Iran Unveils Its Own Stealth Fighter Jet, the Qaher F-313

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Iran Unveils Its Own Stealth Fighter Jet, the Qaher F-313

Posted by timothy on Monday February 4, 2013 @02:01AM from the not-a-drone-so-20th-century dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Iran has unveiled a new home-made combat aircraft, which officials say can evade radar. The single-seat Qaher F313 (Dominant F313) is the latest design produced by Iran's military since it launched the Azarakhsh (Lightning), in 2007. President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad said it had 'almost all the positive features' of the world's most sophisticated jets.Footage from state TV showed the jet in flight, but not its take-off or landing."

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I've seen a lot of 'shops' in my day by stoolpigeon · 2013-02-04 02:03 · Score: 4, Funny

and the pixels are a dead giveaway here

--
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
1. Re:I've seen a lot of 'shops' in my day by spxZA · 2013-02-04 02:27 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Exactly! It's a *stealth* plane. You aren't meant to see stealth anything. Clearly created in a studio.
very very stealthy by sribe · 2013-02-04 02:08 · Score: 5, Funny

So stealthy, that I bet no other country will ever be able to detect one in flight ;-)
1. Re:very very stealthy by stoolpigeon · 2013-02-04 02:11 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  I think this close up of the cockpit makes it clear that that static display isn't functional. The video looked a lot like an RC.
  
  --
  It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
2. Re:very very stealthy by 91degrees · 2013-02-04 02:20 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  It's possible that that is simply a mock-up they used for the cameras. This is pretty common amongst western countries so Iran could be the same. And Iran is spending a fair chunk of cash on science and technology. Plus they have had some access to Russian technology so that should give them a decent leg-up.
  
  I'm not willing to commit to saying this is legit, but I'm reluctant to dismiss it out of hand as well.
3. Re:very very stealthy by Charliemopps · 2013-02-04 02:40 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  The most telling part is the shell of the cockpit. Look at the walls... it's clearly fiberglass and only about 1/8" thick. I doubt that would withstand any reasonable airspeed at all. Look behind the seat... more fiberglass. Then there's the even more obvious... where do you put your legs?!? The switches and knobs on the right-side are almost totally obscured by the fiberglass overhang. How would you get to them? And then... the funniest part... all the writing I see is in English... lol
4. Re:very very stealthy by Luckyo · 2013-02-04 02:44 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  It's a mock up. Do you seriously think that early tech prototypes designed to showcase potential cockpits are made of production hardware and materials anywhere?
5. Re:very very stealthy by strength_of_10_men · 2013-02-04 02:52 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  I can assure you that AM/FM cassette player at the top is for realz. I have the same one in my car.
6. Re:very very stealthy by NatasRevol · 2013-02-04 02:57 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Pretty sure other prototypes don't have that 8 track player in the bottom middle of their console though.
  
  --
  There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
7. Re:very very stealthy by Kleen13 · 2013-02-04 02:59 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  I think this close up of the cockpit makes it clear that that static display isn't functional. The video looked a lot like an RC.
  The dimpling on the surfaces you can see in that pic looks like the crappy fiberglass repair job on my boat with a coat of paint smeared on it.
  
