| Islamic Republic of Iran Air Defense Force قرارگاه پدافند هوایی ارتش جمهوری اسلامی ایران |
|
|---|---|
| Active | 2008 - present |
| Country | Iran |
| Branch | Air Defense |
| Commanders | |
| Commander | General Farzad Esmaili |
Islamic Republic of Iran Air Defense Force (Persian: قرارگاه پدافند هوایی ارتش جمهوری اسلامی ایران) also known as Khatam al-Anbia Air Defense Base (Persian: قرارگاه پدافند هوايي خاتم الانبياء) is a branch split of from IRIAF in 2008 and has more than 18,000 military personnel it contorls all of iran's military land besed air defense it is currently commanded by general Farzad Esmaili.
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As of 1996 Iranian Air Defense forces included about 18,000 military personnel. The tradition of aircraft-based air defense, derived from the US-trained Air Force from before the 1978-79 revolution, was giving way to a expanding arsenal of ground-based air defense missile systems. Still, Iran was at the time unable to construct a nationwide, integrated air defense network, and continued to rely on point defense of key locations with surface-to-air missile batteries.
The bulk of Iran's Air Force Air Defense holdings by the mid-1990s revolved around 30 Improved HAWK fire units (12 battalions/150+ launchers), 45-60 SA-2 and HQ-2J/23 (CSA-1 Chinese equivalents of the SA-2) launchers. Also available were some 30 Rapier and 15 Tigercat SAM launchers. There are reports of the transfer of SA-6 launchers to Iran from Russia in 1995/1996.In 1997 the Iranian Air Defense forces declared the Almaz S-200 Angara (SA-5 'Gammon') low-to high-altitude surface-to-air missile (SAM) operational. In December 2005 Iran entered into a contract to purchase 29 TOR-M1 (SA-15 Gauntlet) mobile surface-to-air missile defence systems from Russia worth more than USD 700 million (EUR 600 million).
Between 1998 and 2002 Iran imported approximately 6 JY-14 surveillance radars from the China National Electronics Import-Export Corporation. The radar can detect targets up to 300 km away and is now part of Iran's air defense system.[1]
On 01 September 2008 it was reported that Russia may proceed with plans to sell advanced S-300 air defense systems to Iran under a secret contract believed to have been signed in 2005.On 22 September 2010 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree banning the sale of the S-300 and other military equipment to Iran.[2] The sale was canceled because of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1929 sanctions on Iran. On 10 November 2010 Iran announced that it had developed a version of the S-300 missile.
Iranian land forces have a total of some 1,700 anti-aircraft guns including 14.5mm ZPU-2/-4, 23mm ZSU-23-4, 23mm ZU-23s, 37mm type 55s, 57mm ZSU-57-2 and 100mm KS-19s.Iran also had 100-180 Bofors L/70 40mm guns and modest numbers of Skygaurd 35mm twin anti-aircraft guns.It largest holding consisted of ZU-23s(which it can manufacture).[3]
Recently Iran has build several new anti-aircraft guns including Samavat 35mm Anti-Aircraft Guns, Sa'ir 100mm Anti-Aircraft Guns (Upgraded automatic version of KS-19) and Mesbah 1 air defense system.[4][5][6][7]
| Model | Type | Quantity | Acquired | Origin | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIM-23 Hawk | Surface-to-air missile | 150 | 1970s-present | United States/ Iran | Locally manufactured improved version of the original 1960s US Hawk system. The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force had recently revealed its own version of the MIM-23 Hawk the Shahin which is under production. In 2010 Iran announced that it will be mass producing its next generation of air defense system called Mersad which would integrate with the Shahin missile.[8] |
| SM-1 | Surface-to-air missile | Iran | Locally manufactured copy of a c.1970s variant | ||
| Shahab Saqeb | Surface-to-air missile | 2002–present | Iran | copy of the Chinese HQ-7 (FM-90) system. This Project was First Joint Winner-Applied Research in 14th Khwarizmi International Award- 2001;Tehran-Iran -The Project Title:Production of Low Range Ground to Air Missile;Shahab Saqeb - Initiator:Iran Aerospace Ind. Org.& Contributor:D.I.O)[9] | |
| Sayyad-1 | Surface-to-air missile | 45 | Iran | Up to 45 Launchers, HQ-2J and indigenous-produced Sayyad-1. Upgraded copy of HQ-2, Sayyad-1A has IR tracking. This Project was First Joint Winner-Applied Research in 14th Khwarizmi International Award- 2001;Tehran-Iran -The Project Title:Manufacture of Sayyad-1 Missile -Initiator: Iran Aerospace Ind. Org. Contributor:HESA & Arak Machine Ind.[9] | |
| Ghareh | Surface-to-air missile | 10 | Iran | upgraded copy of SA-5 Gammon with 250 km range | |
| SA-6 Gainful | Surface-to-air missile | 8 | 1995–present | Soviet Union | Reports of eight SA-6 systems transferred to Iran from Russia in 1995/1996. |
| S-200 | Surface-to-air missile | 200 | Soviet Union/ Iran | Locally upgraded and improved [10] [11] | |
| Rapier missile | Surface-to-air missile | 30 | 1971–present | United Kingdom | 45 towed systems with Blindfire radar delivered before 1979. 72 self-propelled systems and local production of 1,000 missiles cancelled 1979 |
| Tigercat | Surface-to-air missile | 15 | United Kingdom | ||
| SA-22 Greyhound (Pantsyr S1) | Surface-to-air missile | 10 | 2008–present | Russia | [12][13] |
| Tor missile system | Surface-to-air missile | 29 | 2005–present | Russia | [14] |
| S-300 | Surface-to-air missile | 4 | Russia/ Iran | Iran claim to possess two S-300PT from Belarus and two others from another unspecified source despite Russian refusal to deliver them. [15] Iran announced that it had a "domestically made" system with the same capabilities as the S-300, but this is unverified. [16] | |
| Mersad | Air Defense System | N/A | 2010 | Iran | Iranian designed Air Defense system using Shahin missiles. |
| Model | Type | Quantity | Acquired | Origin | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Misagh-1 | Man-portable air-defense systems | Iran | |||
| Misagh-2 | Man-portable air-defense systems | Iran | |||
| RBS-70 | Man-portable air-defense systems | 50 | Sweden | ||
| SA-7 Grail | Man-portable air-defense systems | Soviet Union | |||
| SA-16 Gimlet | Man-portable air-defense systems | 700 | Soviet Union | [17] | |
| SA-18 Grouse | Man-portable air-defense systems | Soviet Union |
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