Equipment of the Iranian Army

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Iranian Army

Hierarchical Structure History History of the Iranian Army Personnel List of senior officers Army Rank insignia Uniforms Equipment Current equipment Historical equipment

From 1925 to the Iranian Revolution in 1979, Iran used to be equipped with the very latest Western hardware. Cases exist where Iran was supplied with equipment even before it was made standard in the countries that developed it (for example the US F-14 Tomcat, or the British Chieftain Tank). Primary suppliers included the United States, Britain, France, the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), Italy, Israel, and the Soviet Union.

The Iran-Iraq War, and post revolutionary sanctions at the time had a dramatic effect on Iran's inventory of western equipment. Under the pressures of war all supplies were quickly exhausted and replacements became increasingly difficult to come by. The war eventually forced Iran to turn towards the Soviet Union, North Korea, Brazil, and China to meet its short term military requirements. Nevertheless, the experience of using advanced and high quality equipment was not lost on any of the branches of the Iranian armed forces. Severely disappointed by its more recent purchases of inferior, more dated designed Russian and eastern equipment, Iran sought to develop its own ability to mirror the high technology of its likely enemies, the West and to provide a totally reliable source of equipment for the future.

Initial developments in every field of military technology were carried out with the technical support of Russia, China, and North Korea to lay the foundations for future industries. Iranian reliance on these countries has rapidly decreased over the last decade in most sectors where Iran sought to gain total independence; however, in some sectors such as the Aerospace sector Iran is still greatly reliant on external help. Iran has, at present, developed an uncanny ability to reverse engineer existing foreign hardware, improve it to its own requirements and then manufacture the finished product. Examples of this are the Boragh and the IAMI Azarakhsh. In an attempt to make its military industries more sustainable Iran has also sought to export its military products, see Iranian Military Exports.

Contents 1 APC 2 RECEE / AIFV 3 Light tanks 4 Main battle tanks 5 Air defence 5.1 Shoulder-launched missiles 5.2 Radar systems 6 Towed artillery 7 Self-propelled artillery 8 Surface-to-surface missiles 9 Cruise missiles 10 Battlefield missile systems 11 Army aviation 12 Unmanned aerial vehicles 13 Small arms 14 External links 15 See also 16 External video footage

[edit] APC

• Cobra BMT-2 APC (Iranian Origin)
• Boragh APC (Iranian Origin)
• M113A1/A2 APC
• EE-11 Urutu APC
• BTR-60 APC
• BTR-50 Amphibious APC

[edit] RECEE / AIFV

• EE-9 Cascavel APC
• EE-11 Urutu
• BMP-1
• BMP-2

[edit] Light tanks

• FV101 Scorpion
• Tosan (Iranian origin)

[edit] Main battle tanks

• Zulfiqar 1,2,3 (Iranian Origin)
• Safir-74 (Iranian Origin)
• T-72
• T-62
• Soviet T-55/54 Variants including
  • Chinese Type 59
  • Chinese T-69 II
• Chieftain
• M-60A1
• M-48
• M-47

[edit] Air defence

• I-Hawk (Improved version of the original US Hawk system)
• Tigercat
• SA-2 Guideline / Sayyad-1 (copy of the SA-2 Guideline under the name of Sayyad-1 & Sayyad-1A)
• SA-3 Goa / Pechora-2A (Russian upgrade of the basic SA-3)
• SA-5 Gammon / Ghareh (copy of the SA-5 Gammon with 250 km range)
• SA-6 Gainful / Kub
• SA-11 Gadfly / Buk-M1
• S-300 (aka SA-10) [1] [2]
• SA-15 Gauntlet / Tor-M1
• Shahab Thaqeb (copy of the Chinese FM-80 Feimeng system)

[edit] Shoulder-launched missiles

• Misagh-1 (copy of Chinese QW-1)
• Misagh-2 (copy of Chinese QW-2)
• RBS-70
• SA-7 Grail
• SA-16 Gimlet
• SA-18 Grouse

[edit] Radar systems

• Gamma
• Kasta
• Kolchuga ^[1]
• JY-14 (Chinese origin)

[edit] Towed artillery

105 mm

• M101A1 / M56

122 mm

• D-30/2A18M
• Type-54

152 mm

• D-20/M-55

155 mm

• WAC-21
• GHN-45
• M-114
• M-71
• FH-77B
• G-5

203 mm

• M-115

[edit] Self-propelled artillery

122 mm

• 2S1
• Raad 1 (Iranian Origin)

155 mm

• Raad 2 (Iranian Origin)
• M-109

170 mm

• M-1978

175 mm

• M-107

203 mm

• M-110

[edit] Surface-to-surface missiles

This refers to ballistic missiles and not battlefield systems. Iran's missile forces are under the command of the Revolutionary Guards and not under the command of the regular Army.
Additional information is available in Iran's Missile Forces.

