Having partially resolved the issue of strategic importance associated with countering the threat posed by the tactical strike aviation of the Israeli Air Force and the "Arabian coalition" by purchasing 4 divisions of Russian S-300PMU-2 air defense systems and launching serial production of modern air defense systems "Bavar-373", Iran is not on jokingly concerned himself with the combat potential of his ground forces, which, due to the rapid obsolescence of the tank fleet for decades, were in a difficult situation, and did not at all correspond to the status of a regional superpower. Until 1997, the Iranian Army was armed with a very "motley" tank composition, represented by such vehicles as: British "Chieftain Mk-2 / 3P / 5P" in the amount of 100 units, Soviet T-72S (T-72M1M) in the number of 480 units, 168 American M47 / 48 "Patton II / III" and 150 more modern M60A1.
About 300 Iranian T-72S tanks were put into service as a result of SKD assembly of Russian T-72S tank sets by 2000. Almost all of the above vehicles were significantly inferior in terms of armor protection and the perfection of the fire control system to tanks in service with neighboring Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. So, in the first quarter of 1997, the first batch of Ukrainian T-80UDs entered service with the Pakistani Army under the 1996 contract for the purchase of 320 vehicles. This tank was head and shoulders above all the Iranian tanks listed above. The equivalent armor resistance of the frontal projection from the BOPS was: along the tower - 850-900 mm at angles of safe maneuvering ± 10º and about 680-700 mm at angles of ± 35º; on the body - about 600 mm when using DZ "Contact-5".
The welded turret of the T-80UD tank ("Object 478BE-1"), taking into account the VDZ "Contact-5", has an equivalent resistance against BOPS about 960-1050 mm along the front, while the T-72S with "Contact-1" has only 400 mm. The fact is that the filler (container with special armor) of the T-72S tower is represented by sand rods, which are more intended to provide protection against shaped-charge projectiles, the resistance from KS reaches 490 mm. In the towers of Pakistani T-80UD, a completely different type of filler is used (cellular blocks with steel plates, filled with polymer), which provides much better protection against BOPS and resistance from KS - 1100 mm using dynamic protection. Even the Iranian T-72S equipped with DZ "Contact-1" had a tower resistance against the KS - 750-800 mm, which is why the Pakistani T-80UD continued to outperform the Iranian "Urals". Even then, Tehran was fundamentally not satisfied with such a negative contrast in the field of tank building.
Information about the successful course of the Pakistani-Chinese project MBT "Al-Khalid", which started in August 1991, added fuel to the fire. The project was carried out with the full support of the Chinese side: the Norinco company developed a prototype of the future Al-Khalid, which received the Type-90II index. The vehicle was equipped with a new angular welded turret with inclined frontal armor plates, reminiscent of the frontal projection of the M1A1 "Abrams". In the central part of these armor plates, you can see special hatches for containers with special armor (filler), i.e. the Chinese took into account the experience of both the US and Soviet schools of tank building. The equivalent durability of the frontal armor plate of the turret ranged from 620 to 750 mm from BOPS without DZ (and 700 - 850 with DZ).
In the future, developments on the Type-90II tank were used in the design of the Chinese MBT Type-96 and Type-98. The avionics "Al-Khalid" included an advanced fire control system at that time, which is a slightly simplified analogue of the French ICONE TIS installed on the AMX-56 "Leclerc" MBT. After the start of licensed serial production of Al-Khalid by the facilities of Heavy Industries Taxila, Pakistan temporarily became one of the most advanced tank-building powers in South and Western Asia, reaching the Israeli level. Around the same time, the first Iranian ambitious project of the new generation MBT "Zulfiqar" was developed. Tanks of this family became a turning point in Iranian tank building, which eventually came to the Carrar vehicle.
