Iran buys fighter jets from Russia
Iran announced that it has finalized the purchase of Su-35 fighter jets, Yak-130 training aircraft and Mi-28 attack helicopters from Russia.
Speaking to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, Deputy Defense Minister Mehdi Ferhi announced that the agreement on the delivery of fighter jets and helicopters to be purchased from Russia has been concluded.
Ferhi said: “The arrival in the country of the Yak-130 training aircraft, Sukhoi-35 fighter aircraft and Mi-28 attack helicopter has been confirmed and the process continues.”
The news did not provide information on when the purchase agreement was concluded, how many aircraft would be delivered from Russia to Iran and when.
In accordance with the nuclear agreement signed by Tehran between the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and Germany in 2015, the international arms embargo that had been in force for 13 years was lifted in 2020. Iran then announced that it had initiated efforts to acquire Su-35 aircraft from Russia and that procurement procedures for the fighter jets had been completed in March. Later in July, Defense Minister Mohammed Reza Ashtiyani announced that they had paused the purchase but would re-evaluate it if they deemed it necessary.
The single-seat, twin-engine Su-35, designed by the Russian company Sukhoi, is used as a fourth-generation multirole fighter aircraft.
The Yak-130 advanced training aircraft, developed by the Russian company Yakovlev, is used to train pilots of fourth and fifth generation fighter aircraft. In its news on September 2, the Tesnim news agency announced that the Yak-130 was delivered to the Iranian Air Force and included images of the plane at an air base in Iran.
The Mi-28 helicopter produced by the company “Russia Helicopters” is also called a heavy attack helicopter.
Iran, which has long been unable to purchase fighter jets due to embargoes, has in its Air Force inventory old American-made F-4, F-5 and F-14 fighter jets and Russian Mig-29 and Su-24. (AA)