by Seth J. Frantzman
Iran can’t acquire new jet warplanes, so it is considering using a propeller plane for close air support.
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The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) headquarters, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
pandemic, in Vienna, Austria May 23, 2021.
(photo credit: REUTERS/LEONHARD FOEGER)
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Iran has shown off a new light transport aircraft, which it says was “designed and developed by experts at the Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company (HESA),” and was unveiled last Thursday in the “presence of high-ranking dignitaries.”
HESA is the same company that makes the Ababil line of drones for Iran. HESA itself has origins in the era before the Iranian Islamic revolution and used to build helicopters.
On the one hand, the appearance of this new aircraft shows Iran can build planes. On the other hand, the regime has been trying to do this for years and the fact that it can only build planes like this shows how many challenges the regime faces. This unveiling of a new aircraft is actually evidence of failure, not success.
The new aircraft has the name Simorgh, which is a name it apparently shares with the Shahed-171 drone. It’s not clear why they gave the aircraft similar names, although Press TV in Iran says that the aircraft is “named ‘Simorgh’ – a benevolent bird in Persian mythology and literature – the aircraft was showcased during an impressive ceremony in the central Iranian city of Isfahan in the presence of Iran’s Defense Minister Brig-Gen. Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, Vice President for Science and Technology Sourena Sattari, President of the Civil Aviation Organization Ali Abedzadeh and other senior officials.”
Reports at Fars News in Iran give some details about this aircraft. The Iranian media says that this is the latest achievement of the Defense Ministry. That means it’s not a bragging point for the IRGC, which maintains its own parallel state in Iran.
Antonov An-140 aircraft (Illustrative). (credit: Wikimedia Commons)The aircraft has been “redesigned” and it is supposedly tailored to meet the needs of the military. It isn’t clear how many of these aircraft Iran has. It can carry six tons. This means it is similar in some ways to the Dash 8 Q400 series once made by Bombardier. It is based on the Antonov An-140, a turboprop that has been around since the 1990s and is licensed to be built in Iran.
The plane is supposed to be able to support military transport needs and also do tactical missions and relief missions. The origins of the aircraft, Iranian media says, lie in cooperation with Ukraine’s Antonov decades ago.
“Cooperation with the Ukrainian aircraft industry (Antonov), they agreed to produce a prototype passenger aircraft with a propeller engine or turboprop in Iran,” Fars News says.
It’s not entirely clear when this happened but the article says that Iran sought to build its own aircraft back in the late 1980s and early 1990s when the war with Iraq had ended.
“Various companies from around the world participated in the tender, Antonov, CASA, Ilyushin, ATR, Tupolev and Saab were invited to participate in the tender. But due to international sanctions, only Antonov was the only successful candidate for the project,” Iran’s media says.
Iran’s media says this came in the context of the breakup of the Soviet Union. Iran’s aviation industry, which under the Shah had ample support from the West and particularly US companies, was suffering. Ukraine, which needed business in the 1990s, was willing to cooperate. “Ukraine also welcomed this cooperation and it was decided that this work should be done inside our country,” the report says.
A prototype aircraft flew in 1999 and the contract production was given to HESA, which had experience in aircraft and helicopters. Fars News says that in December 2002 an Antonov An-140 crashed in Iran, killing 44 people. Other accidents led Iran to ban flights for this aircraft. The role of the aircraft was then changed to be used for military transport. "We have a vast country and we desperately need a light transport aircraft, I hope we can introduce this aircraft soon and prepare it for ground and flight tests," said the director-general of the Iranian Aviation Industry Organization.
The new version of this aircraft is 23 meters long. It can carry light vehicles and perform various missions. The article says that the previous version, based on the Ukrainian aircraft, was not compatible with Iranian conditions, such as the climate in Iran. “Looking at the design of Simorgh aircraft, it can be seen that this new Iranian bird has experienced changes in the fuselage and design. The most important change is the addition of a ramp and changes to the rear wings of the aircraft,” the article says. The engine has been optimized for Iranian weather, the report claims. Tests will take place over the next six months.
Iran is facing a problem replacing aircraft, the article says. It notes the aging fleet of the aircraft, including old Boeing 707 aircraft which is used for electronic warfare, the media claims. “It should be replaced with newer versions, of which Simorgh could be one,” the article says. “In the case of air support, the low cost of flying turboprop aircraft compared to fighter jets can also make up for the shortfall in the armed forces,” the article notes.
The point here is that Iran can’t acquire new jet warplanes, so it is considering using a propeller plane for close air support. The whole nature of this claim is that Iran is suffering grievously from sanctions and economic problems and cannot modernize its air force. Iran can’t seem to acquire military technology from Russia, China or other countries. As such its abilities are limited when it comes to conventional forces.
That doesn’t mean Iran isn’t a threat, but it means that when it comes to conventional things like aircraft and tanks, the country has huge hurdles. It is luck that it is bordered by countries that have even more problems, including Afghanistan and Iraq. Iran has recently agreed to open a factory to build drones in Tajikistan.
Iran is proud that its new aircraft has helped to create 10,000 new jobs during a time of inflation and economic uncertainty. The new production has helped in “acquiring knowledge of designing and manufacturing 30,000 parts and aircraft systems, complex and large assemblies, test and testing systems and compiling more than a thousand volumes of documents are other advantages of this project.”
The media notes that the plane is also needed because Iran’s large land area is subject to floods and natural disasters and the need for a light transport aircraft are clear. There is no doubt Iran needs more aircraft, the fact it has taken decades to produce illustrates Iran’s real problem. The regime likes to boast of its capabilities but articles like this about the struggle to produce a new plane show the main struggle Iran has in doing basic things for its people and military.
Perhaps if the IRGC wasn’t siphoning off resources and running a parallel state wasting Iran’s resources on propping up militias throughout the Middle East, then Iran might be able to have normal things like transport aircraft.
Seth J. Frantzman
Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-707342
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