing engines from somewhere, radar from somewhere, missiles from somewhere else and calling it a local fighter. Not even a screw in Kowar AT/CAS is imported from abroad and that includes its Turbojets and avionics. 200 produced ATs would have prepared crop after crop of Iranian fighter pilots and same planes could have gaurded IADS assets from domestic terrorism, ALCMs/SOWs etc, can be used against border threats in east and south. May be they could have had provided badly needed naval aircover as well in Persian gulf over IRGCN+IRIN fleet of 32 surface vessels. But money ran out. Yes Iran can not produce a 4th generation Air-superiority fighter on its own but outside superpowers who literally can? no one can produce turbofans, avionics and combat suite on their own if we leave out US, France, China, Russia. May be this will change in next 10 years but right now no one can. Countries may show shiny products in airshows but the same countries then go for CKD kit Assembly lines or TOT'ed assembly lines of foriegn patented products. Iran is now doing same with Yak-130. I am assuming the SU-35S will also come as CKD kits instead of flown inside Iran.
Illiterate Mullahs cut budget to IRIAF so they cant buy planes. Thats it. IAIO the producer of aviation products has no reason to produce an aircraft when there is no end user willing to pay for it. IRIAF runs on 200-400 million USD a year with current budget. IRGCAF (missile forces) runs on 6 Billion USD a year for comparision. In future they might even be getting 20 Billion USD a year as Khamenei spoke of 3x defence budget. Recently, extensively tested Fakour/Maghsoud Long range BVR missile died because IRIAF had no money to overhaul the plane that could fire it. Meanwhile IRGCAF is excavating new large BM launch bases, getting new drones, firing tristaged solid fueled SLVs ... and they have just came out of a on-par fought war with superpower led alliance where they showed zero submission or being detered. This is what money does to a force. IRIAF is a victim of inner Iran Mullah politics, corruption, incompetence and nothing else.
