Iran Reports Test of New Fighter Jet
Pastor Dale Morgan
Iran Reports Test of New Fighter Jet*
The Associated Press
Thursday, September 20, 2007; 4:22 PM
TEHRAN, Iran -- Iranian air force pilots made successful test flights
Thursday in two of Iran's new domestically manufactured fighter jet, the
official Islamic Republic News Agency said.
IRNA said the Saegheh jet is a new generation of the Azarakhsh class of
fighter planes. Both Azarakhsh and Saegheh mean lightening in Farsi.
An Iranian Saegheh fighter jet lands during a test flight, at t Tehran's
Mehrabad airport, Iran, Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007. Iranian air force
pilots on Thursday successfully completed a test flight of two of the
domestically manufactured fighter jets, the official Islamic Republic
News Agency reported. (AP Photo/Soureh Photo Agency)
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"The test flights of a new generation of Azarakhsh jet fighters, called
the Saegheh, were completed by brave pilots from Iran's air force,"
Iran's defense minister, Gen. Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, was quoted as
saying by IRNA. "The two will officially join the air force on Saturday."
State television showed video of the two blue jets, each with one pilot,
taking off and landing. It said the flights each lasted 15 minutes.
The jet was first tested in 2006 and is derived from re-engineered
components of U.S. combat aircraft. Iran exhibited the plane last year
during large-scale military exercises, claiming the Saegheh is similar
to the American F-18 fighter but more powerful.
Iran said in August that it had begun industrial-scale production of the
fighter as part of its efforts to become militarily self-sufficient
after decades of relying on foreign weapons.
Since 1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers
and missiles, the government says. It announced in early 2005 that it
had begun making torpedoes.