Main battle tanks (part of 10) Zulfiqar (Iran)
In the early 90s, at the initiative of the deputy commander in chief of the ground forces of Iran for science and development of the brigade general Mir-Younes Masoumzadeh, the main battle tank of the Iranian army was created - Zulfiqar-1. Title tank rooted in history, was the name of the legendary sword of the Shiite Imam Hazrat Ali. Already in 1993, the first prototype of the tank passed field tests, and the first pre-production order in the amount of six combat units was released in 1997 year. But Zulfiqar-1 is not a product of the development of Iranian military designers, but is a model of the connection into one unit of the Russian T-72С and American M48 and M60. The second ones in significant quantities (240 and 355, respectively) were transferred to the Shah regime in 70-ies, the Russian tank is currently manufactured in Iran under license. All of these combat vehicles belong to the tanks of the II generation.
At the end of July, 1997, the head of Iran, Hashemi Rafsanjani, officially opened a new production line for the manufacture of main battle tanks for the army of the state - Zulfiqar and tracked armored personnel carriers Boragli. However, it is difficult to say for sure that the mass production of Zulfiqar machines has begun. There is no exact data, but at the level of unverified information, the data fluctuates within an unreal plug from 4 to 520 of released machines.
Tactical and technical data tank Zulfiqar-1:
Crew - 4 person.
Combat weight - 36 tons.
Overall dimensions - length - 7000 mm, width - 3600 mm, height - 2500 mm.
Stabilizer weapons - two-plane.
Armament - 1 coaxial machine gun caliber 7.62 mm; 1 gun 2А46 caliber 125 mm; 1 coaxial machine gun caliber 7.62 mm; 8 launchers for launching smoke grenades; 1 anti-aircraft machine gun 54 caliber 12,7 mm.
The power unit - 12-cylinder V-shaped diesel horsepower 780.
Chassis - six dual support rollers on board (rubberized); five support rollers; steering wheel; the drive wheel is located at the back with removable gear rims; individual torsion bar suspension.
Transmission - SPAT 1200, cross-drive hydromechanical systems.
Maximum speed - 70 km / h.
Power reserve - 450 km.
Communication facilities - radio station and internal intercom.
The layout of the tank is made in the classical form with the fodder arrangement of logistics. The tower and the hull are welded, rather primitive shape, close to rectangular. The driver's seat is located on the longitudinal axis of the tank. Frontal hull of the combat vehicle is located at a significant angle of inclination to the vertical.
The chassis of the Zulfiqar-1 is made on the model of American tanks M48 and M60. Based on the design of the stern of the hull, also similar to American designs, but made welded, the Cross-Drive SPAT 1200 transmission is an exact replica of the M60 transmission. The 125-mm 2А46 Russian smoothbore gun, manufactured in Iran under license from Russia, is installed as the main armament of the tank. Unknown is the question of installing on the tank automatic loader. The Zulfiqar-1 uses the Slovenian production EFCS-3 LMS, created to upgrade the T-55 tanks. Additional weapons include 7,62-mm coaxial machine gun and 12,7-mm anti-aircraft machine gun mounted on the commander's turret.
In addition to the main modification of the tank Zulfiqar-1, at the end of the 90-i were made combat vehicles Zulfiqar-2 and Zulfiqar-3.
Zulfiqar-2 outwardly somewhat differs from the main version of the new tower and the installation of bulwarks. The Zulfiqar-3 uses an improved chassis with seven rubber-coated support rollers. An OMS with a laser range finder, an automatic loader, and a night vision thermal imaging complex were introduced on these tanks. The tanks are equipped with a B-84MS power unit with an HP 1000 power. Usable combat weight has increased to 40 tons. The tanks have strengthened the main booking and included the ability to install dynamic protection systems.
Information