JFC Fuller

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Back in 2010 Iran announced that it had cloned the Hawk system and called it Shahin and incorporated it in a system called Mersad that along with some primitive looking radars also incorporated a rather cool quad twin 23mm cannon system:



Then earlier this year they announced they were working on a Bavar 373 system whose obviously mocked up TELS looked rather like China's HQ-16 system (to me):



Recently the Iranians have continued their relative lack of innovation with the Mehrab, essentially a cloned SM-1 that they seem to be mounting in boxes on their "destroyers" along with particularly primitive fire control systems:



And most recently we have the Ra'd, which seems to be a cloned Buk system though they have been suspiciously quiet on the radars and fire control elements:



Iran seems to be playing with a whole bunch of programmes, it seems to be fairly obvious that few of them are really any good but it will be fun when they eventually get blown to pieces.
 
The best summary I have heard of all the Indigenous conventional Iranian weapons programs was:

"And yet it can all be gone in moments"
 
Iranians recently paraded what is appearently an Iranian knock off of a Chinese knock off of the Russian S-300 SAM. The thing was even painted in a pattern mimicking to the unique Chinese square pixel camouflage pattern. The problem is unlike the Chinese knockoff, which have actually been seen to fire from an cross-country TEL and hit things, the Iranian knockoff of the Chinese knockoff were mounted on standard truck chassis with sheet metal cladding, and no actuators to actually stand the fake missile canisters on end so they can pretend to fire.
 
This topic would be so much better with pictures, and less of the silly, snide, chest-beating jingoistic comments. :(

These comments serve zero purpose on an international forum like this. Otherwise it will just end up like MP.net.

Why not see if you can post pictures to match the different projects instead?
 
Chuck4,

Actually hasn't recently paraded their S-300 class SAM. In the most recent parade Iran merely showed off a Heavy-duty truck which had a poster on that showed it to be a possible basis for a TEL for such a missile. FYI, the S-300 class SAM Iran is working on is called the Bavar-373. Other than the new poster, little is known about the project.

The real attraction in the parade was a new medium-range SAM operated by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (as opposed to the Iranian Army) that heavily resembles the Soviet/Russian BUK called the Ra'ad-1. The missile the system uses, the "Taer-2" looks quite similar to the 9M317 missile used by later variants of the BUK family. The Ra'ad-1 is claimed to have a range of 50km. In comparison to the BUK-M2 it uses a similar looking but also distinctively different TELAR, carries just three missiles not four and the TELARs on parade had no radar mounted. However a video showing the system being tested (proving its not a mockup or a fake) shows a radar system mounted on the TEL (thus making it a TELAR).
 

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Bavar-373 mockup, using a previous TEL, and publicly displayed in 2010:
 

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chuck4 said:
Iranians recently paraded what is appearently an Iranian knock off of a Chinese knock off of the Russian S-300 SAM.

I like this!!!
I don't think its far from the mark - if not correct! :-X

Regards
Pioneer
 
Contrary to popular reports, there is zero evidence the Bavar-373 has anything to do with the Chinese HQ-9 other than they are both reportedly based on the S-300P/PMU family.

As the images I posted suggest, the "launcher mockup" from two years ago was just for show. The launch vehicle Iran plans on using is fundamentally different from anything the Russians or Chinese use. Other than that, too little is known about the Bavar-373 to say what it is most related to.
 
Iran paraded the launcher mockup right after Russian announced the S-300 would be subject to embargo, proclaiming that it had no need of the S-300 since it had its own superior program in the works. I would suspect the mockups were built almost overnight, otherwise they might have done a better job. The 1 billion planned to be spent on S-300 no doubt became a 1 billion dollar nest egg to fund an R&D program.


If it is based on anything in specific the most likely source of information would be the rumored handful of S-300 battery components said to have been passed on by Belarus in exchange for oil in the mid-late 2000s period. HQ-9 makes about zero sense.
 
Some pics of the system.
67405479_854029488303597_5962708178279210016_n.jpg

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Based on everything they have done so far it will probably be based very heavily on what they already have in country, it may end up looking outwardly similar to the likes of the HQ-9/S-300 family but will probably be markedly more primitive.
You can't really go markedly more primitive than S-300P in modern world. Well, you can, but you will really need to TRY.
 
