World trembles in confusion and/or fear at Iran's fiberglass airplane

I happened to flip past Fox News on Saturday and caught their coverage of this aircraft. The Iranian claims about the aircraft were presented in a serious and menacing fashion. Their coverage reminds me of the US policy of trumpeting a huge imbalance of power favoring the USSR back in the Reagan years.

The 'plug' at the back seems about the right size for an ICBM. Maybe the idea is to fit this contraption in front of an ICBM and then crash it into targets while people are still confused why the plane is angling for the ground.<p>Can't see how else it would work!

Why would all those labels, like the labels on the "engine plug" be in English and not Persian? I mean, unless this thing were meant to be consumed by an english speaking audience...

Some funny things I noticed:<p><pre><code> It looks like they built in 2 or 3 car radio systems. When the pilot is sitting in his chair he can't reach the controls in front of him. The exhaust will melt the body. The canopy doesn't give a clear view.</code></pre>

I think people are mistaking a flying bomb for an actual fighter aircraft. The goal would be to overwhelm naval resources in the cramped gulf. If you have enough people willing to do one way missions, a different sort of chariot is in mind. Considering the massed wave tactics of the Iran-Iraq war, I don't think they were thinking of making something to show at the Paris Air Show between the Lockheed and EADS booths.

There's an official video here <a href="http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/02/02/286841/iran-unveils-new-indigenous-fighter-jet/" rel="nofollow">http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/02/02/286841/iran-unveils-...</a><p>Iran's state media is hilarious.

This is described as a "fighter plane" but I fail to see how you could attach any destructive payload on such a tiny plane. The wings are so small that anything attached underneath would severely impair airflow

This thing has more in common with a homebuilt kit plane like a Vans RV-8 than it does with a modern fighter jet. No HUD, and the rest of the c<i></i>*pit looks like it is made out of styrofoam and plywood. The exhaust doesn't even have a variable nozzle, let alone thrust vectoring. The exterior is absurd, I know that LO coatings and materials take special application, but they should at least be able to have a non-wavy surface. I'll second the opinion of most other people, I doubt this thing actually flies, and if it does manage to fly I'll bet its performance is dismal.

This was posted on reddit a few days ago and was called a giant hoax / RC controlled. Any deeper insight on this? The pilot seat looks way to small, and there are no landing or take off videos either.

I have a hard time believing anything Iran releases to the "media" as anything but propaganda until proven otherwise.<p>Is this suppose to be functional plane? Prototype? Mockup? Until this thing is seen in the least flying this isn't even cause for a second look.<p>While i am 100% american and other countries are following this i can bet with almost the same certainty that they are in no way in "fear" of it. In comparison to there nuclear program this is a mere side note.<p>IMO this thing looks like it will fly about as well as a whale, but then again i am no aerospace engineer.

I used to doubt stuff like this, but Iran did built their own uranium centrifuges.<p>Also seemly they did captured some drones, and this would be plenty of material to reverse engineer.

...this joke aside, I really wonder how the first 3d printed / milled aircraft will look like (I mean put together entirely from printed components using a home-brewed or bought from ebay 3d printer and metal mill) <i>...and then I imagine someone getting their hands on some "printable" cruise missile schemes and printing one his garage - scary shit...</i>

The plane as a whole is clearly non-functional but there are parts that are from a real aircraft. Where do you think that landing gear came from? Certainly not the downed RQ-170...?

This is an embarrassing and desperate stunt from the Iranian establishment. They are clearly aiming this at an uneducated voter base who outnumber those who know the reality.

Whether points made about the aircraft are valid or not, the tone of the article is very biased. As if only the idea of inventing your own modern airplane is ridiculous, let alone iran could do such a thing. I highly doubt iran is not aware of the (critique &#38;&#38;) attention it gets with this news and their space monkey.

Ha! The Iranians are trying to pretend to be a military superpower. Iran is so backwards that the country can barely keep their planes flying. It takes an open minded culture to achieve technological advancement. The brightest people may come from anywhere, from any background, sex, or sexual preference. If you don't embrace everyone an open mind, you will never have the top talent working for you.<p>Now I do believe that North Korea could make great scientific and technological strides on its own. Its economy may be faltering, but I suspect their culture seeks out the very brightest people &#38; puts them to work on very hard problems.