How Iran's anti-tank missile systems evolved
Anti-tank missile systems (ATGMs) occupy an important place in the Iranian defensive strategy as one of the key systems for defeating enemy armored vehicles and manpower. The armed forces of Iran are equipped with a large number of ATGMs, and the national industry has established serial production of various complexes, which are also exported.
TUFAN (TOOPHAN)
Even before the 1979 revolution, being one of the largest and privileged clients of the US military-industrial complex, Shah Iran made massive purchases of the latest at that time American BGM-71 TOW and M47 Dragon ATGMs. In addition to portable launchers on a tripod, TOW were installed on SUVs and M113 armored personnel carriers. Some of the AH-1J attack helicopters acquired by Iran could also use anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) BGM-71 TOW.
After the Islamic Revolution, the rupture of relations with the United States and the imposition of American sanctions, the Iranian Armed Forces lost the opportunity to replenish stocks of anti-tank missiles and purchase new launchers. And during the war with Iraq (1980-1988), the reserves were completely used up. The secret purchases of TOW from the United States in the mid-1980s (the scandalous Iran-Contra affair) helped to cope with the deficit only partially and for a short time. In addition, there was an increasing need to replace the launchers lost in battles and unremountable with a guidance unit.
Unlicensed copying of TOW has become one of the priorities for the Iranian military-industrial complex. According to local sources, tests of the Iranian copy of the TOW missile, including real launches on enemy tanks, took place at the end of the Iran-Iraq war. American intelligence also reported on the production of copies of TOW missiles in Iran in early 1988.
Since the late 1980s and in the 1990s, production of a complete copy of the TOW - ATGM Toophan began in Iran. And in the early 2000s, along with the Basic Toophan (Toophan-1) with a conventional cumulative warhead, the Toophan-2 with a cumulative tandem warhead was officially introduced.
Over the years, Iran has continued to improve the Toophan ATGM and add new versions of missiles to defeat armored (including the TOW-2B analogue for hitting from above) and unarmored equipment (in the version with thermobaric warheads). Launchers are created by enterprises that are part of the state–owned company Iran Electronics Industries, and guided missiles are created by the Aerospace Industries Organization. These are two of the five largest integrated structures of the Iranian military-industrial complex under the control of the Ministry of Defense.
The Toophan complex (like TOW) is a heavy second–generation ATGM, which has a semi-automatic control system with the transmission of commands via a wired line. The total mass of the launcher with the guidance unit is 64 kg, about 20 kg more is accounted for by missiles. The complex can be supplemented with an Iranian thermal imaging sight manufactured by Iran Electronics Industries.
The Toophan ATGM is still widespread in the Iranian Armed Forces and has been supplied to Iranian allies in the region – from Hezbollah in Lebanon to the Yemeni Houthis and the Iraqi People's Militia Forces. A characteristic feature of the Iranian defense industry: copies of weapons are often marked with the original names of the systems, although serious changes may be made to them. In the marking of the Toophan ATGM, the Iranians use the name TOW (for example, TOW-2, TOW-4, etc.) instead of BGM-71, as in the original American missiles.
Separately, it is worth mentioning the upgraded version of the Toophan ATGM presented in February 2010, which features a semi-automatic laser beam guidance system instead of wires. At the same time, the Toophan-5 and Ghaem missiles were presented, and initially it was assumed that both missiles were intended for an upgraded version of the ATGM. But according to the latest information from the arms exhibitions, the Toophan-5 is a missile with a more powerful tandem cumulative warhead for a conventional version of the complex.
Thus, it is reliably known that for the upgraded version of the Toophan ATGM, two types of missiles were launched – Ghaem and Ghaem-M, designed primarily to defeat low-flying and low-speed aerial targets like helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The Ghaem-M missile is equipped with a fragmentation warhead and non-contact target sensors, its range has been increased to 6000 m.
But the upgraded version of the Toophan ATGM has not been widely distributed. Probably because it appeared shortly before the start of mass production of the Iranian copy of the "Cornet-E" – the Dehlavieh ATGM, which gradually began to displace the Toophan ATGM.
SAEGHE (SAEGHE, SAEGHE)
As already noted, Iran under the Shah, in addition to heavy TOW ATGMs, also purchased light portable ATGMs M47 Dragon, designed for use by one person from the shoulder. Since this is also a second-generation ATGM with a semi-automatic control system with the transmission of commands via a wired line, its use requires good training of the operator, who can work even sitting and using a folding bipod.
