Defense industry of Iran

File:Shafaq.jpg

Shafaq jetfighter

Iran's military industry has taken great strides in the past 25 years, and now manufactures many types of sophisticated arms and equipment. As of 2005, Iran had exported weapons to more than 50 countries, including NATO members. [1] In 2003, the country sold $100 million worth of military equipment, according to Iranian officials. [2]

File:Zulfiqar1.jpg

Zulfiqar 1 MBT

File:Misagh.jpg

Misagh 2 MANPAD

History

Under the last Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Iran's military industry was born. In the assembly lines that were put up by American firms, such as Bell, Litton and Northrop, Iranian workers put together a variety of helicopters, aircraft, guided missiles, electronic components and tanks. [3]

In 1973 the Iran Electronics Industries (IEI) was established. [4] The company was set up in a first attempt to organize the assembly and repair of foreign delivered weapons. [5] The Iranian Defense Industries Organization took the first step into military industry by reverse engineering Soviet RPG-7, BM21, and SAM-7 missiles in 1979. [6]

Nevertheless, most of Iran's weapons before the Islamic revolution were imported from the United States and Europe. Between 1971 and 1975, the Shah went on a buying spree, ordering $8 billion in weapons from the United States alone. This alarmed the United States Congress, which strengthened a 1968 law on arms exports in 1976 and renamed it the Arms Export Control Act. Still, the United States continued to sell large amounts of weapons to Iran until the 1979 Islamic Revolution. [7]

File:Fajr-3.jpg

Fajr-3 MIRV

File:IranianCobra.jpg

Panha 2091

After the Islamic revolution, Iran found itself severely isolated and lacking technological expertise. Because of economic sanctions and a weapons embargo put on Iran by the United States, Iran was forced to rely on its domestic arms industry for weapons and spare parts since there were very few countries willing to do business with Iran. [8] The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps was put in charge of creating what we today know as the Iranian military industry. Under their command Iran's military industry was enormously expanded, and with the Ministry of Defence pouring in investment into the missile industry, Iran soon had an arsenal of missiles. [9]

Azarakhsh II jetfighter

Defense production

Kowsar missile

Weapons built by Iran's military industry include:[10]

Air Force equipment

Fighters and attack aircraft

• Azarakhsh strike fighter
• Owaz interceptor fighter
• Shafaq one-seat fighter, dual-seat attacker, and dual-seat combat capable trainer
• Sa'eqeh fighter

Helicopter

• Panha 2091, a reverse engineered and upgraded AH-1 Cobra
• Shabaviz 2061, a reverse-engineered and upgraded Bell 206
• Shabaviz 275, a reverse-engineered and upgraded Bell 214C
• Shahed 5
• Shahed 274
• Shahed 278
• AB-206 reverse engineered and upgraded with Toophan ATGMs

Training aircraft

• Tazarve
• Fajr-3
• Parasto
• Dorna

Upgrade and repair

• Upgrades and reserve components for F-4
• Upgrades and reserve components for F-5
• Upgrades and reserve components for F-14

Missiles

Long range

• IRIS, part of Iran's space program.
• Shahab-4; program shelved.

Intermediate range

• Ghadr-110 two-stage solid-propellant strategic IRBM with a range of 3,000 km

Medium range

• Fajr-3 triple-warhead strategic MRBM with a range of 3,000 km. Iran's most advanced missile.
• Shahab-3 strategic MRBM with a range of 2,100 km. Initially based on Nodong-1.[11][12]
• Shahab-2 tactical SRBM with a range of 750 km. Based on SS-1d/Scud-C.
• Shahab-1 tactical SRBM with a range of 350 km. Based on SS-1c/Scud-B.

Short range

• Fateh-110 single-stage solid-propellant SRBM with a range of 200 km.
• Zelzal-3
• Zelzal-2 single-stage solid-propellant SRBM with a range of 200 km.[13][14][15]
• Zelzal-1
• Fajr-3 artillery rocket
• Fajr-5 artillery rocket
• Oghab artillery rocket

Man-Portable Air-Defence System (MANPAD)

• Misagh-2
• Misagh-1, Chinese QW-1 Vanguard variant.
• Sayyad-1, conflicting reports: potentially a Chinese SA-2 variant.
• Saeqeh
• Shahab Thaqeb
• Rapier, reverse-engineered and upgraded
• Crotale, reverse-engineered and upgraded

Anti-tank missiles

• Toophan
• Toophan 2
• AT-3 Sagger / Ra'ad
• AT-4 Spigot
• AT-5 Spandrel
• AT-14 Kornet
• RPG-29
• RPG-7
• Metis-M
• Kornet-E
• MILAN
• Saghegh improved version of the manportable RPG-7.
• Dragon

Anti-ship cruise missile

• Kowsar
• Fajre-Darya television-guided missile
• Nasr
• Noor

Anti-aircraft missile

• Hawk missile, reverse-engineered and converted to be carried by aircraft
• Ghareh, a reverse-engineered and upgraded S-200

Naval

• Hoot. Conflicting reports: potentially a Russian VA-111 Shkval variant.

Cruise missile

• Xh-55

Other

• Qadr television-guided
• Zoobin television-guided
• Anti-radiation missiles
• Laser guided missiles
• Spare parts for aircraft

Army equipment

Tanks

• Tosan MBT
• Zulfiqar MBT
• T-72Z/Safir-74
• Shir-1, a reverse-engineered and upgraded Chieftain tank

Armoured personnel carrier

• Cobra BMT-2
• Boragh, upgraded Russian BMP-2 variant.
• Sayyad
• BTR-60, upgraded

Artillery

• Raad 1
• Raad 2

Unmanned aerial vehicles

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

Small arms and other

• Heckler & Koch G3 7.62 mm (model G3A6 licence production) [16]
• Heckler & Koch MG3 7.62 mm (licence production) [17]
• Tondar Sub-Machine Gun 9mm (MP5 manufactured under licence)
• AKM
• PKM
• Dragunov Sniper Rifle
• M-16 5.56mm rifle copied from U.S.
• Khaybar KH2002, 5.56mm Iranian designed bullpup rifle. Variant of M-16.
• RPG-7. Iran makes and exports more RPG-7s than any other country. [18]
• Zoaf Pistol 9 mm
• Sig P-226 Pistol
• Gas masks
• Bullet Proof Vests

Naval equipment

Destroyers

• Mowj

Frigates

• Sina-1

Submarines

• Ghadir
• Sabehat-15

Patrol craft

• Ashura
• Paykan
• Tareq
• Zulfaqar
• MIG-S-1800
• MIG-S-1900
• MIG-S-2600
• MIG-S-3700 LCU

Electronics

• FCS, for T-72 MBTs
• Radio transceivers; copy of U.S. models
• Training simulators for aircraft and tanks
• Hasib radar
• Basir-110 AD radar
• HMS-100/200/400/500 electro-optical surveillance systems
• Imaging camera for satellites
• Laser detector
• Night vision systems

See also

• Military of Iran
• Iran's missile forces
• Current Equipment of the Iranian Army