As can be seen from the photographs and technical sketches, the Zulfiqar-1, which entered mass production in 1996, is a complex combination of the American M48 Patton-III and M60A1 tanks, as well as the Russian T-72C and the Chinese Type-90II. / 98 . The result of the first attempt to create a new tank among Iranian tank builders was far from ideal, because a rather high base of M48 / 60 tanks was used as a chassis, as well as a very high (about 1 m) welded tower of almost rectangular shape, which is why the total height of the tank the roof of the tower has reached 2, 5-2, 6 m. A machine with such a huge silhouette is a real dream of an enemy gunner or operator of an anti-tank missile system.
The mass of the vehicle is only 36 tons, which with such dimensions, as well as the presence of the 4th crew member - the loader, speaks of a solid booked volume and insufficient booking of some sections of side projections for the end of the 20th century. Meanwhile, the tower has a frontal projection booking similar to the Chinese "Type-98", visually the physical size of the frontal armor plate can be estimated at 600 - 650 mm, which is quite good against the background of the low-protected cast towers with sand filling of the T-72S. Equivalent durability without remote sensing can only be slightly inferior to the Israeli MBT "Merkava Mk.2D", the equivalent durability from BOPS which reaches 740-760 mm. Some sources claim that the tank has AZ, this is quite logical, since the Russian 125-mm gun of the 2A46M type is used. As a result, the booking of "Zulfiqar-1" may exceed the calculated figures. The indicator, as for the first tank of the Iranian design, is quite good. At the same time, the running capabilities of the car are rather mediocre: a 12-cylinder 780-horsepower diesel engine is installed on the Zulfikar-1, providing a specific power of only 21.7 hp / t. The maximum speed on the highway is about 65 km / h. The hydromechanical transmission of the SPAT-1200 tank is similar to that used on the M60.
If we compare "Zulfiqar-1" according to these parameters with the same "Al-Khalid", an unpleasant picture emerges for the Iranian car, in which the latter is inferior to the Pakistani one in specific power by 13% (for "Al-Khalid" it reaches 25 liters. s / t, which is comparable to the best Russian and Western samples). A powerful 1200-horsepower Ukrainian diesel 6TD-2 is installed on the "Pakistani".
"Zulfikar-1" is equipped with a fairly advanced fire control system of Slovenian production Fontona EFCS-3, which is also equipped with Iranian trophy upgraded T-54/55, called "Safir-74". This OMS is equipped with a laser rangefinder with a range of 10 km and an accuracy of ± 5 m, as well as a ballistic computer, in the software of which there is a nomenclature of several types of tank shells, including BPS, OFS, armor-piercing high-explosive shells, etc. The LMS includes day and night sights with a magnification of 10x and 7x, respectively, their field of view is 6º. Thanks to the use of EFCS-3, the hit probability reaches 80%. But this LMS is significantly inferior to the one installed on the Sino-Pakistani "Al-Khalid". So, the latter includes a panoramic low-level commander's sight, which is not even hinted at in the MSA of the Iranian "Zulfikar". This does not allow the tank to operate successfully in urban infrastructure, and also significantly reduces the combat potential in battles in open areas.
The next modification of the tank was the only "transitional" prototype "Zulfiqar-2". This product was equipped with a more advanced and developed low-profile turret and had a more squat hull, due to which the height and silhouette of the tank were noticeably reduced. The undercarriage of the new version of the MBT is already seven-roller, and the power plant is more powerful.
This prototype has become much more mobile than its large-scale predecessor and has become a full-fledged starting base for the production of the latest version of the MBT - "Zulfiqar-3". The appearance of the new car has changed significantly compared to the first version. The low-profile turret has an intricate welded structure, distinctly reminiscent of the turret of the American Abrams. The frontal armor plates of the turret have a corresponding inclination relative to the longitudinal axis of the barrel bore, as well as relative to the normal, which was about 45 degrees. Moreover, this tower has a very interesting design feature, in contrast to the "Abrams" one. On the frontal armor plates (in the area of the gun mask) there are developed armor plates with dimensions of 250 - 300 mm, which makes the resistance of the front projection of the tank more uniform than on the Abrams, especially in the area of the vulnerable breech of the gun. The photographs from the Iranian Internet clearly show the remoteness of the Zulfikar-3 commander and gunner's places from the frontal plates, which indicates their large size, exceeding 700-750 mm. Apparently, the armor protection of this tank is at the level of the Al-Khalid, Mercava Mk.3D and M1A1 tanks.
