Iran's military power
The most important player in the Middle East arena is Iran. Despite the difficult relations with a number of countries in the region and some world leaders, this state maintains and builds its potential in various spheres, including in the field of the armed forces. The specifics of the situation in the Middle East compels official Tehran to pay special attention to the development of the army and its armaments. As a consequence, the Iranian armed forces are among the most powerful in their region.
In late April, an updated version of the famous Global Firepower rating was published, which determines the defense potential of many countries in the world. The development of the army and related spheres allowed Iran to take the 20th place in the general list. With this result, he outstripped many countries in his region, having passed only Turkey (8th place), Egypt (12th place) and Israel (15th place). The estimation of Iran by the GFP method is 0.4024. Consider factors that allow the Iranian army to have a very high potential, and also to take their places in various ratings.
The current situation in the armed forces of Iran is described in an interesting way in the recent reference book The Military Balance 2017. The authors of this publication write that Iran still maintains a specific army with a mass of outdated technology, but with well-trained personnel and strategic nuclear Arms, which are a key element of security. Indeed, in the arsenal of the Iranian army there are still some examples of weapons and equipment that have long been written off in other countries. However, at the same time the country manages to maintain a sufficiently high potential.
At the moment the population of Iran exceeds 82.8 million people. Approximately half the population is employed, about 1.4 million people are employed each year of the draft age. In total, the armed forces employ 523,000 people. There is also a 350-thousand-strong reserve, consisting of retired volunteers.
The most interesting feature of the armed forces of Iran is their division into two separate structures with their own command. There is a full-fledged army with ground forces, air force and navy. In addition, there is a separate structure called the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which also has its own ground forces, the Air Force and the Navy. Despite formal separation, both the army and the IRGC have similar goals and in most cases should work together.
The most numerous structure in the armed forces of Iran is the land forces. They serve 350 thousand people. The troops are managed by five headquarters with a division of responsibility zones by region. The ground forces have 8 armored brigades, 14 mechanized brigades, 12 light infantry and one airborne brigade. There are also aviation and artillery units. To the ground forces there are 10 brigades of special purpose with different functions.
Iran has a large fleet of armored vehicles, including a variety of models, including long-dated ones. The armored units have more than 1500 tanks of several types. The most numerous (560 units) are machines of the T-55 family of Soviet, Chinese and domestic production. Also there are 480 newer T-72s. The troops have obsolete American M47, M48 and M60 in significant quantities. There are 610 infantry combat vehicles of Soviet design. The fleet of armored personnel carriers (at least 640 units) includes both M113 tracked vehicles or domestic analogues, as well as wheeled BTR-50 and BTR-60 Soviet assemblies. There are at least 35-40 repair and evacuation and other auxiliary armored cars.
Artillery units are armed with up to three hundred self-propelled units with guns up to 203 mm caliber. There are combat vehicles of Soviet, American and Iranian production. The most numerous ACS of Iran is the American M109 - there are one and a half hundred such machines. More than 2,000 towed artillery systems of various types with caliber up to 203 mm have been retained. As in the case of self-propelled artillery, towed guns were purchased from the USSR / Russia, the United States or produced independently. There is self-propelled and towed rocket artillery in the amount of about 1500 units. The most numerous is the "Type 63" launcher of Chinese production - 700 units. The troops have 3,000 mortars in caliber from 81 to 120 mm.
The ground forces exploit at least 30 operational-tactical missile systems of several types. This weapon is a further development of Soviet or North Korean complexes.
The military air defense has a significant number of MANPADS of the family "Igla" and "Strela", as well as similar samples of Iranian production. Also in the army there are more than 1,100 antiaircraft guns of various types. There are self-propelled armored vehicles ZSU-23-4 (up to 100) and ZSU-57-2 (up to 80). Towed anti-aircraft artillery is represented by various systems from machine guns ZPU-2 to guns M-1939.
The Iranian army also has its own aviation units. There are about three dozen light multipurpose and training aircraft of several types of foreign production. Support for the troops is assigned to 50 AH-1J Cobra helicopters and 50 HESA Shahed 285 aircraft of its own production. There are 173 transport helicopters, including 20 heavy CH-47 Chinooks and dozens of light Bell 205 and Bell 206. In recent years, production of unmanned aerial vehicles for various purposes has been mastered.
Army ground forces are complemented by similar units from the IRGC. The Corps ground forces are managed by 31 regional headquarters and include 2 armored divisions, 3 armored brigades, at least 8 light infantry divisions and more than 5 similar brigades. The airborne troops of the IRGC include one brigade. The ground troops of the IRGC are invited to use the same technique as the main army.
The naval forces of the Iranian army are manned by 18,000 men. The fleet of the army and the IRGC are armed with almost four hundred ships and boats of various types, the bulk of this technology is intended to protect the coast.
The fleet has 21 submarines. The main submarine forces are the 877 submarines of the Russian construction in the number of three units. Also there are at least 17 small and ultra-small submarines with torpedo armament, built on two projects of Iran's own design.
The surface fleet includes 81 ships and a boat. There are seven corvettes of three projects equipped with missile, artillery and torpedo weapons. In the system there are 16 missile boats of several types, and about half of them are used as part of the Coast Guard units. Several dozen torpedo boats of a number of projects of domestic and foreign construction are preserved.
Iran has an amphibious fleet consisting of 13 ships and 11 boats. The largest of the landing ships can take on board up to 10 tanks or 225 soldiers. Boats have a smaller capacity, but some of them due to the use of an air cushion differ in other possibilities.
