Iran Aircraft Ir.An-140T

[Triton]

"Iran Announced Plans to Begin Development of Ir.An-140T Light Cargo Planes"
Dec 12, 2014

Source:
http://defence-blog.com/?p=2259

Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company HESA in Shahin Shahr aircraft plant on announced plans to begin development of An-140 light cargo planes. The Antonov Ir.An-140T is a light military transport aircraft developed on the basis of the An-140-100 turboprop airliner. The Ir.An-140T features a rear ramp for loading/unloading of cargo and personnel.

Earlier Russia has abandoned plans to build a large fleet of Antonov An-140T tactical airlifters as replacements for aging An-26s and An-72s, thanks to deteriorating relations with the new regime in Ukraine, where Antonov is based. Instead, the Russian defense ministry has revived the Ilyushin Il-112 project, a development of the Il-114 airliner, even though it was shelved in 2010 in favor of the less expensive An-140T.

In Iran, the project received a new impetus. The IrAn-140 is a license-built version of the An-140, assembled by HESA in Shahin Shahr, Iran, from complete knock-down kits supplied by Antonov. As of 2008, 13 aircraft per year were planned to be constructed. There were plans to produce maritime patrol (IrAn-140MP) and freighter (IrAn-140T) versions. 100 aircraft in total were planned to be build; 20 of them were to be acquired by the Iranian government for border patrol and surveillance.

 

[Sineva]

We can see that work is well underway on the 140T prototype,with the new iranian designed tail section with its cargo doors being mated to the rest of the fuselage.

 

[Archibald]

It took them seven years to build a partially finished single airframe ?

 

[Sineva]

It took them seven years to build a partially finished single airframe ?

I very much doubt it somehow.
This is likely a brand new program,as the pics that we see were first seen only in august,and are clearly very recent ones judging by the masks everyone is wearing,in addition the aircraft is no longer referred to as the iran-140,but now as the simorgh.
Antonov stopped supplying parts/spares under us pressure back in the early 2010s,and iran was only assembling them under license anyway,not actually manufacturing them.
By comparison this appears to be either a program to convert the existing remaining airframes to military transports,and at a minimum this will likely involve considerable reverse/reengineering work to ensure that a local logistics chain can be set up to keep them flying,or this is an even more ambitious program to begin indigenous manufacture of the complete aircraft.
I guess we`ll just have to wait and see how it goes,tho considering all of the immense time.effort and resources that were expended on the iran-140 program originally with bugger all to show for it in the end,I for one am glad to see that it hasnt just been left to rot away and be forgotten.
Good luck to them.

 

[windcalm]

View: https://youtu.be/lt2qwjmFXA4

 

[alberchico]

I'm surprised that Antonov themselves never developed a military transport version of the AN-140 with a rear ramp as a way of breathing new life into this program. It would have been a cheap way for Ukraine to have a domestic replacement for the AN-26. An upgraded version with a stretched fueselage, modern avionics, and more powerful engines could have been a competitor for the CN-295.

 

[Arjen]

@amoeimilad English, please?

 

[Arjen]

@amoeimilad If you use default machine translation on this site, your own replies will appear on this site in your native language - Persian in your case.
When I found your reply to be in Persian, which is written right-to-left instead of left-to-right as in English, I was able to offer your text to a machine translator:

Hello . After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Iran 140 was a joint project with Ukraine's Antonov, and halfway through, Antonov suddenly pulled out and unilaterally canceled the contracts. After that, one of these planes crashed in Iran and the government ordered to stop all development and production plans. But now, after 7 years of research and development, its cargo prototype with a new design is undergoing flight tests to obtain an international flight license, and two planes are being built.

Interesting information, for which I thank you, but unreadable to me in its original form.
I look forward to more of your contributions, but please check your replies are presented in English, as this is an English-language forum.

 

[TMA1]

Russia is in need of a light cargo craft with the faults of the il-112 and the engine for it as well. Wonder if they could license produce it to speed up pace in replacing older light cargo craft.

 

[Anduriel]

Russia is in need of a light cargo craft with the faults of the il-112 and the engine for it as well. Wonder if they could license produce it to speed up pace in replacing older light cargo craft.

Unlikely. Their current modus operandi is to indigenously produce as much as possible.
And it's engines is another unknown. Looks like current prototype uses TV3-117VMA-SBM1, which are Ukrainian produced turboprop variant of TV3-117, with all it entails (liekly left from older IrAn-140 program). I doubt that Iran can produce engine of this level with satisfactory reliability characteristics.
Plus, Il-112/114's TV7-117ST engine got it's certification this year, with plans to produce Il-114 from 2024 onwards , so 112 likely to resume testing, after they assemble second prototype.

 

[Eagle2009]

Images from the past year or so showing the official roll-out of the IrAn-140T, called "Simorgh", including its first flight last month!