Some pics of the b373 tel
Ashampoo_Snap_2019.09.22_13h26m13s_002_.jpg
Ashampoo_Snap_2019.09.22_13h26m30s_003_.jpg
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The S and X band aesa radars
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The Sayyad 4 interceptor
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The Tabas sam system,probably co-developed with the third of khordad sam system,but using the less technologically challenging mechanically scanned slotted planar array radar type rather than aesa.
61441247.jpg
EFEO1yVXsAAgXkF.jpg


The third of Khordad
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And heres a Third of Khordad with an interesting little extra marking added on to the operators hatch
EFAb2BQWwAAulJm.jpg

And heres a close up.
oXVJ3OY.jpg


Reengineered SA6 on new tel.
61441245.jpg
D9aIZobXoAAJzea.jpg
 
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Reengineered SA6 on new tel.
Wonder what are those missiles. Just copy of 3M9 or something more interesting?
I`d say its very likely that the airframes may be original,tho possibly also reverse/reengineered copies,but that the internals would likely be very,very different to the original ones ie all of the old analogue electronics would`ve been replaced with all new digital systems.Its possible that it may use some tabbas or third of khordad systems as there is another similar non radar equipped 3 axle tel that uses the older taer 2 type missiles that were seen on the earlier versions of both systems.
_88999120_d76b57d2-f484-4474-ac50-8e1e4d1645fb.jpg

1000

Sadly we still dont know very much about the various iranian sam programs,but from what has come out its apparent that the overall program to upgrade and modernise irans air defences was enormous.
 
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Iran_IRGC_AD_Army_Khatam_Al_Anbia_AD_at_2018_Parade_mp4_snapshot_05_02_2018_09_24_05_34_33.jpg
New missile.jpg
Heres the Mersad 16,formerly the Kamin 2 sam system.It appears to be the hawk/mersad sam system replacement and uses a modified version of the 15th of khordad launcher,but is fitted with a blast deflector to enable 360 degree rotation and low angle of elevation shots.The interceptor is also based on the hawk/mersad airframe but is a hybrid design using the fins and control surface configuration of the rim66/mehrab.Usually 6 interceptors would be carried on the tel.

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The AN/MPQ-50 and AN/MPQ-46,or more likely their iranian copies,still appear to be used with the system,tho how much of these are original or based on the original designs is anyones guess,mine would be not very much.Both radars have been vehicle mounted for better scoot and shoot capability,The AN/MPQ-50 has also had the antenna modified to enable it to fold down when on the move or not in use,while the platform with the AN/MPQ-46 mounted on it drops down.
1398070912431448818544664.jpg
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And heres the modernised fire control/operators station,interestingly the iranians have opted to keep the layout fairly similar to the original rather than completely revamp it.

Heres a short vid showing a close up of the optronic viewer thats visible in front of the operator in the above pic

Heres another pic of the system with the radars stowed in the traveling position
EFYktXvXYAA7rlf.jpg:large



And heres the Hafez long range aesa search radar thats used with the system.
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vlcsnap-2015-08-29-13h33m34s546.jpg
 
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Heres one of the SA6 based systems,the Raad 1.The tel is in a fixed position minus its carrier vehicle.
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And heres the fire control system,optronics look to be a major component of it.
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The Raad 1 fire control system looks to be somewhat similar,tho not identical,to the one that the Raad 2 uses.
D-DpubYX4AATpMV.jpg



And heres where it all began,way waaay back in the 1980s during the iran-iraq war....
125l6j10.jpg
Here we see a pair of rim66 sams mounted on a hawk launcher.
 
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Heres some pics of the "S300" system that was paraded back around 2010,tho what this system actually was,ie early B373 mockup/older S300 system components/something else,has still not been revealed.

Iran-S-300-fake-2.jpg
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IRAN-power.JPG
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iran-thu-nghiem-bavar-373-datviet.vn-09_3030341.png
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sejil-090-20100419-1811139929.jpg

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iran-thu-nghiem-bavar-373-datviet.vn-06_3028825.png
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I managed to find about the only good image out of the few images available of one of the Babr series trucks prior to its being modified for use as a transporter for part of the S300 sam system.Originally it was used as a tank transporter and the chassis is likely a refurbished/modified soviet Maz with a new iranian built cab fitted.
BABR Truck.jpg
You can clearly see that the cab has undergone some minor restyling around the door windows and cab sides,the lights have been moved down and recessed into the bumper.The most obvious change is the fitting of the offset radiator in the front of the cab,why this was done and why the radiator was slightly offset to the right rather than being centered in the middle is a bit of a mystery.
529749_orig.jpg

***UPDATE***
I just remembered an assessment of irans sam defences from the Ausairpower.net website written by Carlo Kopp [17-7-2010] back around the time this system first appeared.He devotes around half of it to this system,which to his credit he doesnt simply dismiss the whole notion of out of hand as many western "experts" would have simply done just on principle.In addition he clearly notes the considerable effort that iran had even at that time put into the reverse/reegineering of systems like the hawk as well as acquiring more advanced radar technologies,and indeed considering the huge leaps that iran has made in both radar and sam technologies in the decade after this was written,he ends it on what could almost be considered as a rather potentially prescient note:
"If Israeli or US led air forces are called upon to fly against Iran in the nearer future, we should not be surprised if there are some nasty and “surprising” capability surprises in the Iranian IADS."
Carlo Kopps assessment of irans sam systems 2010
 
