File image.
Iran has developed an air defense system very similar in design to Russia’s Pantsir, but it is unclear if it is yet operational.
Photos showing the system surfaced on social networks on May 26, just hours after Iran restored public access to the internet. Some sources alleged that the photos were taken inside one of the Islamic Republic’s missile tunnels, while others suggested they were taken in some warehouse.
The system appears to be based on some local copy of the Czech-made Tatra 815-7 8×8 truck. A similar truck is used as the base of other Iranian air defense systems, like the Arman.
Click to see full-size image. (X)
Just like the Pantsir, it features a back-mounted turret with what is likely a target acquisition radar, along with 12 missile launchers, split to six on each side. It does not seem to be equipped with any anti-aircraft guns, however, and it is unclear if its guidance suite also includes a secondary target tracking radar and an electro-optical system like the Russian system.
Click to see full-size image. (X)
The size of the missiles seems fairly in line with the 57E6-series used by the Pantsir, which suggest that the system is meant to engage aerial targets on the short and possibly medium ranges.
While the Pantsir and its missiles utilizes a command guidance system based on inputs from its radars and electro-optical system, there is no indication on what guidance system is used by the Iranian system.
Click to see full-size image. (X)
There have been reports in the past of Iran developing its own copy of the Pantsir, but until now there has been no evidence of this.
Even amid the American-Israeli war, the Islamic Republic reported the development of new air defense systems, and just earlier in the week the semi-official Fars News Agency reported that a “hostile drone” was downed over the Persian Gulf using a new system dubbed “Arash the archer”.
It is of course unclear if the system seen in the leaked photo is operational, or to what extent it actually functions like the Pantsir.
There is a strong possibility that the system is just an early prototype that was stored to be protected from American and Israeli strikes amid the war.
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