As for the fire control system, as well as sighting equipment, the Zulfikar-3 could not surprise us with anything fundamentally new: the commander's panoramic sight is still missing, as well as the gunner's optoelectronic sight with a circular view (integrated into the Kalina FCS of our MBT "Tagil"), there is absolutely no means of accounting for the thermal bending of the barrel to improve the accuracy of shooting during the battle. The fire control system itself is the same EFCS-3, which, despite the excellent armor of the tank, will not give it a significant increase in the accuracy of firing. At the moment, the Iranian ground forces are armed with about 100-150 MBT "Zulfiqar-1" and up to several dozen "Zulfiqar-3".
There is a very large technical contrast in Troikas: a decent level of armor protection is overridden by the moderate qualities of the aging FCS, as well as low network-centric capabilities. Judging by the absence of various antenna masts for radio stations for the exchange of tactical information, tanks are not able to conduct a full exchange of data during a group confrontation in a theater of operations. So the "Zulfiqar-3" can be considered a rather crude machine that needs further modernization of onboard electronic equipment, as well as the installation of modern tandem-type reactive armor to counter modern anti-tank weapons.
Now let's turn to the most little-known and mysterious pages of the "tank history" of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which became an additional impetus for the design of the most perfect tank of the Iranian Republic - "Karrar".
HIGHLY PROTECTED WELDED TOWERS FROM T-80UD "KHARKIV ENGINEERING BUREAU" WERE ALSO USED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF MBT "KARRAR"
At the moment, everyone unanimously claims that the promising Iranian main battle tank "Carrar" is almost a complete copy of our excellent T-90MS "Tagil", and this is true. Meanwhile, if you carefully examine the long-forgotten publications on various blogs and forums, you can find very interesting facts indicating that another rather interesting example of the Soviet tank building school - MBT T-80UD “Object 478BE-1 ". The car is a Ukrainian modification of the T-80 with a 6TD diesel engine, as well as a highly protected welded turret, which we will consider below.
So, according to the short publications of the blogger "Andrei_bt" for 2012 and 2014, back in 1998, rare photographs appeared on the Iranian Internet, in which a hybrid of the T- tank was captured during one of the military parades in Iran. 72AG and T-80UD Object 478BE-1. A welded T-80UD turret was installed on the chassis of the export Ukrainian T-72AG with a 1000-horsepower 6TD diesel engine. There is no data on the official index of this car to this day. The only obvious thing is that this car came to Iran back in the 90s. The delivery from Ukraine could pass secretly, "in one bottle" with batches of T-80UD, sent since 1996 to Pakistan, after which the car or several copies of it were immediately shipped to Iran. Tank kits could also be sold, which were later assembled by Iranian specialists. Thus, one of the most important visual aids for the design of the future Karrar, the welded tower, ended up in Iran about 20 years ago. What is this tower?
Its design is similar to the welded turret for the Russian MBT T-90A / S: thick frontal armor plates are inclined at an angle of 45 ° relative to the gun barrel, which at a course angle of fire of 0 degrees gives an equivalent durability of 900-950 mm without DZ "Contact-5" and 1050 - 1120 when using it. About 55% of the size of the frontal armor plates is represented by a polymeric cellular filler placed in a niche container. The container is divided into 2 parts by a steel armor plate-partition with a thickness of about 100 mm.
