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Iranian Tanks - Revisited


Jim Warford

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Ping those with a sniper round and watch things get...dynamic in a hurry if the crew has the hatches open...! :D

 

ERA does not get activated by small arms, or even autocannon. Worst case, explosive is gonna burn, which is nothing too dramatic.

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Good lord, kill it with fire. That's just an awful mating. I find the 2 superflous ERA blocks on the gunner's hatch interesting though. :D

 

 

 

I understand the concept, but the concussion of a round on the open hatch will still be a Bad Thing if someone is actually standing where the hatch is, not to mention whether the locks can stand the blowback of a round hitting it and ERA activating. Only realistic reason I can think of is top-down protection, but even then...

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Except 1st gen ERA is not effective vs EFP.

It would help vs bomblets however.

Edited by bojan
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Except 1st gen ERA is not effective vs EFP.

It would help vs bomblets however.

 

Iran has their own Top-Attack TOW variant, so I can't see why they'd add on ERA if it wasn't likely to help against the main threat to the area it was protecting. Could ERA blocks of the size seen be improved in such a way so as to provide some EFP protection?

 

(Just asking because I'm perplexed.)

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It would help against HEAT jets from the top. Either from a high building from an RPG or a top attack missile.

 

But the era blocks make the hatch heavier and harder to open. And the area is so small i do not think it is worth it. What do these ERA cassettes weigh each?

 

 

An additional armour plate with stand off would be lighter weight I think. Like you find on Leopard hatches for example. And no explosives above your head. :)

 

 

 


 

Seems to me that Iran does not really know what to do with their M47M fleet. Last year there was a prototype with a new turret, this year a T-72 turret adapted.

 

 

Odd that the Chieftain did not get ERA and was only overhauled.

Edited by Panzermann
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  • 4 months later...

New tank called 'Karrar' was recently spotted in Iran:

http://defence-blog.com/army/in-iran-spotted-new-karrar-main-battle-tank.html

 

Looks like a T-90MS IMO, but the Iranian Defense Minister claims it's 'a new tank build from scratch'...

 

Probably is the same thing, except that Iran may have gone with a different autoloader system, since the released photos show what looks like a turret bustle:

 

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It's T-90SM allright.

 

And it still have autoloader under the turret floor. The rear bustle just like in standard T-90SM is ammo box bolted to the turret rear containing storage for several additional main gun rounds.

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Not convinced.

 

Looking at the video, besides the different panoramic sight/RWS the last roadwheel appears to be old 8-spoke design, right rear turret stowage box is not visible (covered by smooth panel) and APU is missing.

 

Either genuine iranian derivative of T-90MS or, given history of Iranian "innovations", more likely a mock-up intended to look like T-90SM.

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Zulfiqar interior? Never seen it.

 

Ok I found this, claimed to be gunner station in Zulfiqar-1.

 

IIRC FCS was supplied by a Slovenian company; the same that produced FCS for Yugoslavia's M84.

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FCS was supplied for M-60 modernization. Iranians obviously ripped one from an M-60 and installed it in that prototype.

BTW, FCS is from Fotona, it was one that was proposed for T-55 modernization, one on M-84 was made by Rudi Cajevac company from Banja Luka. It is close in functionality, but it is not identical.

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