Introduction – Nov 30, 2023
Su-35.Click to enlarge
It has been a long time coming but it is now finally confirmed.
The deal for Iran to acquire Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets, Mil Mi-28 attack helicopters, and Yak-130 jet trainers from Russia is a major development that marks a further deepening of ties between Moscow and Tehran.
Although Iran’s ground forces, its air defences, radars and missile systems are capable enough, its air force has long been notably deficient; lacking in modern air supremacy fighters and advanced helicopter gun ships.
Until recently the Iranian Air Force’s most modern fighters were Mig-29s, acquired from Russia nearly thirty years ago.
The greater part of its air supremacy fighters are Gruman F-14s, which although equipped with updated Iranian avionics and missile systems are still nearly fifty years old.
While Iran did develop its own light helicopter gun ships, these were reverse engineered based on the Bell attack helicopters that Tehran has bought from the U.S. in the early seventies.
In essence, although effective against Western backed groups opposed to the Ayatollahs, such as the Kurds and groups fighting to restore the Shah, Iranian air power is still antiquated and largely based on designs dating back decades. It is certainly no match for modern U.S. or Israeli airpower.
Iran’s deal with Russia will change that and it has undoubtedly caused alarm in Washington and Tel Aviv..
It may take some time before Iran takes delivery of all the fighters, trainers and helicopter gun-ships and then trains its pilots to fly them. So during that time Israel could still launch a pre-emptive strike on Iran.
Although given the bloody nose the IDF has just received from far less well-equipped adversaries in Gaza, we suspect that Israel will likely think twice about launching any such strike. However, with extreme nature of the Jewish supremacists currently in command in Tel Aviv nothing can be ruled out.
Finally, the deal also serves Russia’s interests. With mounting Western threats building up on its borders, Russia needs a stable ally on its southern border with the Caspian Sea, which it shares with Iran.
So it’s in Russia’s interests to ensure that Western-backed regime change doesn’t take place in Tehran. Ed
Iran’s Armed Forces say arrangements finalized for delivery of Russian military aircraft
Press TV – Nov 28, 2023
Mil Mi-28 attack helicopter. Click to enlarge
Iran’s Armed Forces have finalized arrangements for delivery of a number of advanced Russian-made aircraft, including Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets, as Tehran and Moscow forge closer military relations.
Brigadier General Mehdi Farahi, Iran’s deputy defense minister, made the announcement in an interview with Tasnim news agency on Tuesday, saying plans have been finalized for Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets, Mil Mi-28 attack helicopters, and Yak-130 jet trainers to join the combat units of Iran’s Army.
Farahi added that the three advanced military aircraft “will definitely arrive in Iran and the process [of their delivery] is currently under way.”
The Iranian general stressed that the Islamic Republic has the strongest fleet of military helicopters in the region in terms of quantity and has upgraded the capabilities of its choppers after several projects.
“In the field of helicopters, we have good capabilities; that is why we are the best in the region in terms of quantity, but the qualitative improvement of helicopters is on the agenda,” Farahi said.
The Su-35 fighter jet, powered by a pair of Saturn AL-41F1S turbofan engines, is capable of detecting an aerial target up to 400 km away and can track 30 airborne targets and engage eight of them simultaneously.
Mil Mi-28 attack helicopter, known as ‘Night Hunter’, has a speed of about 320 km/h and is equipped with two turboshaft engines, each producing 2500 horsepower.
The Yak-130 is a subsonic two-seat advanced jet trainer and light combat aircraft originally developed by Russian aircraft designer and manufacturer Yakovlev. It can perform light-attack and reconnaissance duties, carrying a combat load of 3,000 kg.
Iran and Russia, as two close and strategic allies, have over the past years deepened their relations in various fields, including military and defense, despite being under heavy Western sanctions.
Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri announced in September that Tehran and Moscow were working to draw up a long-term military cooperation agreement in the near future as the world was moving towards an increasingly multipolar order, which stressed the need for enhancement of ties between the two countries.
Baqeri emphasized the need for cooperation in training, exchange of cadets as well as staging joint military exercises.
Iranian military experts and engineers have in recent years made remarkable breakthroughs in manufacturing a broad range of indigenous equipment, making the armed forces self-sufficient.
Iranian officials have made clear that the country will not hesitate to strengthen its military capabilities, including its missile power, which are entirely meant for defense, and that Iran’s defense capabilities will be never open for negotiations.
The cooperation between Russia, Iran and China along with countries like North Korea and Venezuela as well as many other countries that are slowly getting away from US/NATO/ZION means that Iran does not need to have and keep nukes. Iran can build them in a short time anyway, and there is no need because:
As explained before, main points of deterrence doctrine are:
1- Balance of terror (To be able to scare your enemy!)
2- Flexible response (To have many response options against an enemy action and thus able to surprise)
3- Big Retaliation/pay back (To be able to respond an enemy action with a bigger counter-action and maintaining secondary strike capability)
4- Total war (Ability to manage escalation effectively and being able to drag the situation to total annihilation or total war)
Nukes are not as scary as they used to be. Evil child killer leaders of the world are more scared of precision sure-strike missiles or drones with just about enough explosives to cleanly take them out with no collateral damage! : ) Nukes are weapons for the evil end, until then you need flexible response! They say Zion dropped explosives equal to a nuke over Gaza. Iran can level Zion with sure-strike missiles or can destroy Demona already. This mean nukes are overrated, Zion can not deter Iran with them and Iran is doing all it does with no nukes!
