Iran unveils new indigenous stealth fighter “Qaher 313”. And here’s a detailed analysis.

February 2, 2013 Iran, Military Aviation, Top Stories
David Cenciotti

Here’s our analysis about the “Qaher 313” stealth jet.

On Feb. 1, 2013, Iran unveiled its indigenous fighter jet named “Qaher 313”.

The prototype of the Q-313 (or F-313 according to the stencils applied to the aircraft), was presented to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and publicly displayed as part of the Ten-Day Dawn ceremonies held in Iran to celebrate the 1979’s victory of the Islamic Revolution.

In the previous days, the Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi had said, “The aircraft will be different from the other fighter jets Iran has already made.”

Q-313 1

Indeed, based on the first photographs released by the FARS News Agency, the new stealthy jet has a really peculiar design. It features hard edges and those distinctive edges and angle of the U.S. F-22 and the twin tail shape much similar to that of the F-35 Lightning II.

Q-313 3

The Q-313 has large, seemingly fixed canards, and little wings whose external section is canted downward.

The canopy material is at least odd (based on its transparency, it looks like plexiglass or something like that).



The cockpit seems to be basic (a bit too much for a modern plane – note the lack of wirings behind the front panel and the presence of few instruments, some of those similar to those equipping small private planes…).

Q-313 cockpit

The nose section is so small almost no radar could fit in it.

Q-313 6

The air intakes are extremely small (they remind those of current drones/unmanned combat aerial vehicles) whereas the engine section lacks any kind of nozzle: engine afterburners could melt the entire jet.

Q-313 7

And, above all, the aircraft is way to small.

Look at the following image showing an Iranian officer sitting on the ejection seat in the cockpit.

Q-313 4

It looks like this pilot is in a miniature plane.

Q-313 5

Summing up: the shape is interesting with some innovative features but the Q-313 displayed on Feb. 1, 2013, seems to be nothing more than a large mock up model (not properly sized to accomodate a real pilot….).

Update

There is a video allegedly showing the Q-313 in the air. Here it is.

Even if it is not the first flight of the aircraft as some of The Aviationist readers say, the way the depicted plane flies is suspect. It seems a radio-controlled scale model more than a modern fighter jet.

Furthermore, as someone pointed out: if the Qaher 313 actually flew, most probably Tehran would release footage of its takeoff and landing.

Click here to read the article on Business Insider about this and other (more realistic) Iran’s military projects and the risk they pose to the U.S. Navy in the Persian Gulf.

Image credit: FARS, Mashreghnews

About David Cenciotti
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David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.

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50 Comments

  2. No rivets, no inspection panels .. just look at a photo of the F-22 and you’ll spot a few of those instantly. Looks like a fibreglass mockup to me, especially when you look at the rear pic

    • Stealth planes have hidden rivets. Rivets sparkle like christmas lights to a radar dish.

  3. I’m sorry, but after seeing all the footage about this, how can anyone that knows “even a bit” about aeronautics can take this for true??? What a JOKE! The proportions, the materials, the film, everything! I like particularly about the canopy inside!! LLOOLL By the sides, internally, right by the pilot, fiberglass, I guess??? :D And that red hydraulic to open the canopy, from a truck??… Some CAD guys designed, or I gues, took inspiration from Avatar or Starship Troopers, and made a nice looking “planeship” for the leaders inspire the Iranian people. My god, what a stupid show… The bad thing, is that a lot of people believe…

    • Is that a radio cassette player at the bottom of the instrument panel? At least the pilot will have some in-flight entertainment!

      • Oh the pilot’s not gonna have a lack of entertainment since the canopy has no mechanism or design to lock flush with the airframe, he’s gonna get a blast of entertainment at 600mph in there. Not to say anything of living in constant terror the whole thing’s gonna rip open and fly in his face.

        • You seem overly optimistic about an aircraft sporting an air speed indicator from a Cessna I can’t read the numbers but if 20 knot increments stall speed is about 65Knots flaps up. Even if you go with 50knot increments the stall speed is 125knots and overspeed is about 400knots

          • Rob..not being able to read the numbers on the instruments will be a huge drawback for the pilot, because that totally distorted abomination of cockpit plexiglass won’t allow him to see outside, much less see any targets. I guess he’ll be on instruments the whole time..maybe it’d make it as an instrument trainer on the ground..LMAO !!!

        • I have a feeling this plane isn’t even meant to fly over 10,000 feet. It is stealth after all, so if it is flying over 1000 feet its asking to get shot down.

        • Doesn’t anyone remember the “bee dee” aircraft that could be built in the garage? They just hadn’t finished their jet, they may have had to borrow a power tool from a neighbor.

      • The RAF Tornado has (or used to have) a cassette player for navigational instructions. They did use it to play music on long flights as well.

      • The USA Stealth plane has a rather simple cockpit too, with multifunction panels replacing the usual maze of swiches and dials.

    • Apparently they mocked up even the hangar, cos’ it looks way to much
      like a basketball training hall and the jet fighter fits
      quite comfortable in it.

      • Compair the Iranian mockup to a real modern jet and it’s easy to see the defects. Even if it did fly, it would not do well in combat. Neither would the pilot, as the way the jet is configured, he would have to eject through the canopy! (You typically see det-cord on bubble canopies to prevent this)

      • You’re not serious are you? The only evidence you need is the canopy: it completely distorts the light and would be impossible to fly with.

      • Regardless if they are real or not they have no chance against the US and Allied Air Forces… Just a waste of millions of dollars that would have been better spent on their hopelessly dismal quality of life. This is just plain stupid.

    • The small models (both propeller and jet sub-scales) have doen successful flights. That mean the airplane CAN fly and it has acceptable aerodynamics.

      Now that you want to judge, tell us about your credentials? Are you a pilot? An aerospace engineer ? Or at least a mechanical engineer?

    • FYI : the actual tv translation does mention the aircraft in flight is miniture version of the aircraft in display

    • or the officer reading his lines for the news – the poor body language, the ‘rushed’ look. That deer in the headlights fear of “I better get this right or my kids die tonight.”

    • I really know nothing about aeronautics, and even so this looks absolutely fake! Amazing how people can believe that propaganda.

    • I’m very scaring when I hear about all of these kind of productions in the world because the best test of these killers will take place in African countries for the some countries interests ‘oh’ my God, Africa could be a Paradise of the World without the people who calls themselves developed and civilized to produce weapons and gives non educated governments of Africa who are Mafia and terrifying the rest of Africans People lives for their allies benefits and now I can see this approaching even here in Tanzania.

    • It doesn’t even look like the canopy would close without hitting him in the head. And I’vr seen bigger intakes on a turbocharged honda

  4. take a look to the airspeed indicator. Maybe some pilot will recognize it. Just limited to 300 Kts and Vne 270 Kts….!!! Very good for a new fighter, maybe it will have subcruise capability?

    • I can see 500 knots on it and that’s what it is supposed to be. It is a ground attack airplane (similar to su-25), does not have a radar, is good at low altitude flight and has subsonic speed.

      • Subsonic speed? They must have upgraded the engine size from 1 to 2 hamsters running in the squirrel cage. Maybe even increased the diameter of the squirrel cage itself for more thrust!

  5. Nice plane, probably cheap to manufacture compared to any counterparts around the world. I wish Iran best of luck – they sure need it with shit like Israel just around the corner..

    • at best It might make a decent jet ski if you can get it to float, call Kawasaki corp.

      How pitiful it is that the muzzies must lie to their own people about their condition almost as bad as their cousins lie to the Americans

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