First it was monkeys in space (or not) and now it’s “GI Joe” fighter jets. Not the best of times for Iran’s aviation and aerospace programs, at least if you listen to the skeptics.
First there were doubts about Tehran’s claim it sent a monkey into space in late January. After photos of two different monkeys that were aboard the alleged one-monkey space shot surfaced, Iran media said there was a photo mix-up and, yes, there was just one Iranian monkey in space.
Then this week Iran unveiled what it said was its new high-tech stealth fighter plane. The jet shown in pictures on the website of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been the butt of jokes all week from aviation bloggers.
“This aircraft looks a lot like an old GI Joe toy,” wrote one blogger.
And from another, “This has to be a joke, right?”
Click through the gallery above to see the bloggers' comments and evidence in the photos.
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Since GIJoe toys were based off US aircraft.. saying it looks like one is not really saying much.
I suspect the bloggers in question are tech geeks, not aircraft designers... and thus if the fighter is not branded correctly it must be junk.
Granted it still probably is not up to modern standards, but how many countries can build them in the first place?
Daremonai, those drawings you did as a child of airplanes were also based on American warplanes but your father and I never expected any of them to actually fly.
XOXOXO
Mom
Daremonai's Mom,
BEST................ COMMENT........................... EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Awesome comment, Mom!
OMG.... hahahahaha.......
Dude, it's not even a real plane!
Does it actually fly? I mean photos are nice but there isn't one so far that shows the thing in the air.
Send it to Boston. The wind will pick it up.
They haven't attached the wires yet.
There is no truth to the rumor that they tried to wrap this shell around our drone and show it in the air.
Its foolish to assume & pretend that there are no scientists or engineers and researchers in countries other than USA, Britian , France & Germany. And that other nations do not make progress in technology.
Those are pretty much the only countries aside from Russia and China that can actually produce fighter grade aircraft. It’s ludicrous to assume that a country like Iran is even remotely capable of producing a fighter that is the equivalent of the F-22. The US has decades of experience in developing fighter aircraft and Iran has none. The best fighters Iran has are the F-14’s we sold them back in the 70s. They are a country of lies and propaganda and are basically warning the world not to mess with them because they have an equivalent air force. It’s simply a scare tactic because they know their military is inferior.
alan, thats a terrible assumption. assuming that any country doesnt have the capability of designing sophisticated technology or carrying out a decent war is what results in catastrophes such as pearl harbor or little big horn. besides, last time i checked russia and iran are allies.
good to see you finished your homework . LOL
It is foolish to assume that a country with no experience designing fighter aircraft suddenly popped out a state of the art stealth fighter.
Arick, I think you meant to say "pooped out"...
saywhat, sure, LOTS of countries are known for making great aircraft. Just not Iran. I'm sorry, but the odds that they could just up and create a good one with no prior track record of doing so is approximately 0%.
Other countries make fighter jets. Israel for one. Plus you think these countries can't outsource to Lockheed International subsidiary?
So it is not a real fighter plane, and they did not even try hard to make it look like one – I do not need some "aviation bloggers" to see photo 7 showing that canopy is too big and would ruin plane's aerodinamics if it was real. So what exactly does it tell us?
"Photos of two different monkeys...." – hillarious! Who cares! I have not even looked that that photo: I have seen monkeys before, I do not really care about how they look!
Don't planes like this need an engine to work?
Iranian engineer: "D'oh!"
Daqmn. You solved the engineering problem for them. All the Iranian engineers were wondering why it wouldn't 'go'.
k u get a little sticker for ur stupid comment.
stupid iranians
Now now, let's be fair, not all of them, just the government with the propaganda agenda. They gave Iranian a bad name.
Some of the smartest people I know are from Iran, they are not stupid people. They do however have a horrible government. Not unlike our own now that I think about it.
Here's Iran's chance to try out their new fighter against Israel's F15 E or F16. Syria wasn't up to the challenge.
Yep@CHR.
Our donation to them and our tax payers largess in the name of The Lord.
With the intake position the way it is, this baby will have compressor stalls at high angles of attack. this thing will fly nice as long as you treat it gently, but hey, it's a fighter right? get into a furball and the engines will quit and you will drop. Great design!
Does it comes with a charger?
Yes a pin wheel pops up and spins the generator, sorry just 1 USB
Wait, was that the prop plane from the movie Firefox? Better get Clint Eastwood here to put an empty chair next to it and yell at it.
Now, that's funny! I don't care who you are!
Gotta love the English "DANGER" decals!!
I know right.. lol.. this is Jay Leno's joke writers dream come true lol...
DANGER.... Hell, ALL the labels are in english. Remove before flight on the Pitot Tube.. No Push on the gear door... All of them are.
Yet this is a DOMESTICALLY PRODUCED fighter aircraft, huh? Commercial I could see English labels as that is the international language, but on a one off state of the art High Tech fighter that will never land in another country!?!?!
Insert Forehead Slap here>>>>
They reverse engineered it from that old G.I. Joe toy.
I am not an aeronautical expert – but these pics are hysterical. Pic #6 – it looks like they have an aftermarket car audio system in there (bet its not iPhone compatible). And the wingspan seems too short as well. Oh wait!! I Know what it is – its something they stole from a game arcade somewhere and made it look like a real plane. Poor job at that even...
Lul. I said the exact same thing about the "stereo".
That's hillarious! That looks like something the right brothers themselves built.
Wright you are!!!
More like the Wrong Brothers.
the wright brothers would have made one that can fly.. i'd be surprised if the tires were real rubber on this one.. lol
It looks like a toy! Good point from one of the remarks in the photos on how there are no screws or rivets to hold it together. Have they created a new way to hold jets together from the inside that the rest of the world has not? The comment on all the cool things is good too. It has every aviation aerodynamic invention featured in the past 20 years. I will venture to guess the jet does not even exist and this is the usual Iranian propaganda machine trying to garner support inside its borders. Just like the monkey in space.
Please do not comment if you are clueless. I'm not saying this plane will ever fly, but no modern stealth aircraft has rivets or screws that are visible. Visible screws and rivets are not stealthy at all.