Syed Ali Khamenei leader of Resistance Axis have said over ~14 times that Iran does not need nukes and is only interested in nuclear energy. Interestingly ~12 years ago he also said: “We want to prove that having nuclear weapons does not create power. Because those countries that have these weapons are afflicted with serious problems, and they became dominant by threat of these weapons, however nuclear threat has no use anymore, we want to say that we neither seek nuclear weapons nor see them as a source of power/authority and we can break any authority based on nuclear weapons.”
سلاح هستهای، قدرتآفرین نیست
ما میخواهیم به دنیا اثبات کنیم که داشتن سلاح هستهای، قدرتآفرین نیست؛ به دلیل اینکه قدرتهائی که سلاح هستهای دارند، امروز دارای سختترین مشکلاتند. آنها با تهدید هستهای بر دنیا مسلط شدند، اما امروز این تهدید دیگر کاربرد ندارد. ما میخواهیم بگوئیم ما دنبال سلاح هستهای نیستیم و اقتدار را در سلاح هستهای نمیدانیم و اقتدار متکی به سلاح هستهای را هم میتوانیم بشکنیم. **بیانات در دیدار دانشمندان هستهای ۱۳۹۰/۱۲/۰۳
If we are to trust what Khamenai is saying, then he is going to prove to the world that nukes are indeed useless and haram and Iran can defeat its enemies in style without nukes.
Many said Khamenai would never contradict his own Fatwa, but enemies said these Shia are doing Taqia which means they are hiding their intention. Now this concept was for the time when being discovered as a Shia would kill you, not today that Shia actually has a country and such devout allies!
my two tomans
As I am writing this Venezuela might be already attacking Guyana, which is a US slave country with massive oil reserves. If this happens US will have another problem in its own backyard.
The “only” advantage of F35 over Su35 is its radar and ability to engage from very far away, that’s it. The Mil28 is a proven helicopter and is probably the best in its class. Having said that, if Iran had no sure-strike missiles and drones and only had Su35s and Helicopters it would be extremely weak and incapable of deterring its enemies effectively.
Nearly 24 years ago, Iran tested its first Kamikaze drone, there is a video of Nasullah along with Suleimani and other IRGC commanders who are at the scene of testing the drone, it dives into a flag of Zion! I might post that video as well. Iran’s first weaponized drone was used in Saddam(Iraq)-Iran war. The drone could launch standard RPGs, and there is also a very old video of this available.
About two years before war in Ukraine, Iranian general Hajizadeh met with Russian general Sergey Surovikin (general Armageddon) explaining potential of drones and then offering him drone-command for space-command in return, then they shake hands! (https://youtu.be/EmzQ5J75G1Y)
Here is what General McKenzie former head of CENTCOM during his testify before the House Armed Services Committee on 20th of April 2021 had to say in his own exact words:
“The CENTCOM area of responsibility is the most cyber-contested theater in the world; it is also a proving ground for the proliferation and employment of unmanned weaponized systems, many emanating from Iran. This difficult and complex operational environment provides units inside CENTCOM opportunities to operate and to conduct realistic training within an environment that exists nowhere else in the world.” (https://youtu.be/lGe0Pyabwa0)
Also Scott Ritter recently confirmed that NATO/US rely on legacy systems and are far behind in development and utilization of small and medium sized drones.
It would be stupid for Iran and Russia not to develop a joint project for small or medium sized air-combat capable drone as this is the future without any doubt!
Today a number of EU countries have made long term military deals with Iran, it appears that Serbia is one. As NATO becomes weaker, these countries are drawn closer to Russia, Iran, China alliance. Belarus also has entered a long term cooperation with Iran, on their TV they said they need drones from Iran and in exchange they are providing mass-upgrades for Iranian tanks, apparently they are really strong in Tank maintenance and have a large infrastructure for it.
Iran is likely providing the new Shahed 238 to Russia as well which is a TurbJet Shahed that can climb higher altitudes and avoid MANPADs and also is likely much faster and can carry larger payloads, however with half the range of Shahed 136 and will lack the signature sound!
The two key things that Iran is getting from Russia are related to Space technology and South Pole, because Iran actually has a legal south pole claim as it is possible to draw a straight line from its shore to Antarctica with no obstacles in between! This is a UN rule apparently.
China can easily start its invasion of Taiwan any time now, the time is ripe. we have to see how things develop.
my two tomans
But submarine based nukes could be a whole different kettle of fish ?
Was it 4 tomans, then?
But I do like what two tomans said–we noticed decades ago that Britain has nukes but turns to shit even so
It’s all good and well having the planes but as the Iranians found out in the war with Iraq all those years ago you need the pilots !! I think that they are much better off investing in the drones , they don’t need superhuman brains and fitness to fly and are extremely effective.. not to mention cheap !!