Iran’s unveiling of what it says is its first “domestically designed and produced” fighter jet has been overshadowed by claims that the aircraft is actually a re-purposed US-built fighter from the 1970s.
The fighter jet, dubbed the “Kowsar”, was unveiled by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who claimed that Iranian military experts had designed the fourth generation jet.
However, CNBC reports that aviation experts were quick to dispute Iran’s assertions, with many claiming that “the design is that of the US-made F-5F jet, first built in the early 1970s”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Joseph Dempsey, a research associate for Military Balance, a defence and military analysis group, took to Twitter to show a side-by-side comparison of the US-built F-5 and Iran’s new fighter jet (pictured above).
The Jerusalem Post notes that Tehran bought “104 F-5As and 23 F-5Bs in 1972 from the United States and 166 F-5E/Fs four years later”.
-
Israel: Losing the American publicFeature A recent poll finds American support for Israel's military action in Gaza has fallen from 50% to 32%
-
Unmaking AmericansFeature Trump is threatening to revoke the citizenship of foreign-born Americans. Could he do that?
-
EPA: A bonfire of climate change regulationsFeature The Environmental Protection Agency wants to roll back its 'endangerment finding,' a ruling that lets the agency regulate carbon emissions
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
Iran still has enriched uranium, Israeli official saysSpeed Read It remains unclear how long it would take Iran to rebuild its nuclear program following US and Israeli attacks
-
IAEA: Iran could enrich uranium 'within months'Speed Read The chief United Nations nuclear inspector, Rafael Grossi, says Iran could be enriching uranium again soon
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
Iran nukes program set back months, early intel suggestsSpeed Read A Pentagon assessment says US bombing of Iranian nuclear sites only set the program back by months, not years. This contradicts President Donald Trump's claim.
-
Trump says Iran and Israel agreed to ceasefireSpeed Read This followed a night of Israeli airstrikes on Tehran and multiple waves of missiles fired by Iran
-
How developed was Iran's nuclear program and what's left now?Today's Big Question Israel and the United States have said different things about Iran's capabilities
-
Trump gives himself 2 weeks for Iran decisionSpeed Read Trump said he believes negotiations will occur in the near future
