Iran’s obsession with space

Asher Moses at SMH reports:

Fresh from controversy over a suspicious space-faring monkey, Iran is now under fire over a suspect stealth fighter jet breakthrough that one Australian defence analyst said “looks like it might make a noise and vibrate if you put 20 cents in”.

Unveiling the Qaher F313 (Dominant F313) earlier this month, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad described it as “among the most advanced fighter jets in the world” with features including the ability to evade detection by radar and hit both ground and air targets.

Aviation experts have questioned whether the jet shown can even fly as it was too small to accommodate a real pilot and the controls and wiring looked too simple.

It also lacked the bolts and rivets found on all aircraft and offered wonky aerodynamics.

“It looks like the Iranians dumped some rudimentary flight controls and an ejection seat into a shell moulded in what they thought were stealthy angles,” wrote Foreign Policy magazine.

Andrew Davies, senior defence analyst and director of research at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said the jet was a “laughable fake”.

“It looks like it might make a noise and vibrate if you put 20 cents in,” he told Fairfax Media.

The monkey that changed appearance was laughable enough, but this takes the cake. You wonder if those in charge are morons, or just think everyone else is? Fourth formers could do better fakes!

“I can see (almost) how North Korea gets away with transparent nonsense due to isolation, but Iran has a population that’s much more switched on and connected, at least in the cities.

Hopefully it will lead to greater unrest amongst the population. People don’t like a Government that lies and turns their country into a laughing stock.