RAAD (anti-tank guided missile)

RAAD
Type Anti-tank missile
Place of origin Iran
Service history
In service 1988 - Present
Used by See Operators
Wars 2006 Lebanon War
Syrian Civil War
Iraqi Civil War
Production history
Designer KBM
Manufacturer Parchin Missile Industries[1]
No. built thousands
Variants RAAD, I-RAAD, RAAD-T, I-RAAD-T
Specifications
Weight 10.9 kg (RAAD/I-RAAD)
23 kg (guidance System)
Length 83 cm (RAAD/I-RAAD)
98 cm (RAAD-T/I-RAAD-T)
Effective firing range 400 - 3000 m[2]
Warhead HEAT
Blast yield 400 mm RHA (I-RAAD-T)
Speed 120 m/s
Guidance
system
 MCLOS or SACLOS

The Raad (Persian: رعد‎, "thunder") or RAAD is an Iranian wire-guided anti-tank guided missile based on the Soviet 9M14M Malyutka (AT-3b Sagger) missile.[3] The Raad began mass production in 1988 and was publicly unveiled in 1997. It is manufactured by Parchin Missile Industries, a subsidiary of Iran's Defense Industries Organization.

The Raad family comes in four variants: the base RAAD missile, a clone of the 9M14M Malyutka-M (AT-3b Sagger); the I-RAAD, with SACLOS guidance, the RAAD-T, with a tandem warhead, and the I-RAAD-T, with both a tandem warhead and SACLOS guidance. The I-RAAD-T version is the most modern in the family and the most widely exported.[4]

The Raad is one of five anti-tank guided missiles assembled in Iran, along with the Toophan, the Towsan-1 (AT-5B copy), the Dehlaviyeh (AT-14 copy), and the Saegheh (M47 Dragon copy). With only 400mm RHA penetration for the I-RAAD-T variant, the RAAD is obsolete against modern or older battle tanks and is largely used by second-line units or against soft targets.[5] The Raad has been exported to militias in Iraq, Lebanon and Syria and has been used in the 2006 Lebanon War and the Iraqi and Syrian civil wars.

Name

RAAD means thunder in Persian. It is not an acronym and many sources do not capitalize the name. It is not to be confused with the enormous amounts of other Iranian weapons also named Raad, such as the Raad-1, the Raad-2, Iran's Ra'ad anti ship missile or Pakistan's Ra'ad cruise missile.

History

During the Iran-Iraq War, Iran had an acute need for anti-tank missiles, necessitating the country to buy AT-3 Sagger missiles.[3] Indigenous manufacturing work began in the tail end of the war[6] and mass production began in 1998,[7][8] with the Raad being the first anti-tank guided weapon to be built by Iran.[3] The weapon was unveiled on April 30, 1997.[9] The RAAD has almost identical components with 9M14 Malyutka, from the battery to the guidance unit.[10] It is unclear if the Raad is built under license.

According to SIPRI, 1500 RAAD/Sagger missiles were built or imported by Iran between 1996 and 2001[11] and 2,250 from 1996 to 2004.[12] According to Iranian military expert Galen Wright, about 6000 Raad/Sagger missiles were built or imported as of 2011.[5]

Combat use

Iran supplied Hezbollah with the Raad in the early 2000s and Hezbollah used Raad missiles in the 2006 Lebanon War.[13]

Israel captured ten basic RAAD missiles on the Karine A in January 2002.[14]

The Raad has been used in the Syrian Civil War by Hezbollah and pro-regime forces.[15] It is unclear if RAAD missiles were supplied to the regime before or during the war.[4] Some missiles have been captured by rebel forces as well.[16][17]

I-RAAD-T missiles have been used in the Iraqi Civil War.[18]

Variants

RAAD

The RAAD is a identical copy of the Russian 9M14M Malyutka-M (NATO AT-3b "Sagger").[3]

RAAD-T

The first improvement of the RAAD missile, the RAAD-T has a tandem warhead to defeat explosive Reactive Armor. However, the RAAD-T still uses the obsolete MCLOS guidance of the original RAAD.[5][6] According to its export material, the RAAD-T has improved maneuverability over the base RAAD[2] and has 400 mm RHA penetration after reactive armor.[19]

I-RAAD

For Improved RAAD, the I-RAAD has a different launcher with a tripod-mounted SACLOS guidance system that makes the missile much easier to aim.[3] The specific SACLOS method is a TV differential tracker.[3] The guidance unit is similar to that of the Chinese HJ-73 system,[3] and possibly the HJ-73C model in particular.[8] First seen in 1998.[10] RAAD missiles can be used by I-RAAD launchers.[3]

I-RAAD-T

The I-RAAD-T system combines the tandem-warhead of the RAAD-T missile with the SACLOS guidance system of the I-RAAD launcher.[3] RAAD and I-RAAD missiles can be retrofitted to the I-RAAD-T standard.[2] The I-RAAD-T also includes a simulator that allows operators to be trained on the system without actually firing a missile.[3] 400 mm RHA penetration after reactive armor.[2]

Operators

References

  1. ↑ "Parchin". 2008-10-15. Retrieved 2009-01-12.
  2. 1 2 3 4
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "AIO Raad Anti-Tank Guided Weapon (Iran), Vehicle-mounted anti-tank guided weapons". Jane's Information Group. 2008-07-02. Archived from the original on 2009-02-27. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
  4. 1 2 Rodríguez, Yago (16 March 2016). "Tipos de misiles guiados antitanque en Siria (Capítulo/serie 2.1)".
  5. 1 2 3 Galen Wright, Iranian Military Capability 2011 - Ground Forces - March 15th 2011
  6. 1 2 "آشنایی با موشک‌های ضد زره ایران". hamshahrionline.ir.
  7. ↑ "Arms Deliveries to Iran and Self-Sufficiency". Defense Intelligence Agency. 24 February 1988.
  8. 1 2 Лямин, Юрий (5 October 2012). "Легкое противотанковое вооружение Ирана. Часть 1".
  9. ↑ "Missile Chronology, 1997". Nuclear Threat Initiative. February 2006. Archived from the original on February 27, 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-12.
  10. 1 2 "RAAD series anti-tank weapon systems (Iran), Anti-tank weapons". Jane's Information Group. 2008-12-31. Archived from the original on February 27, 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
  11. ↑ Ракетная промышленность, Военная промышленность Ирана (in Russian). War Online. 2002-12-19. Archived from the original on 2003-02-04. Retrieved 2009-01-12.
  12. ↑ "Transfers and licensed production of major conventional weapons: Imports sorted by recipient. Deals with deliveries or orders made 1994-2004" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-01-11. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
  13. ↑ Riad Kahwaji (2006-08-20). "Arab States Eye Better Spec Ops, Missiles". Ocnus.Net. Archived from the original on 2009-02-27. Retrieved 2009-01-12.
  14. ↑ Kirill & Oleg Granovsky (2002-07-20). "Weapons Found on 'Karine-A' and 'Santorini'". Archived from the original on 2003-02-10. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
  15. ↑ "Mohamed Mansour محمد منصور on Twitter".
  16. ↑ Roche, Cody (17 August 2016). "Common ATGMs in the Syrian Civil War".
  17. ↑ "Green lemon on Twitter".
  18. ↑ "KLKAMASH on Twitter".
  19. ↑ Terrorism: Documents of International and Local Control, Volume 92. Oceana Publications, 2008. p. 211
  20. ↑ "Mohamed Mansour محمد منصور on Twitter".
  21. ↑ Galen Wright. "Moderately confident picture shows the Raad-T".
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.