Defense industry of Iran

Iran's military industry has taken great strides in the past 25 years, and now manufactures many types of arms and equipment. According to Iranian officials, the country sold $100 million worth of military equipment in 2003.[1] and as of 2006 had exported weapons to 57 countries.[2][3] Iran's military industry, under the command of Iran's Ministry of Defense, is composed of the following main components:[4]

Iran's mobile air defense system, Bavar 373 (in development).
Organization Field of activity
Iran Electronics Industries Electronics, communications, e-warfare, radars, satellites, etc.
Defense Industries Organization Tanks, rockets, bombs, guns, armored vehicles, etc.
Aerospace Industries Organization Guided missiles systems, etc.
Aviation Industries Organization Aircraft, UAV, helicopters, etc.
Marine Industries Organization Ships, hovercrafts, submarines, etc.

Security of Telecommunication and Information Technology (STI) is also part of the Iranian defense industry.[4]

History

Iran's military industry was born under the last Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In 1973, the Iran Electronics Industries (IEI) was founded to organize efforts to assemble and repair foreign-delivered weapons.[5][6] Most of Iran's weapons before the Islamic revolution were imported from the United States and Europe. Between 1971 and 1975, the Shah went on a buying spree, ordering $8 billion in weapons from the United States alone. This alarmed the United States Congress, which strengthened a 1968 law on arms exports in 1976 and renamed it the Arms Export Control Act. Still, the United States continued to sell large amounts of weapons to Iran until the 1979 Islamic Revolution.[7]

In 1977, the Iranian Defense Industries Organization began to work on missiles jointly with Israel in Project Flower and requested a joint missile development program with the United States which was rejected.[8] In 1979, the country took the first step into manufacturing by reverse engineering Soviet RPG-7, BM21, and SA-7 missiles.

After the Islamic revolution and the start of the Iran–Iraq War, economic sanctions and an international arms embargo led by the United States coupled with a high demand for military hardware forced Iran to rely on its domestic arms industry for repair and spare parts.[9] The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps was put in charge of re-organising the domestic military industry. Under their command Iran's military industry was dramatically expanded, and with the Ministry of Defence pouring capital into the missile industry, Iran soon had an arsenal of missiles.[10]

Since 1992, it also has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles, a submarine, and a fighter plane.[11]

In 2007, following events in Iran's Nuclear Program, the United Nations Security Council placed sanctions on Iran forbidding it from exporting any form of weapons.[12] Despite these sanctions, Iran sold some military equipment to countries such as Sudan, Syria, and North Korea. Iran was also unable to import military equipment such as S-300 from Russia and went on to build its own substitute dubbed as Bavar 373.

On November 2, 2012, Iran's Brigadier General Hassan Seifi reported that the Iranian Army had achieved self-suffiency in producing military equipment, and that the abilities of Iranian scientists have enabled the country to make significant progress in this field. He was quoted saying, "Unlike Western countries which hide their new weapons and munitions from all, the Islamic Republic of Iran's Army is not afraid of displaying its latest military achievements and all countries must become aware of Iran's progress in producing weaponry."[13]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "Irna". Irna.ir. Retrieved 2012-02-06.
  2. ↑ Irib Persian News Page
  3. ↑ Irib Persian News Page
  4. 1 2 http://www.iranwatch.org/iranian-entities/iran-electronics-industries-iei
  5. ↑ http://www.ieicorp.com/about.htm
  6. ↑ "Nuclear Threat Initiative". NTI: Nuclear Threat Initiative. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  7. ↑ "A Code of Conduct for Weapons Sales Video Transcript". Cdi.org. Retrieved 2012-02-06.
  8. ↑ "NTI:Missile Chronology: 1960-1984". NTI: Nuclear Threat Initiative. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  9. ↑ "Procurement: November 3, 2004". Strategypage.com. 2004-11-03. Retrieved 2012-02-06.
  10. ↑ Dar Al Hayat Archived June 23, 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ↑ "Iran Launches Production of Stealth Sub - U.S. & World". FOXNews.com. 2011-11-30. Retrieved 2012-02-06.
  12. ↑ The Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/11/AR2007041100390.html. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. ↑ Iran reports that Iran's Army has achieved self-suffiency in producing military equipment - Armyrecognition.com, November 5, 2012

External links

Videos
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, January 15, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.