Iran has announced the production of a new domestic-made fighter-aircraft, which aims at bolstering the Islamic Republic’s aerial capabilities amid the growing tension with its regional rival and the United States. “Soon the needed number of this plane will be produced and put at the service of the Air Force of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami said.
The Iranian announcement comes less than a week after the U.S. military said it successfully tested the strategic Aegis missile defense system that would render Iranian medium-range ballistic missiles “redundant”. According to an unnamed source, this was the second successful testing of the American-made missile system, which will provide the U.S. Missile Defense Agency more confidence, after reported “design flaws” had previously caused “intercept-failures.”