Originally posted by Zaphod58
The canards and the intake location are the two biggest things that pretty much everyone that has looked at it has brought up. Fixed canards just don't make sense anymore.

The more I look at these pictures, the more I feel that those intakes will move between this stage and the full-size prototype. If we assume that the intakes are exactly where they are expected to be on the full size aircraft, then I could see it opening up a sizeable portion of the fuselage for internal weapons carriage. That said, I'm not convinced that this airframe has enough lifting power to carry a typical armament, let alone a larger, heavier payload. It seems likely that if this is the case (ie if I'm not totally wrong on that, it happens from time to time) that those intakes will move to get more air to the engine.

I've also been thinking on the canards. I've noticed that they do have some sizeable control surfaces on the trailing edges that at least rival the ailerons in area. That said, I do agree that fully-movable canards are definitely the preferred flavour for established design companies. What is important, though, is that this is not necessarily a huge, experienced, and well-outfitted operation. This aircraft will almost definitely depend on vortices to create that low pressure area on top of the aircraft, and doing so can get very tricky. A fully-movable canard in this configuration would probably infringe onto the surface responsible for generating the very tip of those vortices, and any change at the head of the airflow is only going to get messier as it propagates downstream. They simply may not have the calculation expertise or power to keep the vortex stable under those conditions. I suspect that a properly done full-movement canard would be superior in performance, but far more difficult to apply without risking totally screwing the aircraft's main lift generation method. I would expect that the designers of the a/c came to a similar conclusion, though I wonder if they might plan to change that on the full-size.

Especially with those tiny control surfaces. And while the J85 can operate quite nicely with those tiny intakes, like you said, if they have to maneuver, they are in danger of starving the engine of air.

I do not envy the guy they put in charge of figuring out what those intakes will do in a 9G pitch. He is going to be a very sad man.

Originally posted by Zaphod58
Supposedly max payload will be 2 2,000lb class weapons. Probably not with a J85 it wont' be, unless they have redesigned the engine to give it more power.

Agreed. To put those stats up they would basically be pulling a stealthy HAL Tejas out of a hat. We know the challenges that program faced, despite the resources the Indians have at their disposal, and the help they have received along the way with technology transfers.

This begs the question of how they might be running a J85 at those specs, or what powerplant they might be using in its absence. I can see only tears coming from an indigenous engine project (again, grâce à Tejas), but I wonder if Klimov might have some RD-33 variants with uprated power, or perhaps the Chinese have something up their sleeves.

Another country making another weapon for War. When will it ever end??? It does not matter which country makes what. If we continue down the spiral path of destruction, we deserve to be wiped out. Maybe Mother nature will do better next time around.

Didnt think it could fly, did they really think a fake pic over a mountain range would fool people? Kind of makes my theory this is just a distraction from other weapon systems the Iranians are developing. Still would be cool to see a full-size production aircraft in operation, or the project airframe for sale on the international market. A F-404 from an F-18 or Jas-39 would be a perfect powerplant for this "potential" aircraft. Or one could stuff in a F-100 from the F-15/F-16 and really get a ride.

Would the body shape or the slipstream from the canards force air onto the dropped wing surfaces, increasing lift, while saving weight?

I know virtually nothing about aircraft, but looking at the mock up, it seems to me the body shape would be pushing air onto those stubby dropped wings.

Who knows, perhaps this is a mock up of the full scale aircraft and the canopy and cockpit is a red herring...it might actually be designed to be an anti-radar drone.

Originally posted by neformore
Hell, good on the Iranians, if it flies, its stealthy and its reliable, its a hell of an acheivement.