Mineral forces are represented by five ships of several projects. One of the existing minesweepers, however, is based on the Caspian Sea and is used as a training vessel. The rest can solve combat missions in the Persian Gulf.
In the naval aviation of Iran serves 2,600 people. The search and destruction of enemy submarines is assigned to 3 P-3 Orion aircraft and 10 SH-3D helicopters. Also in the interests of the fleet, 16 aircraft and 20 different types of helicopters intended for auxiliary work should be used.
The coastal defense compounds have several types of missile systems. Also on the shore are two marine brigades with a total strength of 2,600 people.
The Guard Corps of the Islamic Revolution has its own naval forces, in which 15 thousand people serve. Another 5 thousand are reduced to one brigade of marines of the IRGC. The main task of the IRGC fleet is to protect the coast from various threats. For this purpose, it includes more than 110 patrol ships and ships, including missile anti-ship weapons. Artillery and torpedo boats are also used. The IRGC has its own landing fleet of four ships. There are coastal defense units, which are armed with missile systems, similar to Navy systems.
In the air force serves 18 thousand people. In addition, the air force includes air defense troops, which serve 12 thousand. A characteristic problem of the air force is the presence of a significant number of obsolete foreign equipment. The air force has 5 fighter squadrons, 9 squadrons of fighter-bombers and 1 similar unit operating front-line bombers. There is one reconnaissance and naval patrol squadron. The work of aviation at large removals is provided by tankers of one squadron. Transport tasks are solved by five squadrons, training is conducted on the basis of four. Most of the helicopters belong to the army aviation, but there are several similar squadrons in the Air Force.
Fighter aircraft is manned by American and Soviet / Russian aircraft. The most common (more than 60 units) remains a technique like F-4D / E Phantom II. There is also a fairly large (more than 55) grouping of F-5 aircraft. In total, more than 260 fighters are in operation. Attack of ground targets is assigned to 39 bombers and Su-24 and Su-25 attack aircraft.
Transport aviation has 117 sides, including 12 heavy IL-76 aircraft, 19 medium C-130 and other equipment. In particular, the park of light passenger cars is equipped with several types of aircraft. As flying tankers, American aircraft of several types of Boeing brand are used. For the training of pilots, more than 150 helical and jet aircraft of several types are used.
The fleet of helicopters consists of 35-40 cars of several models. There are at least two heavy CH-47 and more than 30 medium Bell 214. Not long ago the Iranian industry has established the production of its own transport and multipurpose helicopters, their number in the troops is constantly growing.
The air defense forces belonging to the Air Force are equipped primarily with missile systems. On arms there are more than 500 complexes of different types with different characteristics. Portable, stationary and mobile missile systems of various types of foreign production are used. The main supplier of the SAM was Russia, which sold Iran the Tor-M1, S-300PMU2, Strela, etc. systems. Also there are old systems of American, British and French production. A small number of artillery installations are operating.
The structure of the Corps of the Guards of the Islamic Revolution also includes missile forces, which are the basis of strategic forces. This type of troops has in its composition several compounds that operate missile systems of various types. It is known that the missile forces are armed with at least 12 mobile complexes with medium-range missiles Shahab-3. Another 10 such missiles are deployed with the use of silo launchers. There is information about the presence of Sajil-2 missiles. The grouping of short-range missiles is represented by approximately two dozen complexes of the Fateh family and Shahab.
Approximately at the beginning of the current decade, a cyber command was created in Iran, whose tasks include working with information systems and solving corresponding special tasks. By now, only the very existence of such a structure is known, as well as its belonging to the IRGC. Other information, such as the number of personnel, the features of technical equipment and the tasks to be solved remain a secret. All information about cyberwarfare is based only on fragmentary information and various estimates.
In 2016, Iran's domestic gross product reached 12962 trillion reais (more than 412 billion US dollars) - 5124 dollars per capita. At the same time GDP growth was observed at 4.5% compared to 2015. Inflation for the year decreased from 11.9% to 7.4%. Last year, defense spending was allocated 499 trillion reais ($ 15.9 billion). These costs allowed to support the armed forces in the current state, as well as ensure the purchase of various new weapons and equipment.
A significant growth of the economy is provided by a large number of workers - 29.75 million people. The country has slightly less than 173 thousand km of motor roads, more than 8,440 km of railways and 850 km of inland waterways. There are 319 airfields and 3 large seaports. The most important element of the Iranian economy is the extraction of minerals. According to the GFP, at present Iran produces 3236 thousand barrels of oil daily and consumes 1,870,000 barrels. The explored reserves reach 158 billion barrels.
Over the past few decades, Iran has to live and work in conditions of international pressure and lack of access to a variety of necessary technologies, products, etc. Nevertheless, the mobilization of own resources and the support of a few friendly states allow the country to obtain the desired results, as well as have a sufficiently powerful army, favorably different from a number of other armed forces in the region.
Limited financial and political opportunities lead to significant problems in the modernization and modernization of the army, but even in such conditions, Tehran, in general, copes with the difficulties that arise. Thanks to this, political will and certain military capabilities allow the Iranian administration not only to maintain the current state of affairs, but also to intervene in current conflicts. For example, Iranian military experts are involved in the fight against piracy in the Gulf of Aden, promote peacekeeping operations in the Sudan, and also give serious support to government forces in Syria.
In general, Iran successfully copes with the existing difficulties and solves the assigned tasks of one kind or another. The mobilization of forces and resources, combined with ideological training and other factors, led to the building of sufficiently powerful armed forces with relatively powerful capabilities. From the point of view of the defense potential, Iran deservedly can be considered one of the leaders of the Middle East region.
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