Iran Stealth Fighter

[klr]

... of course, if those can't move in any way, then they wouldn't be considered canards in the proper sense.

Although these have hinged flaps, so they are canards:

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-d ... th-fi.html

" ...The configuration looks a lot like the bizarre illegitimate love child of a Have Blue and Boeing Bird of Prey with some added canards."

Yes, but those are all staggered so they won't disrupt the flow over the wings.

That's normal practice for canards, but in this case I don't see how it would do anything but bugger up the frontal RCS (Radar Cross Section).

EDIT: Have Blue ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Have_Blue

[Jason]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qaher-313

The Qaher-313 (Persian: قاهر-۳۱۳‎; also Ghaher-313, Conqueror-313, Q-313, F-313) is an Iranian single-seat stealth fighter aircraft publically announced on 1 February 2013. It was presented to the press by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi on 2 February 2013, as part of the Ten-Day Dawn ceremonies.

According to Iranian government sources, the F-313 Qaher was designed and is indigenously produced in Iran. The aircraft is said to be a stealth fighter with low-altitude operations capability. Qaher is said to be built with "advanced materials" and to have a very low radar signature. It was also claimed that the Qaher can take off and land on short runways and has "easy maintenance".

A prototype version of the Qaher-313 has been portrayed to have test-flown at some point before the presentation although, according to Haaretz, the "blurry video published by the Iranians purporting to show the Qaher 313 in flight seems to show not a manned fighter jet but a small radio-operated drone."

Media sources outside of Iran have raised the possibility that the demonstrated aircraft would not be able to meet stated performance and/or that it may be a scale prototype or mockup, with BBC News noting that the aircraft "looks like a copy of the American F-22". Iran does not release technical details on its arsenals, so many of its claims about the aircraft are impossible to verify.

Flight Global noted that the Qaher-313 resembles the Boeing Bird of Prey prototype, but with a a more faceted design similar to the 1970s-era Lockheed Have Blue that was developed into the now retired F-117 Nighthawk. Flight Global also said, "given the apparent small size of the aircraft and its single engine design, the Qaher 313 could be powered by reverse engineered variants of the General Electric J-85 turbojet that Iran is known to have in its possession."

Um... ..yeah.

J85? Why didn't they suggest it could be powered by a reverse engineered Sears lawn mower?

[cronus]

These are designed for flying low over water and suicide missions. Wings are short and stubby designed to take advantage of the grown surface effect. This means a smaller engine with less of a heat signature. Ten of these might get shot down but the next one will get through.

[Jason]

I agree it certainly looks like a strictly low-altitude fighter. It's my guess that it's intended to fill the role of Close Air Support for ground units.

[Thinking Aloud]

I knew I'd seen it before. It's been reverse engineered from the MiG-31 Firefox, except that the thought control works in the opposite direction...

[Jason]

That's normal practice for canards, but in this case I don't see how it would do anything but bugger up the frontal RCS (Radar Cross Section).

If I'm correct in my guess at its intended use (low-alt ground attack), then it will only ever present lateral and rear/frontal profiles so that won't matter.

[Jason]

I knew I'd seen it before. It's been reverse engineered from the MiG-31 Firefox, except that the thought control works in the opposite direction...

Now if only I can remember what movie that was from..

[klr]

I knew I'd seen it before. It's been reverse engineered from the MiG-31 Firefox, except that the thought control works in the opposite direction...

Oooh ... that's Clint's bird, not the real MiG 31.

Damn those Russkies for bringing out a real aircraft with a designation the same as a fictional one.

That's normal practice for canards, but in this case I don't see how it would do anything but bugger up the frontal RCS (Radar Cross Section).

If I'm correct in my guess at its intended use (low-alt ground attack), then it will only ever present lateral and rear/frontal profiles so that won't matter.

If I'm correct, this thing will never fly - literally.

[Jason]

Won't fly? What? Weren't you convinced by the video with the 1:32 model flying about with its gear down?

[Thinking Aloud]

I knew I'd seen it before. It's been reverse engineered from the MiG-31 Firefox, except that the thought control works in the opposite direction...

Now if only I can remember what movie that was from..

Oooh ... that's Clint's bird, not the real MiG 31.

Damn those Russkies for bringing out a real aircraft with a designation the same as a fictional one.

Yeah - I was really cheesed off when that happened.

Anyway, I thought the mind-control joke was good.

[Svartalf]

Won't fly? What? Weren't you convinced by the video with the 1:32 model flying about with its gear down?

Looks like the Wright brothers made planes with more flight range than that thing... it doesn't look to have remotely near enough bearing surface for real flight.

[cronus]

[Jason]

[Feck]

It's a very nice model plane .

[klr]

It's a very nice model plane .

Yup, and about as real as this model of the F-19: