17.04.

2015

IranAviationIndustry

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MILITARY

AviationIndustry
TheUShasimposedsanctionsthatpreventUScompaniesfromexporting
products to Iran. The sanctions also preclude nonUS manufacturers from
exporting to Iran if USmade content exceeds 10 percent. Since the
European Union does not impose restrictions on sales of civil products to
Iran,EurocopterandAgustaWestlandmarkettheirproductsinthecountry,
buttheUSsanctionsrestricttheEuropeans'offeringstojustafewmodels.
Iran's burgeoning aviation industry is a sector rapidly drawing increasing
attention. As evidenced by the inaugural flight of Iran's indigenously
designed and manufactured Azarakhsh fighter jet to the mass production
launch of small turboprops and passenger planes, this sector was seen to
be making rapid strides. Part of the impetus for the development of this
industry lay within domestic demand factors. It was for a time estimated
that over 10% of total demand for passenger planes in the AsianPacific
market was in Iran, as domestic passenger traffic was expected to top
eleven million passengers by the year 2000. This massive demand also
spurred private sector investment in this sector as evidenced by the
establishment of 17 private airlines, which controled over 25% of market
share.

FurtherReading
IranAviationIndustriesOrganization(IAIO
/IAFAIO)
HESAIranAircraftManufacturing
IndustrialCompany(IAMI)
PANHAIranHelicopterSupportand
RenewalCompany(IHSRC)
SAHAIranAircraftIndustries(IACI)
GhodsAviationIndustry
ShahidBasir
AIRCAviationIndustriesResearch
Center
AUCAviationUniversityComplex@
MalekAshtarU.
MATSAAirForceTechnologyand
ElectronicCenter
OICOwjIndustrialComplex
SSAFUShahidSattariAirForce
University

Resources
IranianFighterProjects:AnAssessment
Iran'saviationambitionsrunintoreality
EugeneKogan,InteraviaBusiness&
TechnologyDecember12001

Iran's aviation industry infrastructure was by and large established in the

1970s,atthetimeoftheShahRezaPahlaviandlimitlessoilrevenues.Not
onlydidtheShahordervastquantitiesofAmerica'smostadvancedweapons,hewasalsoacquiringthecapabilitytoproduce
them in Iran. Under a multibilliondollar industrialisation programme, the Shah commissioned US arms firms to build entire
weapons factories from scratch in Iran. Thus Bell Helicopter (a division of Textron, Inc.) was building a factory to produce
Model214helicoptersinIsfahan.Northrop was also a joint partner in Iran Aircraft Industries, inc., which maintained many of
theUSmilitaryaircraftsoldtoIranandwasexpectedtoproduceaircraftcomponentsandeventuallycompleteplanes.These
effortsrepresentedalargeshareofUSindustrialinvolvementinIran,andwereacentrepieceoftheShah'seffortstodevelop
modern,hightechnologyindustries.
The Iran Helicopter Support and Renewal Company (IHSRC), or Panha Company, was formed in 1969, the Iranian Aircraft
Industries (IACI) in 1970, and Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industries Corporation (IAMI), also known under its Farsi acronym
(HESA), in 1974. Two other important companies, Iran Aviation Industries Organization of the Armed Forces (IAIO), also
known as the Iranian Armed Forces Aviation Industries Organization (IAFAIO), and Ghods/Ghoods Research Center were
formed in the early 1980s. These companies progressed from repair and maintenance facilities to larger defence enterprises
withseveralthousandsemployees,exceptforGhodswhichhasremainedrelativelysmall.
In April 1997 Acting Commander of the Ground Forces of the Iranian Army, Lieutenant General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani
announced that the design and construction of helicopters had started and would bear results in the ground forces fiveyear
plan.GeneralAshtianialsoclaimedthat14,000variouskindsofaircraftpartshadbeenproducedbytheforces,withsomeof
thepartsmanufacturedatcostsonethousandthsofsimilarforeignmadeparts.HestatedthatIranhadsavedtheequivalentof
30billionrialsinhardcurrency.IntheIranianbudgetyearwhichstartedon21March1997,hedisclosedthattheaviationwing
ofthearmyintendedtoproduce90percentofitssparepartsrequirement.
Joint aircraft technology projects with Russia were supplemented by such projects as the indigenously designed and
manufactured Shabaviz helicopter manufactured by Iran Helicopter Support and Renewal Company (IHSRC, also sometimes
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writtenIranHelicopterSupportandRenewalIndustries)andtheS68turboproptrainermanufacturedbyIranAircraftIndustries.
IranHelicopterSupportandRenewalIndustriesinTehranisaproducerofthehelicopter'sbodyandmaintenanceofhelicopters
according to American standards. However, the achievements of Iran's aviation industry has not only been limited to the
manufacture of planes. Iran Air had successfully completely overhauled a number of planes in its fleet, without any foreign
assistanceashaveotherlocalcompaniessuchasAseman.
Iran's defense industries had a long history of reverse engineering equipment, primarily those of Western origin, in order to
maintain and potentially upgrade their existing inventory. A lack of spare parts and technical assistance from the original
manufacturers meant that in numerous instances Iran looked to the international market, both legal and illegal, to secure
sourcesofpartsandequipment.Forinstance,onJuly10,2003,ICEagentsexecutedsearchwarrantson18UScompaniesin
10 states suspected of exporting military components to Multicore, Ltd, a front company in London that was involved in
clandestinelyprocuringweaponssystemsworldwidefortheIranianmilitary.AmongtheitemsallegedlyexportedbytheseUS
companiestoMulticorewerecomponentsforHAWKmissiles,F14fighterjets,F5fighterjets,F4fighterjets,C130military
aircraft, military radars, and other equipment. On 24 September 2003, ICE agents in Miami announced the arrest of Serzhik
Avassapian, a 40yearold Iranian national, on charges of attempting to illegally export roughly $750,000 worth of US F14
fighterjetcomponentstotheIraniangovernment.DuringtheundercoverICEinvestigation,therewasalsodiscussionofillegal
exports of helicopters and C130A electrical and avionic upgrades to Iran. By June 2006 there were still trials going on in
reponsetoaslewofinvestigationsandarrestsfollowingthe2003investigations.
IllegalpurchaseofequipmentwasnottheonlypotentialproblemfacingIran'sreverseengineeringprograms.InOctober2006,
BellTextron filed suit in a US District Court in the District of Colombia, accusing Iranian manufacturers of "trading on Bell's
reputation"withtheirprogramstodevelopdomesticderivativesoftheBell205,206,and214helicopters.
Iran's state aircraft company, the Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company, licensed production of the Antonov An140
aircraftinadealwithbothRussiaandUkraine,ostensiblyforsalestoIran'sairlines,withthemilitaryalsotakinginterest.After
the success of the deal with the first Iran140 aircraft rolling out in 2004, Iran looked to sign a similar deal with the two
countriesforproductionoftheTupolevTu334,anotherairliner.

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