History

In early September 1997 it was reported that Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

 had successfully tested a locally built rapid fire mobile field gun known as Raad-2 (Thunder-2).

Description

It uses a turret that has a similar layout to the M109A1

M109 howitzer

The M109 is an American-made self-propelled 155 mm howitzer, first introduced in the early 1960s. It was upgraded a number of times to today's M109A6 Paladin...

 155mm/39-cal self-propelled howitzer. The Iranian Defense Industries Organization

Defense Industries Organization

The Defense Industries Organization The Defense Industries Organization The Defense Industries Organization (DIO; Persian: Sasadjah (Sazemane Sanaye Defa) is a conglomerate of companies run by the Islamic Republic of Iran whose function is to provide the military of Iran with the necessary...

 claimed that the 155 mm HM44 howitzer manufactured by the Hadid facility of the Iranian Defense Industries Organization had a high firing rate and accuracy. It was described as being able to fire five rounds per minute. The gun's range was reported as 30 km (18.6 mi), and it also includes features such as a laser range-finder and a semi-automatic loading system. The gun looks exactly like 155mm/39-cal M185 gun from M109A1 and is fitted with a double baffle muzzle brake, fume extractor, screw breech mechanism, hydro-pneumatic recuperator and a hydraulic recoil brake. It uses the Iranian-made Boragh

Boragh

The Boragh is an Iranian-made armoured personnel carrier. Boragh is believed to be a reverse engineered and upgraded model of the Chinese Type 86 . The upgrades include a reduction in weight, a higher road speed, and stronger armor...

 APC chassis, a conversion of the either the Russian BMP-1

BMP-1

The BMP-1 is a Soviet amphibious tracked infantry fighting vehicle. BMP stands for Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty 1 , meaning "infantry fighting vehicle". The BMP-1 was the world's first mass-produced infantry fighting vehicle...

 or Chinese Type 86 (WZ-501) IFV. It was described as being able to move with a speed of 70 km/h (43 mph) on the battlefield.

Variants

• Raad-2 - basic SPG version.
  • Raad-2M - Raad-2 upgraded with a Ukrainian-made 5TDF engine instead of a V-8 Diesel engine.

See also

• Military of Iran
  Military of Iran
  The Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran include the IRIA and the IRGC and the Police Force .These forces total about 545,000 active personnel . All branches of armed forces fall under the command of General Headquarters of Armed Forces...
  
  
• Iranian military industry
  Iranian military industry
  Iran's military industry has taken great strides in the past 25 years, and now manufactures many types of arms and equipments. According to Iranian officials, the country sold $100 million worth of military equipment in 2003. and as of 2006 had exported weapons to 57 countries...
  
  
• Current Equipment of the Iranian Army