WASHINGTON (Dispatches) -- Iran expects to receive the first of the 24 Su-35 Flanker-E fighter jets it ordered from Russia as soon as Mar. 21, the Persian New Year. Tehran also claims it has ordered helicopters and missile systems, Forbes magazine reported.
Shahriar Heidari, a member of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, told Iranian state media that Iran has ordered other Russian military equipment, including helicopters, air defense systems, and other missile systems, and expects to receive them soon.
While the specific equipment Iran expects in addition to Su-35s remains unclear, the seemingly imminent delivery of those two dozen air superiority fighters, originally built for Egypt, has dominated discussions and headlines, the U.S. publication said.
“There is a lot of hype around the supply of Su-35s to Iran because of the war in Ukraine, the ‘Egyptian background’ and the balance of power in the region,” Anton Mardasov, an independent Russian analyst and non-resident scholar of the Middle East Institute’s Syria program, told the magazine.
He pointed out that China also ordered 24 Su-35s back in 2015. As Mardasov outlined, it did allow the Chinese “to compare their aviation capabilities with those of Russia, primarily in terms of engine and avionics development, and to make further decisions in
terms of purchases or their own aircraft construction.”
Heidari’s mention of helicopters is interesting since Russia has various utility and attack helicopters Iran may hope to acquire for its aging rotary fleet, Forbes said.
Farzin Nadimi, a defense and security analyst and Associate Fellow of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, predicts possible types Iran might buy or even co-produce “include Mi-38, Mi-26, Mi-28N, and Ka-32/-226/-60/-52.”
“I think Mi-38 and Ka-32 or a modern version of it are more likely,” he told the magazine.
The Mil Mi-38 is a medium transport helicopter, and the Ka-32 is a variant of the Kamov Ka-27 military helicopter.
Regarding a possible attack helicopter acquisition, Nadimi believes Iran might opt for the Mi-28N over the Ka-52 since the latter “hasn’t had a brilliant performance in the recent war.”
The bulk of Iran’s existing attack helicopter fleet comprises the AH-1J International variant of the Cobra that Tehran acquired from the U.S. in the early 1970s. Iran built two versions of the AH-1J in the 2010s: the Toufan I and Toufan II.
In a 2019 report, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) anticipated that after the UN arms embargo on Iran expired in October 2020, Tehran might consider purchasing Russian Su-30 fighters, Yak-130 trainers, and T-90 main battle tanks.
“Iran has also shown interest in acquiring S-400 air defense systems and Bastion coastal defense systems from Russia,” added the report.
While Iran opted for the more advanced Su-35 over the Su-30, possibly because the aircraft were already produced for Egypt, there has been no indication Iran is currently interested in either the Yak trainer or the T-90 tank, Forbes said.
In 2016, Iran finally took delivery of the Russian S-300 air defense missile systems it had ordered from Russia back in 2007. It has also developed the indigenous Bavar-373, which Iranian officials have said is superior to the S-300 and a peer to the more advanced S-400.
Nadimi believes it’s likely that Iran will receive the S-400. He also doubts that such an acquisition would negate Tehran’s claims about the Bavar-373.
“The Bavar-373 is officially placed between S-300 and S-400 capability-wise, so Iran won’t feel any shame in assimilating it, especially considering the fact that Bavar-373 service entry is believed to be behind schedule,” he said.
Nadimi also believes the Bastion-P “might be an area of interest”.