Iran test flies warplane it remodelled - reports

TEHRAN, Sep 6 (Reuters) Iran has remodelled one of the warplanes in its fleet and successfully test flown the aircraft, state-run media reported today.

The reports did not specify which plane had been remodelled but pictures on state television of the re-designed plane indicated it was based on a US-built F-5.

Iran still uses planes, such as the F-5, supplied by the United States to the government of the former shah of Iran, who was a close US ally. Mohammad Reza Shah was toppled in the 1979 Islamic revolution, after which Washington severed ties with Iran.

The remodelled plane is called the Saeqeh, or Thunderbolt. Iran has a home-built missile in its arsenal with the same name.

Iran often says it has built new arms or upgraded weapons but rarely gives enough details for analysts to determine their capabilities. Although much of Iran's weaponry is outmoded, analysts say Iran has become proficient at modifying such arms.

''For the first time, the Saeqeh fighter plane carried out a mission to bomb virtual enemy targets today in northwest of Iran,'' Ataollah Salehi, commander-in-chief of Iran's regular army, told the official IRNA news agency.

Television pictures on Wednesday showed the Saeqeh flying alongside an F-5. The main difference appeared to be that the Saeqeh had two tail fins as opposed to the single fin on the F-5.

In a separate report, Iran's student news agency ISNA quoted Defence Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar as saying Iran had designed a 2,000-pound guided bomb called Qased (Messenger), which would be tested in the next few days.

''By producing guided ammunition, the Islamic Republic of Iran has joined the limited number of countries who possess the technology of smart and guided weaponry,'' he said.

Iran has been staging land, sea and air war games since Aug 19.

Some of the manoeuvres have taken place in the Gulf, a key oil shipping route, and analysts say Iran wants to show it could act, if pushed, over its nuclear stand-off with the West.

REUTERS SSC RAI1815