HESA Saeqeh

The Saeqeh (Persian صاعقه; German: Donner ) is a fighter aircraft of the Iranian Air Force, which is made ​​by the Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company.

It was developed based on the F- 5E Tiger II, which Iran had not received at the time of the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in the USA.

History

The development probably began in the 1990s. A prototype of the single-seat aircraft with twin tail was first shown in July 2004 in a video recording and first presented publicly at a military parade in Tehran on 22 September 2007. The machine is believed to have originated as a result of various arms embargoes on Iran to forced to modernize the existing pattern, since import of new fighter jets was not possible. Iran says that the combat effectiveness of Saeqeh is comparable to an American F-18 Hornet and the range of approximately 3000 km amounts to. This information is, however, strongly doubted by Western experts.

Construction

On the previously published few shots of the machine it can be seen that the basic structure of the F -5 is largely preserved. However, the simple vertical tail was replaced with a slightly angled double tail.

Specifications

Exact technical details have not been published.