The range of such an ATGM is small – up to 1000 m. But the ease and speed of bringing the M47 Dragon into combat readiness was appreciated in Iran: special forces and rapid reaction units began to use the complex. To make up for the losses in the war with Iraq, the Iranian industry also started copying them, which led to successful tests in 2001 of the Saeghe-1 ATGM, and soon after that of the Saeghe-2 ATGM with a tandem warhead.
Later, another version of the Saeghe-4 with a thermobaric warhead appeared. Iran has offered these three missile variants for export in recent years. For example, Saeghe-2 and Saeghe-4 were supplied to neighboring Iraq.
The mass of the Saeghe ATGM tracking device is 3.1 kg, and the mass of transport and launch containers with missiles is about 12-13 kg, so the ATGM in combat condition weighs about 15 kg.
RAAD (RAAD)
Another early Iranian ATGM was the Raad complex – an Iranian upgraded version of the Soviet first-generation ATGM "Malyutka". The Malyutka complexes came to Iran even before the revolution, along with the BMP-1, which the Shah's government acquired in the USSR. During the war with Iraq, Iran purchased additional batches of the Malyutka ATGM or copies of them in third countries for American-made complexes. At the same time, Iran started copying the complex. The production of the first Iranian copies probably began at the end of the Iran-Iraq War.
In the 1990s, Iran quickly moved from a direct copy of the complex (the copy was called Raad) to the development of its upgraded versions – I-Raad (Improved Raad). They became second-generation complexes and received a semi-automatic control system, which made it easier for operators to work. In addition, Iran has begun the production of ATGMs with tandem cumulative warhead, which were named Raad-T and I-Raad-T (Improved Raad Tandem).
Various versions of the Raad were actively produced in Iran in the noughties and supplied to Iranian allies such as Syria. By modern standards, even the upgraded version of the ATGM is outdated, but with proper use it can still pose a serious threat. Raad inherited a useful feature from the original ATGM complex: the removal of the launcher with the missile separately from the guidance system, which increases the chances of the operator remaining unnoticed. The range of the I-Raad-T is from 400 to 3000 m. Such a missile can penetrate homogeneous armor up to 400 mm thick behind dynamic protection.
TUSAN (TOSAN)
In the early 1990s, Iran signed a contract with the Soviet Union to organize licensed production of the BMP-2. But the Gor-Chernomyrdin agreement signed in the mid–1990s between the United States and Russia led to a temporary break in Russian-Iranian military cooperation. Major contracts with Iran have not been fully implemented by the Russian side. But Iran has organized licensed production of ammunition for those BMP-2s that managed to be delivered and assembled.
Among other things, Iran mastered the production of 9M113M ATGM (Konkurs-M ATGM missiles), which were part of the standard armament of the BMP-2. Perhaps Iran was able to purchase a larger number of portable launchers, since in the future the "Competition-M" was also installed on Iranian-made Safir army SUVs. The 9M113M produced in Iran received the local designation Tosan and, judging by the marking of Iranian-made missiles, were already mass-produced in the early 2000s.
The "Contest-M" is a classic second–generation ATGM. Tosan has the same characteristics as the 9M113M, a tandem cumulative warhead with a range of up to 4000 m and armor penetration of up to 750-800 mm behind dynamic protection.
TONDAR (TONDAR)
For the T-72S tanks delivered to Iran and assembled there in the 1990s under license, the production of 125-mm ammunition of the Russian model was also created. At first it was unguided ammunition. But the T-72S tanks are equipped with 9K120 Svir guided weapons systems and can use 9M119 and 9M119M guided missiles with a semi-automatic laser beam control system at ranges from 100 to 4000 m. In Iran, copies of these missiles began to be mastered.
Iranian copies of 9M119M were named Tondar. In the mid-noughties, their successful trials were reported. A few years later, information about the use of Tondar missiles in exercises began to appear regularly. According to Iranian data, Tondar missiles are designed for use with T-72S tanks and are equipped with a tandem cumulative warhead that penetrates up to 700 mm of armor behind dynamic protection.
