HESA Saeqeh (Thunderbolt)

The Story of HESA Saeqeh (Thunderbolt)

The Islamic Republic of Iran has benefited so much from its relations with the US (before the 1979 revolution) and the Soviet Union/Russia that its domestic arms industry is finally starting to show a similar pattern to the decades-old operation and redesign of various weapon systems , including assault rifles, main battle tanks and aircraft. Iran used rudimentary, export-oriented American Northrop F-5 Tigers as well as Grumman F-14 Tomcats and McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom IIs in its war on Iraq in the 1980s.

Along with these aircraft came the basic technology inside - modern avionics, afterburner turbojets and missile technology. At least 140 U.S. F-5 Tiger fighter jets were delivered to the Iranian Air Force, about 60 of which are still in service today.

Saeqeh (Thunderbolt) is a joint development effort between the Iranian Ministry of Defense and the Iranian Air Force to produce a low-cost local multi-role aircraft platform that showcases the modern systems, qualities and capabilities of its global contemporaries. The first Saeqeh prototype flew for the first time on May 30, 2004, and was shown to the Iranian public on state television in July of the same year.

It is understood that he participated in the wargame in August 2006. At least three more prototypes were shown at the military parade that followed in September 2007. The aircraft officially entered service with the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) on September 22, 2007.

Externally, the Saeqeh has a traditional design and layout that appears to be a lightweight crossover between the American-built Northrop F-5 Tiger and the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. However, it belongs more to the former because of Iran's experience operating the F-5 in previous decades.

The cockpit is located in the forward fuselage and consists of a long nose cone that houses the radar system. The cockpit is covered with a large canopy, and only the rear view is covered by the fuselage spine - the rest of the cockpit is unobstructed. The Victory is a low-mounted monoplane assembly amidships. The fuselage is spanned by two intake ducts that extend three-quarters of the length of the fuselage and suck in the two engines.

Each entrance has a small rectangular opening at the front and pops out through a pair of rings at the back. Unlike the F-5 Tiger's single vertical fin, the Saeqeh employs a pair of outwardly sloping vertical fins with a perimeter similar to the F/A-18 Hornet. The chassis is a traditional tricycle structure consisting of two main legs and a front leg.

The main legs are retracted inward towards the centerline, while the nasal bones are retracted forward, inferior and forward to the cockpit floor. Compared to the F-5, the twin-engine layout and twin vertical stabilizers are the main differences for the Saeqeh.

Due to the lack of available public information, some technical aspects of Saeqeh are either hypothetical or estimatedsome are even based on the capabilities of the F-5 itself that allow him to compete on the modern battlefield. Your arsenal is likely to be primarily of Russian origin and include the latest in missile and bomb technology.

Their defense equipment is said to be manufactured entirely locally within the Iranian military complex, eliminating the need to procure expensive or limited-function systems from abroad. The Saeqeh is by no means a 5th generation design, nor does it incorporate known stealth technology, such as those found in the American F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II series jets or the upcoming Russian Sukhoi T-50. In fact, the Saeqeh may be nothing more than a modernized, heavily modified homegrown version of the American F-5E Tiger II, thus exhibiting similar maneuverability and limited versatility. While Iranian authorities have compared the Saeqeh to the U.S.

Navy's F/A-18 Hornet, its true capabilities remain to be seen. So far, at least five Saeqeh aircraft are known to be built by the Iranian Aircraft Manufacturing Industry Corporation, and 24 more are expected. The first squadron to deploy Saeqeh has been established.

The Saeqeh fighter is also known as "Saeqeh-80" in nomenclature. On September 23, 2007, Iranian television broadcasted three different versions, each "checked" by President Ahmadinejad, known as "Saeqeh", "Azarakhsh" and "Tazarv".

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