  --
  That sinking feeling deep in your gut when you KNOW you screwed up bad summed up with: {head desk} {head desk}
8. Re:very very stealthy by OldeTimeGeek · 2013-02-04 03:12 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  So their pilots can Rock the Casbah?
9. Re:very very stealthy by Luckyo · 2013-02-04 03:20 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  You'd be surprised at stuff you see stuck in early prototype cockpits. They used to shove production CRT TVs to showcase early versions of multifunctional displays in military prototyping. Because just making a TFT panel back then cost huge amounts to make a couple for every prototype. Then production stuff carried TFTs.
  Regardless, this thing is obvious vaporware aimed at internal propaganda, just like the rest of Iran's fighter jet programs. But cockpit mockup and usage of everyday crap in it isn't the telling part. It's the build of the thing, like ridiculously small engine intakes or radome that couldn't fit any modern military jet radar. Cockpit could actually be a real prototype (though doubtful).
10. Re:very very stealthy by Luckyo · 2013-02-04 03:21 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Plane itself is internal propaganda. Look at the unveiling date, compare to the rest of Iranian fighter programs. Vaporware aimed at general populace to foster patriotism.
  But cockpit isn't the part that is telling.
11. Re:very very stealthy by guttentag · 2013-02-04 03:26 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Why is the "Danger" sticker in English?
  Actually there's a very good reason for that. I used to work with a guy who was in the Iranian Air Force (he was granted asylum in the U.S.). He once told me that pilots/maintenance workers/etc were required to take English classes so they could read the training materials to fly and support the fighters we gave them. So they would be accustomed to reading English when dealing with fighters. If your brain has already been conditioned in "English mode" when operating/servicing a fighter, it's probably best to stick with it. The Soviets also gave them MiGs, so I'm sure they (or some of them) probably had to learn Russian, too.
12. Re:very very stealthy by wmac1 · 2013-02-04 04:40 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  The head of the design team himself said they have only performed test flight with two smaller models (one with a propeller, the other with a micro jet). These are from the slides he presented.
  Propeller-powered sub-scale model:
  http://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/250662_10151268717323603_1355114109_n.png
  Jet-powered sub-scale model:
  http://sphotos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/542333_10151268717468603_1294585182_n.png
  The one in photos was a mock up. Like any of these:
  http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/2667/pavillion22so.jpg
  http://i847.photobucket.com/albums/ab35/bobro15/NAA-FX-2_zps79959a9a.jpg
  http://i50.tinypic.com/2yl7cs8.jpg (the one in front)
13. Re:very very stealthy by cervesaebraciator · 2013-02-04 05:04 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Indeed. Iran is the only remaining user of F-14's today. It's probable most of their F-14's are no longer operational though, as they date from the days of the Shah. The fact that most of their foreign fighters are so old is what is propelling domestic fighter development, including rather more probable looking fighters based on reverse engineered technology.
14. Re:very very stealthy by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-04 05:06 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  The USAF will not certify manuals and tech orders written in any language other than English. So, if country X buys USAF stuff, and they want to translate it in to whatever the native language is, they assume full responsibility for the maintenance, care, and feeding of said equipment. Most countries find: A) It's really expensive to translate hundreds of thousands of pages of very technical data; B) English is the international language of aviation; C) As updates, modifications, operating supplements, emergency supplements, Time Compliance Technical Orders, upgrades, revisions, corrections, etc are published it means constantly paying for translation services over the life of the aircraft (unless the country opts out of the Technical Coordination Group and elects full responsibility for all safety, maintenance, inspections, repair procedures, etc). So, it's just cheaper to keep everything in English.
15. Re:very very stealthy by wmac1 · 2013-02-04 06:44 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  The equipment used on that panel are listed in this image:
  http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2gmNiznAYPk/UQ_kVG4GxUI/AAAAAAAABQY/UIRwfGrF0cY/s1600/Kahir313_Kokpit.png
16. Re:very very stealthy by cheesybagel · 2013-02-04 09:07 · Score: 3
  
  It used to be common for aircraft prototypes to carry no radar at all. Even as recently as the SEPECAT Jaguar some production lightweight fighters came without on board radar. I assume this is just a full scale mockup. The radar Iran probably have available would come from the F-5 so it would be small enough to fit on such a small plane.
  Given the present state of Iran's economy they have found themselves to be relying on lightweight fighters. The problem is they cannot manufacture either engines or radar of good enough quality for them. I do not doubt they could manufacture most of the composites for a low observable aircraft it they wanted to. If they can manufacture composite rotors for uranium centrifuges this shouldn't be particularly hard.
"Alsmost all features" by MadTinfoilHatter · 2013-02-04 02:10 · Score: 3, Funny

President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad said it had 'almost all the positive features' of the world's most sophisticated jets.
Riiight...

Footage from state TV showed the jet in flight, but not its take-off or landing."
Well, those were not among the features that this aircraft has in common with its Western counterparts.
MST3k line applies here: by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-04 02:13 · Score: 4, Funny

"It's Cardboard."
Note the intense weasel wording by vlm · 2013-02-04 02:17 · Score: 3, Insightful

Note the intense weasel wording...

built with "advanced materials" and to have a very low radar signature
So all we really know for certain is its not the "Spruce Goose". Well that's not saying much.

can evade radar
Yeah so can the Cessna 172 I trained in. Now doing it well, and doing it easily, and being optimized for that task, that's a whole nother topic.
Perhaps a little overly ambitious. For people who know nothing about aerospace the best I can do is a standardized slashdot car analogy: This is like Henry Ford hand building his first model T engineering demonstrator but declaring he's going to skip a couple steps and start shipping Tesla model S RSN.

