President Stresses Need for Wider Plans to Produce All Air Industry Needs

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stressed the necessity for the country to do more planning to produce and supply the needs of the air industry domestically.

Addressing a ceremony to mark the National Day of the Defense Industry here in Tehran on Tuesday, President Ahmadinejad pointed to the ongoing researches in the field of air industry, and stated, “We should be able to reach a point in the next two 5-year development plans to develop all our needed capabilities in the air sector inside the country.”

Iran has recently made good progress in the air industry and has succeeded in gaining the technical know-how for producing stealth aircraft and drones.

The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) possesses new generations of aircraft, and continues updating their electronic warfare, radars and smart ammunition.

In the latest achievement in the air industry, a strategic Mig-29 fighter jet of the Iranian Army conducted its test flight successfully on August 4 after being overhauled by local experts.

The aircraft which was down for 12 years could experience its first flight after it was overhauled at Shaheed Fakouri air base in Iran’s Northwestern city of Tabriz, which took 21,000 man/hour of work.

The Iranian experts spent 24 months to overhaul the strategic fighter jet and mounted three types of modern electronic systems onto the aircraft in a bid to increase its technical and backup capabilities.