Aviation Industry
The Islamic revolution resulted in the departure of more than
40,000 American military advisors from Iran. In March 1979, the
U.S. government banned any further foreign military sales or
transfers to Iran, and by November 1979, the U.S. government
officially suspended all licenses for export to Iran. Compounding
Irans problems, Iraq invaded in September 1980.
Sanctions forced Iran toward self-sufficiency in operating,
maintaining, repairing, and modifying its existing American-built
systems. The regular air force was at the forefront of these
efforts; it was the military branch most dependent on American
assistance.
The regular air force initially decided to produce aircraft spare
parts for its own use. Teams of experts established relationships
with local universities and technical schools, and by the final
stages of the Iran-Iraq War, the regular air forces
Self-Sufficiency Jihad Directorate (originally named the Industrial
Research Unit) had established depot-level maintenance shops in
several air bases around the country. These shops were responsible
for repairing systems worn out or damaged by the war.
While doing depot-level maintenance and repair, regular air force
experts drew up blueprints for aircraft parts, so that they might
be reverse-engineered using methods similar to those used by China.
A close relationship developed between the military-industrial
complexes of the two countries. Many Western systems were shared
with Beijing, which in turn helped Iran set up production lines for
the local manufacture of these parts.
Today, Irans aviation industry produces modern flight avionics and
communications gear, two types of engines, airframes, in-flight
refueling gear, and flight simulators. In addition, the regular air
force has produced a variety of ordnance, including both dumb and
guided bombs, and air-to-air, air-to-ground, and surface-to-air
missiles, including the Fatter air-to-air missile (a Sidewinder
look-alike), the Sedjil (an air-to-air version of the Hawk
surface-to-air missile), the AGM-379/20 Zoobin, the GBU-67/B Qadr,
and the Sattar laser-guided air-to-ground missile.
The regular air force has also begun producing aircraft. Recent
examples include the Tazarve jet-trainer and Saegheh fighter (the
latter is based on the F-5E, but has a twin vertical tail
configuration to improve takeoff and maneuvering performance). Both
aircraft are still in the prototype stage, and Iranian industry has
a ways to go to establish a viable design/production base.
As for the Revolutionary Guards air force, it has improved its
technical base by concentrating most of its capability in a
semicorporate entity, the Pars Aviation Services Company, which not
only maintains the Revolutionary Guards air forces own combat and
transport fleet, but also offers its services to local airlines
that operate seventeen Tupolev Tu-154 passenger planes. Yet despite
making major strides in this area, Iran continues to experience
problems in maintaining its aging fleet of military and civilian
aircraft, and it has experienced a number of major aviation
disasters in the past decade.
