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.
Where's the propeller?
Note to Iranians: Please be sure to recycle all of your plastics so Iran can make more of these aeronautical wonders. Also wanted are your old PC monitors, televisions, car batteries, fans, and any paint and glue you wish to dispose of. You will be given a receipt and voucher to redeem not one, but two virgins at your local recycling center for your contributions!
I was expected to see comments from "experts", e.g. someone who has flow it or helped design it (they outsource much of that to Europe and the US. But instead, the comments seem to be from people who once built one (or similar) when plaing GI Joe.
These are the new target drones for the United States Military,thank you Iran !
Should have named it the Potemkin-313 fighter plane.
I sure hope those console cables don't get hit or come loose during flight. Even automobile manufacturuers know better than leave a cable exposed and unsecured like that.
the prime contractor is Industrial Light and Magic
I've seen film of "The Toy' flying. That's more than can be said for the F22 and the F35. So, how many of your tax dollars went into the Changebots that the US has spent Trillions on and already canceled the F22 and grounded all F35's?
In the re "film" of the toy flying – assuming you are referring to the one currently on YouTube – what you see is a few seconds of something flying in the distance – nothing more. No take-off roll, nothing else.In fact
As far as the F-35 being grounded – the ones grounded are the VTOL model – the B version. The A and C are still flying and would probably make mincemeat out of thsi turkey – assuming itis flying at all.
Speaking of GI Joe, while this is indeed funny, it’s still not as funny as that time Al-Qaeda released a photo of a US soldier they had allegedly ‘captured’, and it turned out to be a GI Joe doll! Now THAT was funny!
Sadly we've been one upped by the Australians who provided the best commentary on the "aircraft"
"It might be able to vibrate if you put 20 cents (AU) into it."
When I lived there, the going rate for a kiddie mall rude was !-2 AUD. Ouch.
feet restricted and obiosly no pedals, where is the joystick? does it fly itself?
The reason the seat is so small: they got this from in front of a supermarket. You put a coin in it and it moves about all three axis allowing you to pretend you are ‘Top Gun’. But you have to make your own gun, missile and engine sounds).
NOTE: I just read Bill’s comment about the Ausie’s comment about the kiddy ride. I had not seen the Ausie comment yet, so…not trying to take credit for someone else’s comment.
I'm no engineer but it doesn't look like it would have much fuel-carrying capacity. I don't know if you need stealth technology if the effective range of operation restricts it to defending the airport it took off from.
This thing might be from the same manufacturer as the one that built those fake fiberglass North Korean missiles.
That thing has got to be a total embarrassment to Iran. It's a joke. I doubt it even has an engine. Do they actually think they're going to scare us with toy models?
looks pretty kool to me. looks matter little thou. i sure hope iran gets some respect. last thing we need is to be fighting another war for the benefit of the israli's. thats what chimp and cheney did and it cost us 1 trillion dollars and 4000 american lives and god knows how much in future spending taking care of all the health benefits of wounded g.i.s for the rest of their lives.
Iran will never get respect until they learn to respect human rights and join the world community.