Iranian Air Force : News, Discussions & Analysis

It will be interesting to see how Iran will modernise its air force after the US elections are over.

People think Iran doesn't have the money for it, but most of the funding will come from Qatar and China instead. Regardless their economic might is still twice that of Pakistan's, along with their defence budget and they have the oil cash cow, which China is sure to tap in the near future. So they will still be able to modernise to a certain extent even with their own money.

I predict 2 squadrons each of Su-30SM2/Su-35S and J-10C coming in by 2025, along with 2 regiments of the S-400.
 
It will be interesting to see how Iran will modernise its air force after the US elections are over.

People think Iran doesn't have the money for it, but most of the funding will come from Qatar and China instead. Regardless their economic might is still twice that of Pakistan's, along with their defence budget and they have the oil cash cow, which China is sure to tap in the near future. So they will still be able to modernise to a certain extent even with their own money.

I predict 2 squadrons each of Su-30SM2/Su-35S and J-10C coming in by 2025, along with 2 regiments of the S-400.
The su 30 and j10 combo would be pretty good for the iranians and in line with most publications that are predicting the future of iranian armed forces. We might as well see a rd-93 powered Iranian f5 clone with better electronics in the future. But as of now Iranians have actually rejected in buying any new big ticket purchases. I think they are getting better RoI on investing on assymetric capabilities,SAM and cruise/ballistic missiles rather than actual offensive weapons...

 
Any idea which engines do these planes use?
The su 30 and j10 combo would be pretty good for the iranians and in line with most publications that are predicting the future of iranian armed forces. We might as well see a rd-93 powered Iranian f5 clone with better electronics in the future. But as of now Iranians have actually rejected in buying any new big ticket purchases. I think they are getting better RoI on investing on assymetric capabilities,SAM and cruise/ballistic missiles rather than actual offensive weapons...

Classic Taqqiya.
 
The su 30 and j10 combo would be pretty good for the iranians and in line with most publications that are predicting the future of iranian armed forces.

Really, their only choices. They are not stupid enough to go for the JF-17. And they are not rich enough for a large license production program yet.

We might as well see a rd-93 powered Iranian f5 clone with better electronics in the future.

They can't make the F5, the ones they are peddling are simply old airframes refurbished to new. They will see more success in jointly developing an LCA Mk2 or Gripen E equivalent aircraft with the Russians or Chinese and producing those over the next 10-15 years.

But as of now Iranians have actually rejected in buying any new big ticket purchases. I think they are getting better RoI on investing on assymetric capabilities,SAM and cruise/ballistic missiles rather than actual offensive weapons...


Their military will be entirely useless without an air force. All their assymetric capabilites will be taken out in the first few hours of a war. Even SAMs are useless without an air force.

Anyway, this "rejection" is only for the audience in the US, until the US elections are done with. They are probably hoping for Biden to win, so why will they announce any interest in weapons, scare the Americans and Israelis and give more ammo to Trump? The Iranians are most definitely planning military imports from both Russia and China.

The way I see it, they will either start small, what I mentioned before, or they will go big and sign up for license production deals with one or both countries.

Iran's GDP is where India's was back in 1995, about the time when the MKI production program started. And the advantage for Iran is there is a country willing to drop the same amount as their GDP as investments in a mere 5 years. It's very difficult to dismiss their apetite for weapons in the long run, irrespective of their economic troubles today. The Chinese are definitely working on a military bloc, and Iran's going to be a key part of it.