 | |
| Company type | Aerospace manufacturer Government-owned corporation |
|---|---|
| Industry | Aerospace |
| Founded | 1966 |
| Headquarters | Tehran,Iran |
Key people | Afshin Khajeh Fard(Head) |
| Products | Commercial airliners, Civil & Military aircraft, Civil aviation |
| Parent | Ministry of Defense Iran Civil Aviation Organization |
| Subsidiaries | Aviation & Aerospace Industries SAHA HESA PANHA Qods Aviation Industry |
| Website | www.mod.ir |
TheIran Aviation Industries Organization (IAIO) (Persian:سازمان صنایع هوایی ایران,Sazman-e Sânai'-ye Havaii-ye Iran), also known as theAerospace Industries Organization, is an Iranianstate-owned corporation established in 1966 for the purpose of planning, controlling, and managing the civil & military aviation industry of Iran. The Aerospace Industries Organization acts as both an OEM, directly manufacturing aircraft and aerospace products, and as a conglomerate, holding other Iranian state-owned aviation corporations.
Currently, the IAIO is responsible for directing these aviation organizations:SAHA,HESA,PANHA,Civil Aviation industries. These organizations have different and complementary roles inIranian Aerospace and Iranian civil aviation.[1]
The Iran Helicopter Support and Renewal Company (IHSRC), orPANHA, was formed in 1969, the Iranian Aircraft Industries (IACI) in 1970, and Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industries Corporation (IAMI), also known under its Persian acronymHESA, in 1974. Two other important companies, Iran Aviation Industries Organization of theArmed Forces, (also known as the Iranian Armed Forces Aviation Industries Organization (IAFAIO)), andQods Aviation Industry Company Research Center were formed in the early 1980s.
It is headquartered in theLavizan suburb of Tehran and employs more than 10,000 people across 13 major factories.[2] In addition to its aerospace work, IAIO is heavily involved in Iran's ballistic missile program.[2]
IAIO acts as a policy maker and coordinator to promote an indigenous Iranian aeronautical industry by providing and assisting the Iranian aircraft industries with technologies, knowledge and parts.
As evidenced by the inaugural flight of Iran's indigenously designed and manufacturedAzarakhsh andSaeqeh fighter jet to the mass production and launch of helicopters, turboprops, and passenger planes. Iran has also produced aBoeing 737-800 simulator, a first in Mideast.[3] With a population of 81 million, Iran needs to have 6,300 airplanes while it does not possess more than nine aircraft for every one million individuals.[4]
Iran's aviation industry infrastructure was by and large established in the 1930s, at the time of the ShahReza Pahlavi, where the GermanJunkers & Co Aviation provided foreign expertise and assistance. The industry was later expanded in the 1970s in the reign of ShahMohammad Reza Pahlavi, benefiting from the boosted oil revenues. Not only did the Shah order vast quantities ofAmerica’s most advanced weapons, he was also acquiring the capability to produce them in Iran. Under a multibillion-dollar industrialisation programme, the Shah commissioned US arms firms to build weapons factories in Iran.
ThusBell Helicopter (a division ofTextron, Inc.) was building a factory to produce Model-214 helicopters inIsfahan.Northrop Corporation was also a joint partner inIran Aircraft Industries, inc., which maintained many of theUS military aircraft sold to Iran and was expected to produce aircraft components and eventually complete planes. These efforts represented a large share of US industrial involvement in Iran, and were a centrepiece of the Shah’s efforts to develop modern, high-technology industries.[1]
Afterinternational sanctions following theIranian Revolution, the general official policy of Iranian government changed from having the best available in the world to being able to manufacture independently in order to meet domestic needs, specially of technological products and therefore becoming "sanction-proof".
