The agreement with Russia includes the delivery of Su-35 fighter jets, Mi-28 attack helicopters and Yak-130 jet trainers.
Iran has finalized a deal with Russia for a set of military aircraft, a semi-official Iranian official said. Tasnim The news agency reported on November 28, 2023. According to the media, Deputy Defense Minister Brigadier General Mahdi Farahi said plans for Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets, Mil Mi-28 attack helicopters and Yak-130 jet trainers have been finalized. Join the Iranian army combat forces.
It has long been expected that the Su-35 would be procured as part of a larger military armamentarium. The possibility of this deal had been discussed several times over the past few years, but in September 2022 Iranian media reported that Air Force Chief Hamid Vahedi said that the purchase of Sukhoi Su-35s from Russia was “under consideration” by the Iranian Air Force. “It has been done,” he was reported to have said.
Earlier this year, Shahriar Heydari, a member of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said that the Iranian government was working on procuring a range of other military equipment from Russia, including air defense systems, missile systems, and helicopters. Stated. At the time, delivery of the jet was said to be imminent, within just a few months. Probably March 2023, the beginning of the year of Iran.
In September of this year, images of the first Yak-130 Mitten aircraft delivered to IRIAF (Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force) appeared online. Initial reports said the jet was being tested at Iran’s 8th Tactical Air Base near Isfahan ahead of the completion of training for the first group of six Iranian Yak-130 instructor pilots. Russia. The procurement of new trainer aircraft paves the way for more advanced “hardware” to modernize Iran’s air force, as detailed in a report here. Currently, most of them are based on Soviet/Russian and American types procured before the 1979 revolution.
In fact, the Yak-130 can be used to train Iranian pilots to fly a fourth-generation fighter jet as the Su-35S “Flanker-E,” a 4++ generation variant of the Su-27 Flanker aircraft.
As of this writing, the Su-35 contract has not been confirmed by Russian sources.
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the founder and editor of ‘The Aviationist’, one of his most famous and read military aviation blogs in the world. Since 1996, he has contributed to the world’s leading magazines, including Air Force Monthly and Combat Aircraft, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyber warfare. He has reported from the United States, Europe, Australia, and Syria, and has flown several fighter jets in various air forces. He is a former second lieutenant in the Italian Air Force, a private pilot, and a graduate in computer engineering. He has written five of his books and contributed to many more.
