As we have previously reported, A German Radar Vendor Claims To Track Two F-35 Stealth Fighters With A New Radar.
Now according to the latest reports, CEO of the Russian RADAR company Rezonans research centre, Alexander Stuchilin claims that Iran used Russian Radar system to successfully track American F-35 stealth fighters jets.
Iran has thus sought to improve its situational awareness in the air domain by acquiring Russian hardware, with the most prolific acquisition being the S-300PMU-2 long-range air defence system which includes both missile launchers and powerful radars.
The country has also deployed advanced variants of the Soviet S-200 system, and indigenous long-range systems such as the Khordad 15 and Bavar-373. Less well known, but still very significant, is the Iranian deployment of the Rezonans-NE air defence system which has been successful not only in detecting but also in tracking F-35 fighter jets operating near the country’s borders. Deputy CEO of the Rezonans research centre, Alexander Stuchilin, stated to this effect on August 24th:
“At the beginning of 2020, this radar identified U.S. F-35 planes and tracked them… The radar’s personnel were transmitting information, including the routes of F-35 flights, in clear, thus confirming that it was reliably tracking the planes. For this reason, the opponent did not commit any irreparable actions that might have caused a big war.” While the Rezonans-NE can track stealth fighters, however, it remains uncertain whether it can share targeting data with Iran’s indigenous air defence systems and how well integrated the Iranian air defence network really is to make full use of the tracking data.
Stuchilin highlighted that the Rezonans-NE radar had been on round-the-clock combat duty in Iran for many years, with sales of such defensive weaponry not restricted by the UN arms embargo currently in place. With the embargo set to expire in October, Iran is speculated to be planning acquisitions of a number of advanced systems to improve its air defense capabilities – including Chinese KJ-500 airborne early warning aircraft and J-10C fighters equipped with powerful AESA radars.
Acquisition of the more advanced S-400 air defence system, considered the best optimised in the world for neutralising stealth aircraft at long ranges, is also reportedly under consideration. Russian sources previously reported that F-35 fighters had been detected operating very near Iranian airspace following the assassination of the commander of Iran’s Quds Force Qasem Soleimani in a CIA drone strike, with the country’s defences placed on high alert and subsequently accidentally shooting down a Ukrainian civilian airliner.
Over 3,000 F-35 fighters are expected to be produced in the coming two decades, the bulk of them for the U.S. Air Force where they will replace the Ageing F-16 Fighting Falcon, although whether their stealth capabilities will remain relevant in the face of fast-improving radar technologies has been seriously questioning by experts in a number of countries.
