Since
early 1970's obscurity has been an essential
component of the Iranian defense strategy,
and the other being self sufficiency. The
Iranian Air Force had already started building
a supply chain management system in order
to build some of the parts for the expensive
weapons being purchased by the Shah. The
Americans were surprised that any F14s could
still fly by mid 1980s and believed that
no F14 Tomcat can be flown since no parts
were being provided to Iran after the Embassy
hostage takeover and had assumed that Russians
must have been involved in supporting Iran
as it was incomprehensible that Iran could
be reverse-engineering, manufacturing, and
maintaining its fleet on its own.
Iran's military
weapons development and production is not
advanced by any means compared to what we
all know of U.S. capabilities and its military
industrial complex. But don't disregard
Iran's capabilities as one that is only
able to rebuild/reproduce 1950's designed
aircrafts like that of Northrop F5A with
cannibalization and two slanted tail fins,
as Western media suggest. Or the other on
the extreme opposite that compared it to
an F18. In fact neither is true.
The most
obvious error in their reporting is that
the Iranian Azarakhsh and the Saegeh are
actually based on 1970s upgraded F5E/F and
not the 1950s designed F5A. This may not
mean a lot to most people but to Aerospace
and Aviation Designers and Engineers familiar
with the differences between the two, it
makes a lot of sense in terms of technology
capability. If you have flown the two in
combat, then there is no question that they
are different aircrafts.
While many
Western 'aviation experts' and
reporters express their surprise for Iranian,
supposedly, wasted efforts to copy the 'old'
F5, they are seriously misunderstanding
Iran's military strategy and its manifestation.
For those
people that suggest the Iranian Air Force
will not last more than a few minutes against
the invincible U.S. Air Force or the Israelis,
I would suggest that your thinking is not
applicable.
Consider
how a few hundred militia from Hezballah
can hold the entire Israeli armed forces
to a standstill. The Israelis were so desperate
they targeted civilians, and not just Shia
but also Sunnis, and Christians. While foolish
people may regard Israeli bombings of civilian
as a sign of strategic targeting of the
enemy's support structure, this is far from
reality - and the foolish ones do not understand
tribal support philosophy. If you want to
know the truth, ask Israelis in Tel Aviv.
They would admit openly that the 2006 war
was the first time in their history since
1948 that they lost a war and did not achieve
their objectives at a great cost to their
military. Israelis see war in a very strategic
way rather than simply a display of power
projection. They believe they lost their
invisibility in the minds and hearts of
muslims throughout the Middle East and beyond.
Mostly,
Israelis regret the increase in confidence
and experience that Hezballah has gained
from the 2006 war. They take this very serious
and know that no good will come out of the
new dynamics as they must go back and face
their enemy eventually, again, while it
is getting stronger and bolder by the day.
The 2006 war provides an insight into the
potential future conflict between U.S./Israel
and Iran and how the later is preparing
for war.
Iran has spent a considerable
share of its defense budget on its naval
forces (which consist of both regular and
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps), believing
that the Persian Gulf will be its front
line in the event of a confrontation with
the U.S. or Israel.
Iran appears to have a clear
naval war-fighting doctrine that suits its
revolutionary fervor, and has no doubt developed
innovative, asymmetric naval warfare tactics
that exploit its favorable geographic situation,
build on its strengths, and targets the
U.S. vulnerabilities in the Persian Gulf
and elsewhere.
Pundits have long speculated
on Iran's military weapons and their capabilities.
Reports have been published by news agencies
on a range of military equipment that Iran
has supposedly purchased. If you believe
these reports, then Iran has 250 Su30s,
and 30+ Mig31s, and hundreds of other military
weapons, of course if you believe all the
nonsense.
Iran can
now count on a new bread of Engineers. Sharif
University is the same university that Newsweek
regarded as one of the best universities
in the world. In 2003, administrators at
Stanford University's Electrical Engineering
Department were startled when a group of
Iranian students aced the notoriously difficult
Ph.D. entrance exam, getting the highest
scores ever in the schools history.
Iranian students who have
developed an international reputation as
science superstars, are now displaying their
prowess in electrical, mechanical, aerospace
and automation engineering. The best of
the best end up working for Iranian Aircraft
Industries, Malek Ashtar's Aeronautical
Research Center and Iran’s Aerospace
Organization and the various joint projects
that are managed through the Ministry of
Defense. The planning at this level (not
interfered by clerics) is exceptional even
compared to Western standards.
The Iranian zest for engineering
problem-solving, their desire for self-sufficiency,
and their motivation to demand respect from
countries that labeled them as Axis of Evil
is certainly evident with their newly displayed
prototype. Few could have imagined that
Iran could have had such an ambitious project.
Sketch of a possible
design for Iranian stealth fighter jet
Although the new aircraft
is probably far from seeing full scale manufacturing
and production and most probably has many
incomplete subsystems.
While speculation drives
all the nonsense rumors in the Western media,
the Iranian obscurity has achieved what
Iranians have wanted for over a century
- that is self-sufficiency and independence
from foreign dependency. As more sanctions
are placed on Iran, the more they will rise
in developing capabilities, and ultimately,
self reliance.
We all accept that advanced
design concepts and R&D does not automatically
result in a squadron of fighter jets. But
no one can doubt the level of engineering
that Iran's visionaries can dream. And dreams
are becoming a reality.
Skeptics still point to
the fact that Iranian manufacturing, planning,
management, production, funding, and organization
is like something from the medieval times
and the Iranian leadership and its corrupt
ruling party have project development skills
that resemble clinical schizophrenia.
What is important is that
despite all control obsessions of the clerics
that is often bordering paranoia and delusionary
ideas on management styles and organizational
behavior, you would be surprised to see
what Iranian military specialists have accomplished
in overhauling projects, upgrades, and maintenance
programs completely immune to the interference
and limitless stupidity of those with power,
at local and national levels.
That, as an observer, is
the real strength of Iran - being able to
function and grow with all that is working
against it. And the only thing that foreign
powers (or internal traitors) can do is
to slow it down but never to a halt.
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