DEHLAVIEH (DEHLAVIEH, DEHLAVIYEH)
In July 2012, a Dehlavieh ATGM production line was opened in Iran, in which it is not difficult to recognize a copy of the Russian Kornet-E ATGM. At the exercises in Iran, in addition to copies, there are also original "Kornet-E", so it can be assumed that it was about the purchase of a batch of ATGMs from Russia simultaneously with a license for their production in Iran. But the parties have never commented on this issue, so the details are unknown.
Soon, the Dehlavieh ATGM began to actively displace older complexes from the Iranian armed forces, as well as supply Iranian allies in the region. Judging by the numbers of batches of ATGM Dehlavieh intercepted on the way to the Houthis in recent years, their production in Iran is carried out on a large scale.
Dehlavieh is a portable second–generation ATGM with a semi-automatic laser beam control system. The launcher weighs 27 kg (the mass of transport and launch containers with missiles is 29.5 kg) and can be equipped with thermal imaging sights manufactured by Iran Electronics Industries or Rayan Roshd Afzar.
In addition to the standard launcher for one ATGM, Iranian engineers have developed two versions of heavier launchers with the placement of two ATGMs for the paired launch of missiles in order to overcome the active protection of armored vehicles. The first version was created in the mid-2010s using a tripod from the Toophan ATGM to accommodate a noticeably heavier launcher. In addition, it was equipped with a remote control from a distance of up to 150 m. The second, lighter version was shown in 2022.
Initially, Dehlavieh were equipped with two basic ATGM variants. A rocket with a tandem cumulative warhead is marked 9M133–1 A.T MISSILE, and with a thermobaric – 9M133-1 T.B MISSILE.
At the end of 2019, a variant of a guided missile for the Dehlavieh ATGM was shown at one of the exhibitions, which, apparently, is equipped with non-contact target sensors. At the same time, a variant similar to missiles for the Kornet-EM ATGM with a range of up to 8000 m was noticed. In more detail, these Iranian copies of the 9M133M-2 and 9M133FM-2 missiles were shown in February 2022, but their characteristics are still unknown.
In February 2023, the British and US Navies reported that they had intercepted another cargo for the Yemeni Houthis. Among other things, there were several missiles launched in 2021 for the Dehlavieh ATGM with the new marking 9M133-2 A.T. MISSILE and 9M133-2 TBF MISSILE. The letters TBF in the marking probably indicate the presence of a thermobaric and fragmentation warhead, and the cipher 9M133-2 designates upgraded new missiles similar to 9M133M-2 and 9M133FM-2.
Over the past decade, work has been actively carried out in Iran to integrate the Dehlavieh ATGM with various military equipment. For installation on army SUVs and armored vehicles, Pirooz combat modules were created, equipped with an optoelectronic system, two or four Dehlavieh ATGMs and a target tracking machine. The BMP-2 is also being upgraded with the installation of Dehlavieh on them. It is also known about the work on the Dehlavieh aviation variant for installation on modernized army aviation helicopters, such as the AH-1J.
ALMAS
The newest Almas ATGM became the first Iranian third-generation complex created on the principle of "shot and forgot". It was developed for use by both infantrymen from portable launchers, and from UAVs and helicopters. It is probably supposed to be installed on other platforms as well. Externally and in its concept, Almas resembles the Israeli Spike-LR ATGM.
For the first time, the ATGM of this complex was seen in a TV report on the visit of deputies of the Iranian parliament to the arms exhibition in 2017, and the first drone test footage was shown in 2020, but the name of the new complex was not disclosed.
It was officially presented in a variant for UAVs under the designation Almas in January 2021, and in July of the same year, for the first time, an option with a light portable launcher was officially shown.
According to official information, the ground-based portable version of the ATGM is called Almas-1. Due to the presence of a missile homing head (GOS) and a bidirectional fiber-optic communication line, it can operate in two modes: "fired and forgotten" (fire and forget) and "fired, evaluated and corrected" (fire, observe and update).
The mass of the Almas-1 ATGM command and launch unit is 11.5 kg, the weight of the tripod is 3.5 kg, the mass of the rocket is 15 kg. Armor penetration of a missile with a tandem cumulative warhead of at least 600 mm, range from 200 to 4000 m.
The allocation of ATGM production as a priority allowed Iran to achieve serious success in this area. The country has gone through copying the complexes of the first and second generations to the development of complexes of the third generation. Iran not only provides for its own needs, but also supplies ATGMS to its allies in the region.
Vasily Ivanov
Vasily Ivanovich Ivanov is a journalist.