In the technology of obtaining armor plates for the tower "Object 478BE-1", the method of electroslag remelting (ESR) is used, due to which the durability of armor plates is approximately 1, 1-1, 15 times higher than that of sheets of other welded towers. Moreover, the Ukrainian tower is distinguished by its increased steel dimensions in the area of the cannon embrasure. If the T-90 welded turret in this area is about 550 mm, then the T-80UD turret has 700-720, which, even without DZ elements, provides protection against American 120-mm armor-piercing feathered subcaliber projectiles of the M829A1 type. And therefore, the groundless statements of some of our members of the forum and commentators like "Russia handed over the T-90MS Tagil technology to the Iranians" look very funny, because a similar tower from the T-80UD was in the hands of Iranian specialists for two decades.
The only thing that the Iranian metallurgists and tank builders did on their own was to reduce the turret profile, bringing it to the level of the T-90MS "Tagil" turret, made the aft niche of the turret for ammunition and some elements of the automatic loader, and also installed DZ elements reminiscent of the Relikt EDZ. What is used as a special filler in the containers of the frontal armor plates of the Iranian tank "Karrar" is still unknown: it can be "reflective sheets" and cellular dimensions and various polymers.
At the same time, each of the materials has its own indicators of resistance to BOPS cores and cumulative enemy projectiles. Even taking into account the fact that Iranian specialists most likely do not use the ESR method in the production of turrets for their tanks, the armor resistance of the Karrara turret (taking into account the VDZ) significantly exceeds the security indicators of the Israeli Mercava Mk.3, and reaches 900 - 950 mm at a heading angle shelling ± 5 degrees. The Iranians copied the tower from the T-80UD and "Tagil" just "transcripts"! Thanks to this, the silhouette of the tank turned out to be small and the armor protection is excellent, which cannot be said about the protection of the vehicle body, its mobility, as well as its network-centric properties and the fire control system. Let's start with the security of the case.
"Carrar" has a T-72S body and undercarriage, and therefore the equivalent durability of the upper frontal part without a remote control is only about 400 mm from the BPS and 450 from the KS. Such a detail can even be pierced by an old 105 mm M833-type armor-piercing projectile. It is noticeable in the photo that large-size elements of dynamic protection are placed on the VLD, which are much thicker than our EDZ "Contact-1" and Polish "ERAWA-2". This indicates their tandem capabilities, as well as the ability to reduce the breakdown effect of BOPS by 30-40%, which is also achieved by the 68-degree angle of inclination of the VLD. Thus, confident protection against 120-mm BOPS M829A1 is realized, which is quite good. More modern M829A2 / A3 projectiles are likely to penetrate the VLD of the Carrar tank, even with reactive armor.
The equivalent resistance of the VLD of the Carrar tank hull against armor-piercing subcaliber projectiles corresponds to the figures of 550-600 mm, while the same indicator for the VLD T-90SM reaches 850 mm. A decent contrast between the protection of the turret and the hull of "Carrara" becomes noticeable, which is far from in favor of the Iranian vehicle, because in the conditions of the appearance of modern ATGMs with tandem cumulative warheads in the theater of operations, every millimeter of equivalent protection is vital. For this reason alone, "Karrar" cannot be attributed to tanks of the 3rd transitional generation, but refers to vehicles only as vehicles of the 3rd generation. Moreover, even to comply with the 3rd generation, the Iranian product needs to be modified on several points at once, in addition to the armor protection of the upper frontal part of the hull.
Obviously, the 39-liter V-46 multi-fuel diesel engine with a maximum power of 780 hp is still responsible for the dynamic qualities of the tank. Considering that the Carrar tank received a new turret with significantly greater armor protection and a stern module for ammunition, as well as a fairly massive built-in DZ of a new generation, its weight increased to about 44-46 tons. Consequently, the specific power will be 17-17, 75 hp / t with the B-46 engine and 18, 3-19, 1 hp / t with the more powerful 840-horsepower B-84-1 diesel engine, which is barely reaches the performance of the heavy British "Challenger-2". These engines have a fairly low torque reserve of only 18%, for a 1000-horsepower V-92 diesel engine (installed on a T-90A / C tank) this parameter reaches 25%. That is why the stock of draft capabilities in the upper gears of the "Carrar" will be much lower than that of our "Tagil".
