jump to navigation

F-14s, in-flight emergencies and arrested landings. Top Gun? No, an Iranian TV series February 17, 2012

Posted by David Cenciotti in Iran.
Tags: , , , ,
7 comments

It is very well known that, more or less one year ago China tried to pass off Top Gun as air force footage but did you know there was also a mini-Top Gun made in Iran?

If not, have a look at the following video.

An IRIAF (Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force) F-14, part of a flight of four, suffers a hydraulic failure and is forced to perform a successful emergency landing using the runway arresting system.

Screenplay aside, the video is extremely interesting as it shows the rare Tehran’s Tomcats, one of those can be seen engaging the cable with the tailhook. Noteworthy, some of the radio comms are in English language (with Persian subtitles).

According to the information provided by the user who uploaded it on Youtube, the footage is from the Iranian TV series Shoghe Parvaz.

Thanks to Al Clark for the heads up.

Related articles

That’s a low level strike: Iranian Air Force F-4 Phantom February 9, 2012

Posted by Richard Clements in Iran, Military Aviation.
Tags: , , , , ,
1 comment so far

This series of photos found on the internet, shows what appears to be an ultra low level attack on a unknown location probably dating back to at least 20 years ago.

The silhouette is clearly that of an Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force F-4 Phantom striking Iraqi forces during the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988). Although some believe that the images were taken from an RF-4, the interesting thing that stands out from these amazing photos is the extreme low level of the attack.

Even though the images were not taken downtown, generally speaking, flying low level was paramount to prevent being detected and hit by the air defenses protecting Baghdad: after the war, Iranian pilots recalled flying as low as 20 meters above the ground level during their strike missions. To such an extent that power cables on the outskirts or Iraq’s capital town became a significant risk for Tehran’s pilots.

Richard Clements for TheAviationist.com

Image credit: Iranian internet

Related articles

Some (rusty) Iranian Mig-29s on display at Tabriz airbase in new images released by IRNA news agency February 5, 2012

Posted by David Cenciotti in Iran.
Tags: , , , , , ,
7 comments

IRNA (Islamic Republic News Agency) has just released some quite interesting pictures of an exhibition of IRIAF planes and equipment that took place at Tabriz, in northwest of Iran.

Among the images made public by the news agency, some depict some (quite “rusty”, or at least dirty) Mig-29s, along with F-5Es and “Saeqeh” (Thunder) an indigenously modified version of the American F-5 Tiger, whose twin tails and blue colour are loosely reminiscent of the Blue Angels.

Generally speaking, the flying F-14s and F-4s recently exposed in the Russian Knights pictures taken during the return trip of the team from Bahrain International Air Show seemed to be in better conditions than these Mig-29s: at least one of the Fulcrum on display is unserviceable (it lacks both engines).

Image credit: IRNA news agency

Related articles

Russian Sukhoi Su-27s + Iranian F-14s + Iranian F-4s = the most exotic formation ever! January 31, 2012

Posted by David Cenciotti in Iran, Military Aviation.
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
12 comments

Although some pictures of this unbelievable formation have been already published on aviation website, the Russian Knights, Russian Air Force aerobatic display team has released some more images of the weird formation of Russian Su-27s (with the supporting Il-76), IRIAF (Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force) F-14 Tomcats and F-4 Phantoms taken during the ferry flight that took the the team home from the Bahrain International Air Show 2012.

A unique opportunity to see some really “exotic” planes flying in (quite loose) formation over Iran, in a quite tense period.

Image credit: Sergei Shcheglov Russian Knights via http://sergeydolya.livejournal.com/423952.html (visit this site for more pictures)

Related articles

Another day, another Iranian drone. Tehran reveals the new “A1″ UAV. January 30, 2012

Posted by Richard Clements in Drones, Iran.
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
4 comments

On Jan. 30, Iran has announced the development of a new UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) called the “A1″. According to the information released so far, the new drone allegedly has a service ceiling of 10,000 feet, an endurance of two hours and can carry up to a 11lbs (5kg) payload. Furthermore, it has an engine running on hi-octane gas/oil mix (2 stroke engine??) with a 2 blade pusher propeller and can be either launched from a ramp attached to the bed of a truck or ship-launched from rocket launchers.

These “features” seem to suggest that the new drone  is another variant of the Ababil indigenous UAV family, which already includes the Ababil-5,  used as a medium range surveillance platform, and the Ababil-T, a short to medium range UCAV with offensive capabilities.

Image credit: PressTV

Press TV website which broke the news also mentions a –B and a –S version but does not disclose what the purposes of these are.

It was an Ababil-T drone, allegedly launched from within Lebanon and sported Hezbollah markings, that was shot down in 2006 by an Israeli Air Force F-16 using a Rafael Python 5, about 5 nautical miles off Israel’s coast.

Ababil-T (credit: IDF)

The launching of the new drone is a further evidence of a blooming indigenous UAV program which has similar beginnings to that of the Israeli UAV program, started many years ago to develop drones for artillery spotting and battlefield overwatch as well as decoys for SAM sites (they are used to personify manned assets and spur a reaction by the SAM site that can be then attacked by other SEAD assets).

Although the significance of Iran’s UAV program remains unclear (especially if we consider the claims about the prodigious performance of some drones that are nothing more than scale models), it’s once again interesting to notice how the Iranian government use the local media to trickle out information on new systems being developed by Tehran.

The Aviationist will monitor further developments as and when they arise.

Written with The Aviationist’s Editor David Cenciotti

Once in a while a genuine video from Iran: Iranian Air Force F-5 nose-gear-up landing January 3, 2012

Posted by David Cenciotti in Iran, Military Aviation.
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
3 comments

In the last few weeks, beginning with the saga of the captured US stealthy RQ-170 drone and ending with the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, with the alleged video of the U.S. aircraft carrier Stennis taken from an Iranian Fokker 27, I’ve often discussed about the authenticity of the footage released by the Iranian State TV or news agency, with the readers of this blog.

In the past, the Iranian propaganda machine has used doctored videos and fake images to spread its messages and this is the reason why many are doubtful each time new images showing Iran’s military achievement surface.

However, the one I’m posting below was just uploaded on Youtube (date is Jan. 1, 2012) and looks like it is authentic.

It shows an Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) F-5E performing a nose-gear-up landing at Dezful airbase also known as Vahdati Air Base, in southwest Iran.

The aircraft comes to a stop thatnks to the dragchute and, later, we see the pilot unhurt near its plane.

Actually, we can’t be sure whether the nose gear failed to come down or it collapsed after landing: the fact that someone was filming it (from a dangerous position) suggests the emergency was known before the aircraft landed, still, ground personnel seems to be unprepared to the management of the emergency, with people and cars initially rushing towards the plane and then coming back.

Dealing with the news, on Jan. 2, the IRNA news agency has published another picture, this time depicting the coast-to-sea long-range missile, named the Qader (Capable), with a range of 200 km and capable to target destroyers and battleships.

Delivered to the Navy in September 2011, the Qader is believed to be the most powerful missile of the Iranian Navy.

A short-range Nasr (Victory) cruise missile with the capability to destroy large vessels, and a surface-to-surface Nour (Light) “ultra-advanced surface-to-surface missile” were fired by the Iranian naval forces in the last phase of the Exercise Velayat-90, as well as a surface-to-air medium-range smart missile, named the Mehrab (Altar), equipped with anti-radar and anti-jamming systems.

To be honest, mainstream media have all broadcast the same image, with different captions, so my guess is that the one in this picture is the Qader, even if it might be a Nour (as affirmed by the IRNA website…wasn’t the Nour a surface-to-surface missile?).