Iran announced that it had entered the Stealth Fighter club with the introduction of the Quaher 313. But after reviewing the pictures provided by the Iranian Government and FARS news agency the Fighter Jet enthusiasts agree with King Arthur’s trusty steed, ‘It’s only a model.’
From John Reed at Foriegn Policy Magazine (Free Subscription Required):
When I first looked at the plane Saturday morning, I could tell it was bogus. Look at the photos of the cockpit: there’s barely any wiring. In fact, it looks like the Iranians dumped some rudimentary flight controls and an ejection seat into a shell molded in what they thought were stealthy angles.
(As Killer Apps’ friend David Cenciotti points out, there are no rivets or seams on the outside of the jet where its different fuselage sections would normally be joined together.) You can actually see the white-painted inside of the shell in the cockpit photos. Check out how awful the visibility through the canopy is, it’s downright terrible.
There is some kindly speculation that it is a mock-up, perhaps a UAV, even just a downsized version of a future “real version,” and those are great theories, but the folks at Mullah Inc. seem to be selling it as the real deal. They even put a ‘pilot’ in it for the photo op. (He looks like he might be sitting in Hasbro’s new Barbie Stealth Fighter–from the women in the military line.)
No room for Barbie or Ken or even Skipper, and hey–who sits that high in a cockpit anyway?
Just more kidding around from those crazy Persians or are they on the cutting edge of new technology?
More news and pics here, nice recap of the ‘observable problems’ with the Q-313-1 here, and more doubts but with some serious thoughts about other Iranian capabilities here.
