HESA Shafaq (Before the Dawn)

History

The Shafaq (formerly "Integral", which translates to "before dawn") is a two-seat light multirole fighter of Russian origin. As U.S. ties with itself unravel, Iran maintains stronger military ties with Russia, buying millions of dollars in equipment from the northern nation over decades. Until recently, the Islamic state has struggled to produce domestic military products with little outside help. The Shafaq is intended as a multi-purpose airframe, starting with a basic design, with three different aircraft types proposed for construction.

It is said to be a two-seat premium trainer (retaining its punching capabilities), a two-seat light attack aircraft and a single-seat light attack aircraft. Regardless, the Shafaq will be available in any configuration requested by the Iranian Air Force.

Iran worked with Russian officials early in the Integral program, which eventually resulted in Shafaq. In some sort of professional exchange program between the two countries, Russian officials from Mikoyan and Sukhoi were sent to Iran to help develop a new light fighter jet.

Officials were quick to note that despite mentioning Russian involvement in early parts of the plan, Shafak was entirely of Iranian design. The plane itself was designed at the Aeronautical University complex, and at some point, for undisclosed reasons, ties with Russia fell apart, leading the Iranians to complete the project alone. The resulting aircraft became the Shafaq, presented as a smaller 1/7 scale wind tunnel model that eventually resulted in a full-scale model. A patent related to the design was granted in 2001, and the design was shown to the public sometime in 2003.

The planned maiden flight is scheduled for 2004, although arguably this has happened before, as the first prototype was due to be completed sometime in 2008, so it is unclear whether that target date was also met.

The Shafaq is said to provide stealth qualities by using a specially coated radar-absorbing skin to delay the radar signal, so it is less noticeable to active radar. It has two Russian-brand (K-36D series) ejection seats for two crew members - sitting side by side with the front pilot and the rear radar operator/instructor - and a full-fledged, comparable to Western fighter jets.

Glass digital cockpit such type. The two-seat layout is only available in the two-seat Shafaq configuration.

Like most other new military developments from Iran, there is little public data available for Shafak. Power will reportedly come from a single Russian Klimov RD-33 turbofan engine, providing about 11,230 lbf of thrust (or possibly a homegrown version of the American J79 engine, a technique the Iranians have historically used).

Top speed is estimated to be around 715 mph, service is capped at 55,040 feet, and the climb rate is 21,650 feet per minute. However, there were conflicting reports when it came to deciding whether Shafak was supersonic or subsonic.

At this point, it is assumed that the weapons include the classes of missile systems "Fatter" Shahbaz" and "Sattar".

Judging from the scale model photos available and possibly the only completed prototype, the Shafaq bears a striking resemblance to the proposed YF-17 Cobra light fighter. The YF-17 was a competitor to the U.S. light aircraft program, leading to the selection of General Dynamics' excellent F-16 Fighting Falcon. The YF-17 Cobra was eventually redesigned to be the production version of the larger carrier-based multirole McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 fighter.

The Shafaq maintains a similar exterior design approach to the YF-17, except for the oval surface at the rear of the cockpit, which is also comparable to the Northrop F-5 Tiger in overall design. The two crew members sit under a three-piece canopy with a nose assembly at the front that is undoubtedly home to the internal radar. The main wing is a bit short, swinging on both the leading and trailing edges. The large fuselage area and wings allow the use of up to seven hardpoints, three of which are below the fuselage, the remaining four are wings, and two are on the wings.

The tail is conventional by modern standards, with two outwardly sloping vertical tails and a pair of horizontal planes flanked by swept and truncated wingtips. Air intakes are mounted on the sides of the fuselage and suck in a single engine buried deep in the system.

The air intakes are rectangular in shape and slope inward to conform to the sides of the fuselage. The landing gear is conventional, consisting of a pair of single-wheel main legs and a single-wheel nose landing gear leg.

It is worth noting that funding for the program has reportedly come from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, not the regular army.

Specification

Basic

Production

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Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Changes