In a ceremony attended by the Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari the Commander-in-Chief of Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as well as Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of IRGC Aerospace Force, in Tehran this morning, 10 Sukhoi fighter jets were unveiled which have been overhauled and modernized by IRGC military-technical experts and Iranian knowledge-based companies.
Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh said in the ceremony that the aircraft was grounded for 28 years but it has now been equipped with new domestically produced military equipment.
He also pointed out that the IRGC air forces helped and trained Iraqi pilots when ISIL was overrunning Iraqi cities.
Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari also, for his part, praised the IRGC air force for the achievement, saying that project was done in a short period of time.
The Sukhoi SU-22, despite having excellent flight capabilities, e.g. flying at the speed of two point one (2.1) Mach, and at an altitude of 50,000 feet, is not a modern aircraft equipped with new arms.
With this upgrade, the bombers will be able to carry and fire smart bombs and precision-guided munition, air-to-ground and air-to-air missiles, transfer data from UAVs within a few kilometers from now on, and in the near future, air-launched cruise missile (ALCM) with a range of 15,00 km will be installed on them.