--
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
1. Re:Note the intense weasel wording by Luckyo · 2013-02-04 02:46 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Cessna 172 has a huge radar cross section. Those wing mounts and engine are shiners. You're talking about flying under radar horizon, which is not stealthy as any modern fighter is equipped with look down-shoot down radar which will find you and light you up like a christmas tree in a matter of seconds of entering its range.
2. Re:Note the intense weasel wording by interkin3tic · 2013-02-04 02:49 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  So it's safe to assume that this is just to convince the Iranian citizens that Iran has the military might to back up it's bluster? "Yeah, we could totally take the Americans and Israelis in a fight. Their technology may seem formidable, prompting you to question why we're trying to build a nuke and are always threatening them, but it's not tough. Look! Stealth jets! Just came up with this over the weekend! We're all good. Don't question the state, we know what we are doing, and would not throw away your lives in a war we can't possibly win."
  
  (Note that I'm not saying that the US and Israel are morally right just because we happen to have stronger military forces. I wish both sides acted responsibly and had far fewer weapons.)
3. Re:Note the intense weasel wording by cant_get_a_good_nick · 2013-02-04 05:12 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  IIRC, he was detected, just wasn't shot down. More due to "what do we do what do we DO" than any stealthiness of such a basic plane.
Looks like a model by AdamInParadise · 2013-02-04 02:17 · Score: 3, Informative

Not sure whether this is a hoax or not, but the pictures seems to show a model, not a real plane. Have a look at the cockpit : http://edge.liveleak.com/80281E/s/s/19/media19/2013/Feb/2/LiveLeak-dot-com-4347f2b9fa55-f313_17_preview.jpg?d5e8cc8eccfb6039332f41f6249e92b06c91b4db65f5e99818bad29f444cd3d1ca14&ec_rate=200
I don't know anything about jet fighters, but I can recognize a Thrustmaster Mark II joystick stuck to a pole. And the material on the border of the cabin definitely looks like duct tape. And the canopy does not seem to lock into anything. And so on.

--
Nobox: Only simple products.
1. Re:Looks like a model by Sulphur · 2013-02-04 03:09 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  "Thrustmaster Mark II joystick stuck to a pole"
  That is the last time I lend my gaming gear to Abdas! I wonder why he wanted to borrow my duct tape as well.
  That is duck tape used to assemble canards.
More info on GlobalSecurity.org by funky49 · 2013-02-04 02:22 · Score: 5, Interesting

I love these guys: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iran/qaher-313.htm
David Cenciotti noted that the plane featured “implausible aerodynamics and Hollywood sheen” and was laughably small for a fighter jet. He also commented thatthe cockpit was far too basic for a sophisticated aircraft, and appeared “similar to those equipping small private planes. ... The nose section is so small almost no radar could fit in it ... The air intakes are extremely small, whereas the engine section lacks any kind of nozzle: engine afterburners could melt the entire jet. ... It looks like this pilot is in a miniature plane” and it appeared “nothing more than a large mock-up model.” Iran also broadcast video footage of the Qaher F-313 in flight, which Cenciotti said appeared to fly like a “radio-controlled scale model more than a modern fighter jet.” He also noted it was suspect that Tehran did not release takeoff and landing footage of its new aircraft.

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--- rapper/producer/bachelorette party stripper
1. Re:More info on GlobalSecurity.org by Luckyo · 2013-02-04 02:57 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Pretty much all of Iran's "own fighters" have been vaporware so far. This is pretty well known. They cannot really make anything of their own with all the crippling sanctions that isn't overly cheap knockoff.
  That said, it doesn't mean that they can't test new stuff. Most planes start off as drones and eventually move to production. Most of the Russian and various Western jets that jumped up in generation had severe teething problems of their own (F-22 and F-35 make great examples here), and those nations actually have great expertise in designing these planes, not to mention economies that can support huge development costs associated with these programs. Iran lacks all of these.
  Iran could, and likely is working on something. It's highly unlikely to be practical and working fighter jet, just like all of its previous fighter jets. Beyond the propaganda bullshit, it shows that with all the sanctions, they still have some degree of expertise and skill and every once in a while they have to show off something like this. Something that will never become a practical application, but to show that they still have some semblance of capability of making a high tech device.
  And then they sell their anti ship missiles that cost next to nothing and manage to cripple a high tech Israeli ship. Or have a NATO general win war games using nothing but their low quality, but cheap and numerous hardware against significantly more technologically advanced NATO forces.
Re:Nice DVD player on that mockup cockpit... by Peristaltic · 2013-02-04 03:53 · Score: 4, Insightful

What gets me is that they're parading this homemade abortion around as the best effort of a -nation-. They actually had the balls to put it on TV with Mahmoud proudly standing next to it.
Iran will always have a hard time getting their war fighting tactics past the not-so-smart-bombs with semtex wrapped around their midsections.
The last time Iran had a decent military was under Xerxes.