The HESA Shafaq or Shafagh (Persian: هواپیمای شفق, "Twilight" or "Aurora") is an Iranian subsonic stealth aircraft project being developed by the Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company (HESA).[1]
Shafaq | |
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Role | Trainer / Attack aircraft Type of aircraft |
National origin | Iran |
Manufacturer | Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company (HESA) |
Designer | Aviation University Complex |
First flight | 2017 (forecast, but not achieved) |
Status | Prototype |
Primary user | Iran |
Number built | One prototype |
Developed from | M-ATF |
According to reports, the Shafaq will be a subsonic aircraft, but this might be changed. Additionally, Iranian Officials have reported that the Shafaq will have a skin of radar-absorbing material.[citation needed]
This two-seat advanced training and attack aircraft appears to be based[2] on the Russian-Iranian "Project Integral" and are fitted with Russian ejection seats. Reportedly, there are plans to produce three versions—one two-seat trainer/light strike version and two one-seat fighter-bomber versions.[1]
The Shafaq is designed by the Aviation University Complex (AUC), part of the Malek-Ashtar University of Technology (MUT). At the start of the program, Iran received help from Russia[2] and the aircraft was known as Integral. Russia later backed away from this project for several reasons[citation needed] and Iran carried on the project by itself renaming it Shafaq. The Shafaq is designed as a sub-sonic aircraft,[2] and made of radar-absorbing material. It has a large leading edge root extension (LERX) and a root aft of the wing which gives it an unusual circular sub-section.[1]
A 1/7 scale model of the Shafaq has already completed testing in the AUC's wind tunnel and pictures have already been revealed which show that a full-scale model has already been built.[2] The Shafaq will be built in different configurations including a two-seater trainer, a two-seater light Attack and a one-seater light attack variants. Roll-out of the first prototype was scheduled for 2008.[citation needed] The Shafaq's advanced cockpit features color MFDs and a Russian-made K-36D ejection seat.
According to AIO (Aerospace Industries Organisation), the aircraft was expected to be flight tested during 2017, and featuring twin, outwardly canted vertical fins. This type of a tail design has become a favoured aerodynamic feature of Iranian designers that dates back to the development of the reverse-engineered Iranian version of the Northrop F-5, the HESA Saeqeh.[3]
Data from Trend[4]
General characteristics
Performance
Armament
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
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Northrop N-9M (United States) and Horten Ho 229 (Nazi Germany) are the first propeller-powered and jet-powered flying wing-stealth aircraft in the world, respectively. |