Posted on 04/04/2006 10:04:02 PM PDT by demlosers
TEHERAN: Iran successfully tested a "super-modern flying boat" yesterday and the land-to-sea Kowsar missile that military analysts say is designed to sink ships in the Gulf, state media reported.
The tests came in the middle of the country's Gulf war games that started on Friday. State radio said the Kowsar could evade radar and that its guidance system could not be scrambled.
The Defence Ministry was not immediately able to give details of a "flying boat" that was shown on television. The small propeller-driven aircraft floated on a trimaran hull until it took off and flew low over the surface of the water. State television said it could reach speeds of 100 knots.
"A super-modern flying boat was successfully tested in the 'Great Prophet' war game in Persian Gulf waters," state television said.
"Because of its hull's advanced design, no radar at sea or in the air can locate it. It can lift out of the water. It is wholly domestically built and can launch missiles with precise targeting while moving."
The military exercise is being held as pressure from the West, especially from the United States, rises on its nuclear programme.
Iran's military technology might not be highly advanced, but analysts say Iran would not need much know-how to cause chaos in vital oil shipping channels.
They say Iran could be testing arms in the Strait of Hormuz, a key tanker nexus, to dissuade Israel and the United States from taking military action against nuclear-power sites.
The United States said it was possible Iran had developed weapons that could evade sonar and radar but warned the Islamic Republic had a tendency to "boast and exaggerate."
Earlier in the war games, Iran said it had tested a radar-evading rocket and the Hoot (whale) underwater missile which could outpace any enemy warship.
On Monday, Iran's Revolutionary Guard test-fired a torpedo it said was being mass-produced in Iran.
"With intelligent missile terminals, Iran is capable of confronting any assaults from forces outside the region," the official IRNA news agency quoted Revolutionary Guards Commander-in-Chief Yahya Rahim as saying.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki dismissed the West's concerns about developments in Iran's missile capabilities. "Iran has never attacked any country. Our military doctrine is defensive doctrine," he told reporters.
Source: China Daily
The Iranian "Flying Boat" is actually a "Wing in Ground Effect Vehicle". The vehicle can fly at low altitude only. It is not a flying boat in the usual sense. I bet our naval analysts are laughing at this one! The reason they don't say anything is that this Iranian device could be used as a pretext to clobber them when the time comes. If they are trying to scare the US with this, they have badly miscalculated.
So, it is like the old Russky ekranoplans. Also this thing is said to travel at 100kts - sheesh, you could engage the d@mned thing visually. It does look like a nice gunnery target.
Actually the pictures I posted are of three different aircraft. Check the wheels.
Thanks.
Aegis bait...
Lun Ekranoplan Specifications
Primary Function: AShM Launcher / later Search & Rescue
Contractor: Central Design Bureau
Crew: Nine; +19 rescue (S&R version)
Unit Cost: N/A
Powerplant
Eight NK-87 turbofan engines rated at 28,660 lb trust each
Dimensions
Length: 240 ft
Wingspan: 144 ft
Height: 65 ft
Weights
Empty: N/A
Max. Takeoff: 882,000 lb
Performance
Speed: 341 mph (cruise)
Ceiling: 24,600 ft
Range: 1,864 miles
Armament
Six 3M80 anti-shipping cruise missiles;
That is a huge flying boat.
That was one of their largest WIG craft. It just skims a few feet above the surface. They had several other types (turboprop powered, turbojet powered, etc.). One of the intended roles was to move troops and heavy equipment quickly across lakes, wide rivers, and in littoral areas.
The weapons officer double checks his radar, chuckles a bit, puts his coffee down, and then turns this 'ultra modern flying boat' into tiny little shards of metal, plastic, and Iranians.
Who is this Iranian nujbag, Dr. Evil?
L
The Flying Boat of Allah.
Maybe Allah should build an ark.
Here's another page with all kinds of historic pictures and movies of these WIG boats. http://www.se-technology.com/wig/index.php
It looked like a crude version of the below:
Like I said, great gunnery practice - no need to waste a missle on the POS.
Thanks, I saw that. The Iranians were really stupid to put these items forward as threats. They are provocations, but they are not scary! The US military won't be worried by what
they showed.
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