Iran Presents Its First Homegrown Fighter Jet

Iran unleashed the first domestically manufactured Yasin fighter jet on Thursday, which the country’s defense minister introduced as proof of the ineffectiveness of the U.S. sanctions on Iran.

“This sophisticated and advanced fighter jet was manufactured by domestic experts and conveys a clear message to the global arrogance that sanctions have had no effect on Iran," Minister of Defense Brigadier General Amir Hatami said in an unveiling ceremony of first Iranian-made fighter jet Yasin at the Noje airbase in the western province of Hamadan, on October 17.

He added that equipping the country's aviation fleet with an advanced, homegrown training fighter jet, dubbed ‘Yasin’ accelerates the production cycle of aviation power in industrial aspect, Tasnim news agency reported.

“The development of Yasin fighter jet has provided proper conditions for the materialization of objectives of resistance economy with a focus on ‘Boosting Domestic Production’ as emphasized by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution," he added.

The fighter jet Yasin was designed and built by Air Force Specialists of the Armed Forces and the Air Force of Iran and is slated for use as a training aircraft for educating fighter pilots. The training aircraft has made its first official flight over the Noje base on Thursday morning after undergoing final tests, Iranian Students’ News Agency reported.

The fighter jet measures 12 meters in length, four meters in height and weighs five and a half tons of cargo weight under operational take-off conditions and can ultimately fly up to 12 kilometers (km). It is equipped with a 7,000-pound turbo-jet powered jet engine, which is the world's leading in its class.

The length and width of Yasin's wing are designed to be over 10 meters and 24 meters respectively, which allows the jet to land at least 200 km/hour of speed as the world's best training jet of its kind and to take off at sea level. The presence of a fully rotating tail fin ensures the pilot full, unlimited maneuvers opportunities, including especially spin-off or rotational crash.

The cockpit is designed in tandem and non-level layout to provide a comfortable and wide field of view for the student in the front cabin, and in particular the pilot in the rear cabin. The launcher is capable of zero scratching on the runway, activated in any circumstance and launching passengers in a fraction of a second to 100 meters outside the aircraft. The runway required for landing is only 700 meters and the Yasin aircraft can even land on short bands.

“Iran is one of the few countries in the world that, while under sanctions, has managed to design and manufacture advanced training aircraft by relying on its most experienced and talented youth in cooperation with knowledge-based firms and private sector companies,” the defense minister said during the ceremony.