The next item is the tank gun. Iranian gunsmiths are far from being in the first place in the world in terms of technologies for the production of modern tank guns, from which we conclude: the cannon of the Carrar tank is nothing more than our 2A46M cannon of the modification of the early 80s. The dynamic balance and rigidity of the cantilever part of this weapon is much lower than that of modern domestic 2A46M-4/5. Standard geometric tolerances are used in the manufacture of the barrel (for 2A46M-5, these tolerances are tightened). The fixation of the barrel on the cradle guides and pins is not so strong in comparison with the 2A46M-4/5 versions. Because of this, this gun has 20% worse accuracy and 50% less effective firing range. Moreover, the Carrara cannon, just like the Zulfikar-3 cannon, lacks an optoelectronic device for recording barrel bending, and even the attachment point for the CID did not appear directly on the gun cradle. All this reinforces our opinion about the much lower accuracy qualities of the Iranian "Attacker" (this is how "Karrar" is translated) in comparison with the deeply modernized T-80U, T-72B, T-90A / S, as well as modern Chinese and Western main combat tanks.
It follows from this that the only positive accuracy quality of the new Iranian tank is the use of a complex of guided tank weapons "Tondar" - copies of our 9K120 Svir or 9K119 Reflex. ATGM "Tondar" is controlled by a laser beam received by the lens in the tail of the anti-tank projectile, which provides good noise immunity on the trajectory (semi-automatic mode). The range can reach 4.5 km.
This is followed by the tank's fire control system. Apparently, the modernized Slovenian LMS EFCS-3 is still used here. At the same time, the modernization affected the indication equipment of the commander and gunner, as well as the integration of the panoramic sight: large-format LCD MFIs were used to display combat and navigation information, which indicates the appearance of new digital interfaces in the Carrara FCS, apparently developed with the help of Chinese specialists, or acquired from the Celestial Empire. At the same time, judging by the video of the presentation of the tank, the panoramic sight module has a very flimsy design. There is a lack of optical-electronic countermeasures and an active protection complex: the vulnerable upper projection of the tank is not protected from the hit of anti-tank missiles from the upper hemisphere. The only protective element of this area is about 25 thin elements of dynamic protection, which do not have an anti-tandem effect, which can only protect against "boots", and even then at firing angles of at least 70-75 degrees. On the rear of the tower, as well as on the thin side armor plates, EDZ is completely absent: these areas can be pierced from RPGs, LNG and even modern 40-mm automatic cannons of the CT40 (CTA International) and L-70 "Bofors" type using APFSDS BPS Mk2 (from a distance of less than 1500 m). On the roof of the tower, you can see standard meteorological sensors of atmospheric parameters and radio station antennas.
Based on the totality of the positive and negative qualities of the presented MBT "Carrar", we conclude that at the moment Iran has not yet reached such a high technological level of the tank-building segment of the military-industrial complex, which is observed in such states as Russia, the USA, China, Western Europe and Israel, and statements by representatives of the Iranian Ministry of Defense about a "breakthrough in tank building", which have been loudly said at the moment.
But the situation is quite correctable, since the bulk of the shortcomings in the vehicle is represented by the missing and weakly protected elements of the OMS, which will be quite easy to integrate (a more reliable panoramic sight module, CID, tactical information exchange terminals, etc.), given that the tank uses modern digital interfaces for displaying information on the MFI of the commander and gunner. As for the level of general armor protection of the Carrar tank, it can be easily compared with the protection of such tanks as Leopard-2A6, M1A1 Abrams, T-80U, VT-4 (MBT-3000). The only bad moment that takes place is the low resistance of the VLD of the case, but it can also be quickly eliminated by increasing the size and using layers with special armor. The embodiment of the T-80UD and T-90SM welded turrets in the Iranian tank could endow the Karrar with the survivability required in a modern theater of operations; MBT "Zulfikar-1" do not possess such abilities.