[edit] Cruise missiles

• AS-15 Kent / Kh-55 Granat

[edit] Battlefield missile systems

Short Range (Iranian origin)

• Samid Artillery Rocket
• Fajr-2 Artillery Rocket
• Fajr-3 Artillery Rocket
• Fajr-5 Artillery Rocket
• Tondar-69 Artillery Rocket
• Oghab Artillery Rocket
• Shahin-II Artillery Rocket
• Naze'at Artillery Rocket
• Zelzal Artillery Rocket
• Fateh-110

Anti-tank missiles

• Toophan (reverse engineered TOW missile)
• Toophan 2 (reverse engineered American BGM-71 TOW armor piercing)
• Toophan 3 (Iranian origin)
• Saeghe 1/2 (Dragon)
• AT-3 Sagger
• AT-4 Spigot
• AT-5 Spandrel / Konkurs (built as Towsan-1 or M-113 in Iran)
• Saegheh improved version of the RPG-7.
• RPG-7
• RPG-29
• MILAN

[edit] Army aviation

The Army operates 188 aircraft, including 171 helicopters.

Aircraft	Origin	Type	Versions	In service[2]	Notes
Aero Commander	United States	utility transport	690	4
Bell 205	Italy	utility helicopter	AB 205 Shabaviz 2-75	10	built by Agusta and Panha
Bell 206 JetRanger	Italy  Iran	utility helicopter	AB 206A Shabaviz 2061	40	built by Agusta and Panha
Bell 214	United States	transport helicopter	214A	56
AH-1J Sea Cobra	United States	attack helicopter	AH-1J Panha 2091	45	Model 2091 upgrade by Panha
CH-47C Chinook	United States	Heavy-lift transport helicopter	CH-47C	20	built by Agusta
Cessna 185	United States	utility		10
Dassault Falcon 20	France	VIP transport	Falcon 20E	1
Fokker F27 Friendship	Netherlands	tactical transport	F27-400M F27-600	1 1

Aircraft which have served recently and of which numbers may remain in reserve storage or second-line use include:

• Bell 204 UH-1
• Hughes 300C

[edit] Unmanned aerial vehicles

• Ababil
• Mohajer I/II/III/IV
• Sahand
• Faraz I
• Faraz II
• Sabokbal

[edit] Small arms

• Khaybar KH2002 an Iranian designed 5.56x45 mm bullpup rifle
• SPG-9
• Zoaf Pistol 9 mm
• Sig P-226 Pistol
• AKM Cal. 7.62x39 mm (supplemented by limited numbers of AK-47 and Type 56 rifles), main service rifle alongside the G3A6
• Heckler & Koch G3A6 Cal. 7.62x51 mm (licenced production)[3], main service rifle alongside the AKM
• Heckler & Koch MG3 Cal. 7.62x51 mm (licenced production) [4]
• Tondar Sub-Machine Gun 9x19 mm (MP5 manufactured under licence)
• PKM
• Dragunov Sniper Rifle
• Steyr HS .50
• M-16 A2
• RPG-7 [5]
• Gas masks
• Bullet Proof Vests (used by specialized units, not yet standard issue)

[edit] External links

• Manufacturing equipment for the Iranian Army
• Iranian Defense Industries Organization
• GlobalSecurity.Org - Iran
• GlobalSecurity.Org - Equipment Estimation

[edit] See also

• Iranian military industry
• List of Iranian Air Force aircraft

[edit] External video footage

• Iranian Air Defence Systems: highlights of Iran's air defence capabilities
• Iranian Military Pictures & videos
• [6]
• [7]

Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Iranian Army | Iranian Navy | Iranian Air Force | Islamic Revolutionary Guards