Eurasia Press & News
Speaking to reporters here on Tuesday, Brigadier General Ghasem Mohammad Amini noted the newly manufactured fighter ‘Saeqeh’ (Lightening) by air force and defense industries experts and said that the sanctions imposed on Iran since the victory of the Islamic Revolution have pushed experts and officials to stand on their own and reach self-sufficiency in different fields.
He further pointed out that the first Iran-made air craft has been a pilot training plane called ‘Parastoo’ (swallow) followed by the manufacture of some domestically designed and manufactured training jets such as ‘Tondar 1’ and ‘Tondar 2’.
Describing Saeqeh as a giant step in the manufacture of jet fighters in Iran, the military official said that his troops had started early stages of design and production of the aircraft 8 years ago.
Amini continued, “The testing phase of the plane started in 2003 and took 30 months,” adding that after 6 successful bombing sorties during the extensive war games ‘Blow of Zolfaqar’ two weeks ago, Saeqeh managed to prove itself as a new member of Iranian air force fleet.
The General mentioned that the top speed of Saeqeh is Mach 1.8, saying that it can carry 5 tons of arsenals and weapons.
According to the air force deputy commander, Saeqeh can easily engage in air-to-surface and air-to-air battles.
Stating that the production quality of Saeqeh would be promoted in future, he described optimized planes, missiles and other defensive weaponries as strong points of the Iranian army, air force in particular.
