According to the head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAO), Mohammad Mohammadi-Bakhsh, Iran is making progress in producing an aircraft called “Simorgh”. ILNA reported on August 11.
The “new turboprop aircraft” was first revealed to the Iranian press in the summer of 2023. The government claimed that all parts would now be manufactured domestically and would soon be commercially available. However, internet sleuths quickly discovered that Simorgh was actually an Antonov AN-140T, previously jointly developed with Ukraine. Iran had already reached an agreement with Ukraine to produce the jet in 2016, but since the Russian invasion of the country in 2022 and Iran’s support for Moscow, all contracts between Tehran and Kyiv have been canceled.
“The Simorgh is a new aircraft, and the Ministry of Defense, the CAO and the Vice Presidency for Science, Technology and Knowledge Economy are working together on its design and construction,” said Mohammadi-Bakhsh.
He added that several design changes were made to the aircraft, particularly in terms of length and navigation systems, to improve its performance as a cargo aircraft.
When asked about the similarity of the Simorgh to existing aircraft, he acknowledged similarities with the Antonov An-140, but stressed that there were significant differences, particularly in the engine and body design.
“Although the aircraft is already fully assembled, it is considered a new aircraft with a unique design,” he added.
Two Simorgh aircraft have been produced so far. The first has successfully completed all test flights, while the second is nearing completion. The wings, landing gear and engines were installed during the term of the late President Ebrahim Raisi.
The latest interesting development in aviation follows the country’s earlier efforts to produce the HESA Iran-140, a short-haul 52-passenger aircraft. Iran officially began producing Iran-140 aircraft in 1996.
The Iran-140 and its Ukrainian counterpart, the Antonov An-140, have been involved in six accidents worldwide, three of which occurred in Iran and others in Ukraine and Azerbaijan, resulting in several fatalities.
A documented incident involving the Antonov An-140 occurred when Iran was planning to open the production line for the Iran-140.
The Antonov An-140, which had Ukrainian passengers on board for the ceremony, crashed into a mountain. All passengers and crew were killed.
According to local reports, most of these jets are currently grounded in Iran and only a few are still in service in the country’s flight network.
Antonov is headquartered in Kyiv and employs 13,500 people. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of passenger, transport and special aircraft.
The company carries out the entire development cycle, including testing, certification, production and integrated logistics support.
In May 2015, Antonov was transferred from the control of the Ukrainian Ministry of Economy to Ukroboronprom, the country’s state-owned conglomerate consisting of multi-product enterprises in various sectors of the defense industry.