In no other field this urgency was higher than aeronautics. Therefore, Iran has avoided the need to purchase better western aircraft available to it from time to time in favor of inferior ones that could be manufactured in Iran through arrangements of purchasing licenses and technologies as well as reverse-engineering parts, mostly to avoid situations that Iran has gone through during the 1980s till now by not being able to maintain what it had due to domestic technological starvation.[5][6]
In 2006Textron sued IAIO, for producing counterfeits of six types of its Bell unit helicopters without licenses thereby using trade secrets and patented designs without permission and demanded compensation for damages. In another lawsuit (Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. v. Islamic Republic of Iran, Case No. 06cv1694, in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia) brought by Iran againstTextron earlier, Iran had sought damages against unfulfilled contracts dating back before revolution.Textron ultimately sent five commercial helicopters to Iran in addition to providing spare parts and training in 1994 to settle the dispute.[7]
In summer of 2010, Iran requested that the United States deliver the 80thF-14 it had purchased in 1974, but delivery was denied after theIslamic Revolution.[8][9]
_An-140-100%2c_HESA_Airlines_AN2221381.jpg)
Former Iranian PresidentMahmoud Ahmadinejad had favored the purchase of aircraft such asIran-140 which are manufactured in Iran.[10]
Iran’s Aviation Industries Organization plans to manufacture 100 advancedTupolevTu-214 andTu-204 airplanes with a capacity of 210 persons each in cooperation withRussia within the next 10 years.[11] Iran also intends to manufacture at least 50Ka-32 helicopters in Iran under license ofKamov[12] and negotiations are underway to manufacture 50An-148 under licence, probably with similar arrangements asIran-140 to be namedIran-148.[13][14] Agreements were signed with Russia for co-development and co-manufacture of an uncertain amount ofTu-334 airliners in Iran with production to commence simultaneously both in Iran and Russia.[15] Another agreement with Poltava Helicopter Company ofUkraine allows Iran to manufacture theAerokopter AK1-3 Sanka ultra-light multi-purpose helicopters in Iran.[16][17] Yet, Iran says it is prepared to order passenger planes fromBoeing andAirbus if the United States liftssanctions against Iran.[18]
In 2010, Iran's Defense Ministry said it will begin the production phase of a domestically-manufactured medium-size passenger plane designed to carry up to 150 passengers.[19][20][21]
In August 2018, IAIO unveiled theKowsar (or Kosar) jet trainer and strike aircraft ahead of its maiden flight. The Kowsar will be produced in single and two-seater versions.[22][23]
Iran states that it will become an exporter of plane parts within 7 years (2019).[citation needed] Iranian sources stated in March 2024, that Iran is self-sufficient in producing passenger plane spare parts citing thesanctions against Russia as the need to proceed with such a plan.[24][25]
In 2016, Iran unveiled its first "nationalturbojet engine" dubbed "Owj" (Apex).[26] Manufactured with more than 14,000 parts, it is capable of flight at 50,000 feet and can be mounted on planes with a maximum takeoff weight of ten tons.[26] Iran says thatsuperalloys and specialized furnaces "made in Iran" have been used for this engine. It is a reverse-engineered and enhanced version of theGeneral Electric J85 turbojet engine (expected to serve with U.S. Air Force until 2040.)[27][28]
With the 1979 Revolution, the Islamic Republic of Iran inherited a good air fleet because it had a large number of advanced imported Western aircraft. Also, the joining of the Homafarans to the revolution meant that the air force suffered little from the revolution. This gave Iran significant air superiority in the Iran-Iraq War, but on the other hand, the war also caused the exhaustion of the Iranian air fleet. This made the country feel the need to maintain, rebuild, and even produce various aircraft. Aircraft were maintained and rebuilt continuously during the war, but few aircraft were produced until the 1970s, and they were not at all comparable to today's technologies. These aircraft were mostly training aircraft such as the Tezro, which often did not reach mass production.
In the 1990s, Iran's aviation sector faced significant challenges due to the aftermath of the war and the imposition of sanctions. In response, the nation's leadership opted to pursue the localization of aircraft manufacturing. During this period, the first aircraft were developed through reverse engineering of the Northrop F-5. Notable examples include the Azarakhsh and the Simorgh training fighter, with some models achieving mass production.
Iran will assemble AK 1-3 light multi-purpose helicopters developed by Poltava-based Aerocopter Design Bureau, an Iranian official has said.
Iran has signed an agreement with Ukraine's Poltava Helicopter Co. to transfer AK13 choppers technology, Fars News Agency reported Aug. 24, citing Secretary of Iran's Air and Space Industries Union Seyed Javad Ebnoreza. He said the agreement was a result of his union's attendance at the International Aerospace Show MAKS 2009 in Moscow on Aug. 18-24.
Meanwhile, in 2010, Iran's Defense Ministry announced that it will begin the manufacturing phase of a domestically-built medium-size passenger plane designed to carry up to 150 passengers.
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