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Iran showcases its military strength ("Super-Modern Flying Boat")
China Daily ^ | Updated: 09:27, April 05, 2006

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


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: aeronautics; aerospace; aerospaceengineering; aircraft; aviation; flyingboat; flyinglawnmower; watercraft; wig
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To: All

196?
WIG
Russian
Orlyonok A.90
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Orlenok A.90.150
Built by TGKB & Sukhoi
100 - 150 Passengers at 400 km/h over range of 2,000 km


see also

http://www.msacomputer.com/FlyingBoats-old/WIG/Russian-Amphistar-Article.html
21 posted on 04/04/2006 10:24:21 PM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE!)
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To: RansomOttawa
This just in. Iran's newest super-shark weapon!


22 posted on 04/04/2006 10:26:01 PM PDT by demlosers
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To: Army Air Corps
Ground Effect and WIG Vehicles

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.

23 posted on 04/04/2006 10:27:31 PM PDT by Anti-Bubba182
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To: Anti-Bubba182

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.


24 posted on 04/04/2006 10:30:52 PM PDT by Army Air Corps (The UN 1967 Outer Space Treaty is bad for America and bad for humanity - DUMP IT)
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To: presidio9
Googled "flying lawnmower" and found some videos, with the kits ready to purchase. We now return to the scheduled program (circa 1950's soviet-inferior sea-garbage with "IRAN" stamped on it).
25 posted on 04/04/2006 10:31:13 PM PDT by M203M4
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To: M203M4

Actually the pictures I posted are of three different aircraft. Check the wheels.


26 posted on 04/04/2006 10:32:06 PM PDT by presidio9 ("Bird Flu" is the new Y2K virus -only without the inconvenient deadline.)
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To: Army Air Corps

Thanks.


27 posted on 04/04/2006 10:32:15 PM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE!)
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To: demlosers

Aegis bait...


28 posted on 04/04/2006 10:33:23 PM PDT by snarks_when_bored
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To: Army Air Corps

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.


29 posted on 04/04/2006 10:33:31 PM PDT by Sundog (Cheers.)
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To: longtermmemmory
De nada.

Iran's pronouncements becoming golden comedy. Everything is "ultra modern" and "invisible to radar" and "cannot be jammed". I echo what someone else wrote on this thread: the Iranian military will next declare that they have trained sharks with lasers on their heads.
30 posted on 04/04/2006 10:36:18 PM PDT by Army Air Corps (The UN 1967 Outer Space Treaty is bad for America and bad for humanity - DUMP IT)
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To: Sundog

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.


31 posted on 04/04/2006 10:39:33 PM PDT by Army Air Corps (The UN 1967 Outer Space Treaty is bad for America and bad for humanity - DUMP IT)
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To: demlosers
I have this mental picture of a US Navy weapons officer getting a look at this thing approaching a Carrier Battle Group with hostile intent.

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

32 posted on 04/04/2006 10:40:24 PM PDT by Lurker (In God I trust. Everyone else shows me their hands.)
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To: demlosers

The Flying Boat of Allah.


33 posted on 04/04/2006 10:44:36 PM PDT by West Coast Conservative (Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.)
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To: Sundog
[cue Paul Hogan voice as in "that's not a knife, THIS is a KNIFE!"]

Now THIS is a Flying Boat. ;)
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us
34 posted on 04/04/2006 10:47:04 PM PDT by mkjessup (The Shah doesn't look so bad now, eh? But nooo, Jimmah said the Ayatollah was a 'godly' man.)
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To: West Coast Conservative
"The Flying Boat of Allah."

Maybe Allah should build an ark.

35 posted on 04/04/2006 10:48:29 PM PDT by sageb1 (This is the Final Crusade. There are only 2 sides. Pick one.)
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To: Anti-Bubba182

Here's another page with all kinds of historic pictures and movies of these WIG boats. http://www.se-technology.com/wig/index.php


36 posted on 04/04/2006 10:55:48 PM PDT by idkfa
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To: Army Air Corps
What I saw in the video was a lot less sophisticated than the Russian ekranoplans.

It looked like a crude version of the below:


37 posted on 04/04/2006 10:56:07 PM PDT by Anti-Bubba182
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To: Anti-Bubba182

Like I said, great gunnery practice - no need to waste a missle on the POS.


38 posted on 04/04/2006 10:57:53 PM PDT by Army Air Corps (The UN 1967 Outer Space Treaty is bad for America and bad for humanity - DUMP IT)
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To: idkfa

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.


39 posted on 04/04/2006 10:59:37 PM PDT by Anti-Bubba182
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To: demlosers
Super-Modern Flying Boat Cuisinart
40 posted on 04/04/2006 11:12:50 PM PDT by DTogo (I haven't left the GOP, the GOP left me.)
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