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Another ATGW for Iran
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CHRISTOPHER F FOSS
JDW Land Forces Editor
London
The
Aerospace Industries Organisation (AIO) of Iran has revealed it is manufacturing
a long-range anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) called Toophan. It looks similar
to the US Raytheon Systems Company Tube-launched Optically-tracked Wire-guided
(TOW) ATGW that entered service with Iran over 25 years ago.
Two versions are being built: the standard Toophan, which has one high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warhead weighing 3.6kg that will penetrate 550mm of conventional steel armour. Toophan 2, has a tandem HEAT warhead weighing 4.1kg that is claimed will penetrate 760mm of conventional steel armour protected by explosive reactive armour. The AOI says a retrofit of Toophan 2 warhead on Toophan missiles is possible.
Both
missiles can reach a top range of 3,850m, while top speed is 310m/s. The
Toophan uses a semi-automatic command-to-line-of sight system for guidance.
Armoured vehicles and helicopters as well as a standard tripod launcher can deploy the Toophan. Toophan variant is comparable to the Basic TOW, while the Toophan 2 is comparable to the Improved TOW, which also has an extendable nose probe.
The AOI said the Toophan could be launched from existing TOW launchers and the range of the Toophan matches that of the TOW.
Iran has deployed the standard tripod version of the TOW for many years as well as mounting the system on United Defense M113 series armoured personnel carriers. It is also air-launched from Iran's Bell AH-1J Cobra attack helicopters.
The AIO has also developed a Toophan advanced guidance set (MGS-2). Improvements include: guidance algorithms, tracking and measures to counter enemy electro-optical jammers. It can also auto self-test.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that Iran was also manufacturing another ATGW called Towsan-1/M113. This is understood to be a local version of the Russian 9K113 Konkurs (NATO designation: AT-5 ' Spandrel') ATGW developed by the Tula KBP Instrument Design Bureau (Jane's Defence Weekly 12 January). In recent years Iran has been building improved versions of the Russian AT-3 Sagger under the local name of Raad.
Specifications
| Missile | Toophan | Toophan 2 |
| Missile length | 116 cm | 116cm |
| Missile length with probe extended | not app | 145cm |
| Missile diameter | 15cm | 15cm |
| Fin length | 45cm | 45cm |
| Missile weight | 18.5kg | 19.1kg |