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Iran Shows Off Homegrown Fighter Jet
Tehran (AFP) Aug 10, 2007 Iran on Sunday showed off for the first time a new fighter jet said to be modelled on the American F-5 but built using domestic technology, state media reported. The "Azarakhsh" (Lightning) jet -- one of the first to be home-produced by Iran -- made a successful flight in the central city of Isfahan in a ceremony attended by Defence Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar and other officials. "The success of this domestically developed fighter plane is another example of the technological achievements of our country," said Isfahan governor Morteza Bakhtiari, according to the state-run IRNA news agency. "At a time when the United States is selling its arms to its allies in the region, our country's specialists are taking big strides every day towards self-sufficiency in defence," he added. The development of the plane was first announced in September last year, when military officials said that it was "comparable" to the US F-5 fighter jet. Iran has also developed another homemade war plane named "Saegheh" (Thunder) which it has described as similar to the American F-18 fighter jet. The fly-by in Isfahan appears to have been the first time the Azarakhsh jet has been shown in public. Many of Iran's military planes are of American origin and were bought under the pro-US shah ousted by the Islamic revolution in 1979. The current US embargo means the Iran must work hard to find spare parts to keep its fleet in the air and officials have repeatedly emphasised the importance of moving towards self-sufficiency in defence. The United States last week announced new military pacts worth 20 billion dollars for Saudi Arabia, 13 billion dollars for Egypt and 30 billion for Israel in a bid to counter Iran's regional influence. Iran dismissed the deals as "fruitless" but insisted it was not worried by the moves.
Source: Agence France-Presse
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In Search Of A Radar Program
Arlington (UPI) Aug 06, 2007If there is one lesson U.S. defense planners should have learned from the frustrating campaign to take down al-Qaida since Sept. 11, 2001, it is the need for better intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. The military places all such awareness-enhancing activities under the rubric "ISR," and it tells a fairly convincing story about the steps that have been taken to improve capabilities. But when it comes time to allocate budget dollars, you have to wonder whether even now senior officials have gotten the message that without the ability to track stealthy, unconventional targets, we may never defeat global terrorism. |
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