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Heres some pics of the 15th of Khordad medium range sam system
iran-air-defense-4-png.7795

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The 120km range Sayyad 3 missile now apparently in service
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EJ_Ky2vW4AEBHGe.jpg:large


Ofoogh 3 fire control radar apparently seen for the first time
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Najm-804 AESA search radar
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iran-air-defense-5-png.7796


And heres the previous fire control radar
Iran_IRGC_AD_Army_Khatam_Al_Anbia_AD_at_2018_Parade_mp4_snapshot_05_03_2018_09_24_05_41_01.jpg
Iran_IRGC_AD_Army_Khatam_Al_Anbia_AD_at_2018_Parade_mp4_snapshot_04_45_2018_09_24_05_39_34.jpg
We can see it being tested with the interceptors
talash-radar.jpg
 
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Heres some pics of the early versions of what would ultimately become the 3rd of Khordad sam system

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And heres some of the early Tabas sam system
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Heres an intermediate version with only 2 cooling fans and mounting the earliest version of the taer 2 missiles
 
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The cabin looks so small! Also, this kind of AC unit placed next to the antennae could alter signal quality.
 
Heres a close up of the original taer 2 missile design plus the original 3rd Khordad.
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Heres some good pics showing the design evolution of the 3rd of Khordads interceptor missile.
images

In the first pic you can clearly see the Buk M1-2/M2 9M317 influences especially the bi-conic nose section,tho there are clearly a couple of differences as well.For instance the nose cone is more pointed like the one on the Sa6,also the winglets are slightly longer and set further to the rear rather than being in the middle of the airframe.The control surfaces are set almost right back at the rear of the airframe and are both taller and wider as well as having the bottom section of the leading edge clipped off.
The middle pic shows the redesign of the nose section to increase its diameter,the whole airframe is now of the same diameter and the nose cone is of a far more rounded off design rather than the sharply pointed one like the sa6.
The third pic shows that the missile has been lengthened as have the winglets,the rear control surfaces have been moved very slightly forward and slightly enlarged by no longer having the bottom section of the leading edge clipped off.
 
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Heres a good pic showing the many similarities between the tabbas and third of khordad sam systems
photo_2018-06-17_20-50-35.jpg

And heres a couple of very interesting pics showing the sayyad 2 sam being tested with the third of khordad "dumb" tel.I`m pretty sure that theres video of these being fired as well.I`m not sure what the reason for this was,one suggestion was to see if interoperability between these systems was possible.
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Heres the bashir long range radar that the 3rd of khordad uses
DrX5W02UcAEeEUk.jpg
In the right pic you can get a good look at the side mounted cooling fans
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In this pic you can see the considerable width of the radar.
There was a popular theory that the bashir was just the renamed chinese jy-11b,however judging by the considerable differences in width and the different layout of components at the back of the radar this seems very unlikely.
Heres a picture of a jy-11b for comparison
http://i3.sinaimg.cn/jc/2010-12-07/U1335P27T1D622431F3DT20101207095541.jpg

Heres some more pics of the optronic system for the Raad 2
ی-3-1.jpg
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Is this class of weapon bound for mass adaption?

Appears unlikely - the target(s) of the weapon is unclear - maybe targeted at enemy airbases to target returning aircraft coming in to land?
And unclear how capable it is/ could be, especially given the likely high reliance on the capability of its optical search/ acquisition sensors, given it’s apparently limited dynamic performance (even for use against helicopters or loitering UCAVs).
 
Another possibility would be semi-deniable terrorist strikes, similar to the attack on the Saudi oilfields, but targeting air transport.
 

Is this class of weapon bound for mass adaption?
Its not a sam,tho it likely would have a limited anti aircraft capability.Its actually a loitering NLOS type weapon along the lines of the serbian ALAS but much,much bigger.This doesnt look to be intended for iranian service,at least not in its current form,this appears to have been produced for the yemenis using a variety of preexisting COTS taken from various other iranian weapons systems as well as commercially available components like the micro jet engine.

Here you can see it in its assembled form,tho its appears to be missing its front control surfaces
EQlwB3SWkAEkIkQ.jpg
EQl2YB7WsAA_Bxm.jpg
And here it is in non assembled form for transport.You can get an idea of just how long it is by comparing it to the surrounding iranian dehlavie/9m133 kornet atgm canisters [1.2m length].This weapon could be around 3m in length,which for an NLOS type is very long,the comparable serbian ALAS has a length of 2.7m,tho this likely includes the booster as well whereas the iranian weapon uses an under slung booster

Theres a un report that has some more pics and data[pg122],as well as pics and data on the saudi refinery attack and the weapons used.
https://undocs.org/s/2020/70
 
Rheintochter, is that you ? . . .

cheers,
Robin.
 
