Iran has remodelled one of the warplanes in its fleet and successfully test flown the aircraft, state-run media reported on Wednesday.
The reports did not specify which plane had been remodelled but pictures on state television of the re-designed plane indicated it was based on a United States-built F-5.
Iran still uses planes, such as the F-5, supplied by the United States to the government of the former shah of Iran, a close US ally. Mohammad Reza Shah was toppled in the 1979 Islamic revolution, after which Washington severed ties with Iran.
The remodelled plane is called the Saeqeh, or Thunderbolt. Iran has a home-built missile in its arsenal with the same name.
”For the first time, the Saeqeh fighter plane carried out a mission to bomb virtual enemy targets on Wednesday in north-west of Iran,” Ataollah Salehi, commander-in-chief of Iran’s regular army, told the official IRNA news agency.
He said Iran had not received outside help to modify the plane.
The television pictures on Wednesday showed the Saeqeh flying alongside an F-5.
The main difference appeared to be that the Saeqeh had two tail fins as opposed to the single fin on the F-5. Iran often says it has built new weapons or modified existing arms but rarely gives enough details for analysts to determine their capabilities.
Analysts say much of Iran’s weaponry is outmoded but also say the country has developed skills in modifying arms supplied from abroad, such as missiles from North Korea.
Iran has been staging land, sea and air war games since August 19. Some of the manoeuvres have taken place in the Gulf, a key oil shipping route, and analysts say Iran wants to show it could act, if pushed, over its nuclear stand-off with the West. – Reuters