Iran’s military plans to field a new light attack and training jet called the Kosar within 2.5 years, industry officials tell FlightGlobal on 18 July at the MAKS air show outside Moscow.
After a public roll-out last month, Iran Aviation Industries Organization (IAIO) displayed a scale model of the twin-engined, two-seat Kosar jet to an international audience for the first time in the MAKS exhibit halls.
The prototype Kosar is still involved in a half-year ground testing period before entering a five-year test programme, says Sarvar Mohammad, an IAIO manager. Iran launched the Kosar programme with an 50-aircraft order, he adds.
Featuring an 11m (36ft) wingspan and a familiar nose profile, the Kosar appears to follow in the tradition of Iran’s remanufacturing experience with the Northrop F-5, a 50-year-old fighter design that Iran manages to keep in service with a series of indigenous updates.
Iran will power the Kosar with two “J90” engines, which are a domestic adaptation of General Electric J85 turbojets fielded with the original F-5, Mohammad says.
In other respects, however, the Kosar is a different aircraft. It is listed in promotional brochures with a maximum take-off weight of 6,180kg (13,620lb), with is about half the size of an F-5. The empennage also represents a departure from the Northrop design, featuring a cruciform lay-out with the horizontal stabilizer placed at the top of the back end of the fuselage.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