I`ve found a couple of interesting old pics dating back to the iran-iraq war period and which probably represent irans earliest attempts at sam system modification/reengineering
Rapier.jpg
Heres one of the mobile Rapier sam systems mounted on a BEHR 4 axle truck.
The same vehicle with a slightly different cab configuration was also used for what was very probably the first iranian attempt at a mobile Hawk system back during the same time period.
Hawk.jpg
We can see a BEHR truck being used as the carrier vehicle for the AN/MPQ-46 radar

Here are some very interesting pics of the local production of the Iranian reengineered Hawk/Mersad interceptors,either the Shaheen or the Shalamche
a8086cd62770a2e8934f739663c2ffab.jpg
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Heres a close up of the seeker
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Some of the seeker components


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Heres a very interesting one,we see 2 unknown sam seekers,judging by the Tabbas prototype in the background these very likely could be from the 2 different configurations of the Taer sam developed during the program that eventually led to the 3rd of Khordad and the Tabbas sam systems.
 
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Heres the Herz-9 sam system
This appears to be a fully mobile system based on the semi mobile Ya Zahra sam system.This was a full modernisation of the old chinese supplied HQ-7/FM-80,which was itself a copy of the western Crotale/Matra R440

160003_85570485_herze%20nohom2.preview.jpg

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truck_mount.jpg
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Recently released video about the 3rd of Khordad sam system with a lot of great shots of the interceptor and transporter production including a shot of the seeker as well as shots of the rather claustrophobic operator compartment,and a great shot from the target drones perspective of an intercept.



videoplayback_001.mkv_000160995.gif
A view that no pilot would ever want to see from his cockpit.

Third_of_Khordad_seeker_assembly.jpeg
Seeker antenna assembly
videoplayback_001.mkv_000127428.png
You get a good idea of just how cramped and claustrophobic conditions are inside the operators compartment
videoplayback_001.mkv_000105372.png
Also a new piece of equipment added to the top of the radar compartment,I had thought that it might be a flir camera,but now I`m not so sure...... videoplayback_001.mkv_000079513.png
Another interesting little detail is that the end cooling fan on the middle telar is noticeably larger,on the prior models they were all the same size.Could this have something to do with the new system in the previous pic?.
 
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Also put it on a boat...
Ea8ceoqWkAEg1w0.jpg
Interestingly during these same tests there appeared to be a new seeker type being tested as well.
Ea-Xn9CXgAAiEKF.jpg
It does remind me more than a little appearance wise of the old mid 70s era Aim-97 Seekbat with its dual semi-active/ir homing seeker.
 
Heres the original Hawk sam airframe and its redesigned replacement for the heavily modernised and upgraded Mersad 16 sam system.Both of these use the M112 motor,but the redesign has done away with the large fins and replaced them with the smaller fins and control surfaces of the Rim-66 creating an MIM-23/RIM-66 hybrid.
Hawks.jpg
M112.jpg
 
Heres some very interesting pics from the early days of the development of the bavar 373 sam system.
Ea9Ns8yWoAUazLN.jpg
Ea9N1VUWAAAHrCw.png
Ea9N82zWkAAs_cS.jpg
we can see from these that the original B373 tel was actually a 4 axle design based on a hybrid of s300pm and s300v features ,with 2 sets of tandem canisters and a folding mast mounted illuminator

This is the later version of the 4 axle tel used for testing,it no longer has the large folding mast but you can still clearly see the huge gap between the canisters left in the vertical launcher.
Ek6t53_XgAEV5CF.jpg
Ek7Xl3aXEAE3qCq.jpg
 
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Is this class of weapon bound for mass adaption?
Its not a sam,tho it likely would have a limited anti aircraft capability.Its actually a loitering NLOS type weapon along the lines of the serbian ALAS but much,much bigger.This doesnt look to be intended for iranian service,at least not in its current form,this appears to have been produced for the yemenis using a variety of preexisting COTS taken from various other iranian weapons systems as well as commercially available components like the micro jet engine.

Here you can see it in its assembled form,tho its appears to be missing its front control surfaces
View attachment 628177
View attachment 628180
And here it is in non assembled form for transport.You can get an idea of just how long it is by comparing it to the surrounding iranian dehlavie/9m133 kornet atgm canisters [1.2m length].This weapon could be around 3m in length,which for an NLOS type is very long,the comparable serbian ALAS has a length of 2.7m,tho this likely includes the booster as well whereas the iranian weapon uses an under slung booster

Theres a un report that has some more pics and data[pg122],as well as pics and data on the saudi refinery attack and the weapons used.
We finally get to see a picture of the entire fully assembled weapon complete with forward control surfaces.
1604018626324.png
 

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