Though influenced by the F-5, the prototype is a different airplane and is much shorter.
Here s What You Need to Remember: The irony is that Tehran doesn’t need to be ashamed of its resourceful use of old jet fighters. In the nine-year-long Iran-Iraq war during the 1980s, Iranian fighter pilots fought one of the most intense air wars in recent history defending their home soil.
In February 2017 I published an article on the Iranian Saeqeh (“Thunderbolt”) fighter. Billed as Iran’s first domestically-built jet fighter to enter operational service, the Saeqeh.
Fast forward and we are again greeted with headlines for yet another “100% indigenously made” fighter jet, this time a “state of the art” two-seater called the Kowsar. And yet it appears identical to an F-5F Tiger II two-seater jet.
New Name, Old Plane: Meet Iran’s Attempt to Modernize the F-5 Fighter
The F-5 is an aging warplane that cannot compete well in the modern world even with a new look and coat of paint.
Key point: Iran keeps reusing and upgraded old weapons in a way that is both impressively resourceful and rather shameless. As silly as it may seem, history shows that Tehran will do whatever it needs to survive even if they tend to exaggerate how good those weapons are.
In February 2017 I published an article on the Iranian Saeqeh (“Thunderbolt”) fighter. Billed as Iran’s first domestically-built jet fighter to enter operational service, the Saeqeh.