Iranian Armor: A History

[eagle2007]

As of late, I've been a bit of an armor theme, partially driven by several "new" books coming into my collections (Jane's Armour & Artillery 1990-1991 for one). Specifically, I've been fascinated by the development of armor since World War I.

Iran in particular, has a fascinating history with armored vehicles, with a major hazy period shortly before and the decade after the 1979 Revolution.

Thus, this thread is dedicated to the many armored vehicles imported, operated, and built by Iran.

DISCLAIMER: Politics seems to invade many threads here at the PDF and I ask that we all try to keep that to a minimum here.

What better place to start than at the beginning?

Some of Iran's first armor came in the form of two light tank designs designed and built in Czechoslovakia:

AH-IV Light Tank/Tankette (~350 ordered, only 50 delivered)
- 3.5 tonnes
- Armament- 2 x 7.92mm machine guns
- 45km/hr top speed
- 170km range
- Delivered 1936-1937

TNHP Light Tank (~50-60 delivered)
- ~9.5 tonnes
- 1 x 37mm cannon, 2 x 7.92mm machine gun
- 42km/hr top speed
- 250km range (road)
- Delivered 1935-1937

 

[eagle2007]

First Purchases from America:

In the early 1930s, the Imperial Iranian Army made several small purchases from American companies, most with Marmon-Herrington.

LaFrance TK-6 Armored Car (unknown number delivered)
- 8 tonnes
- 1 x 37mm cannon & 2 x 7.62mm machine guns
- 50-60km/hr top speed
- 300km range
- Delivered in 1933, potentially only a single unit built, specifically for Iran

Marmon-Herrington Armored Cars (24 delivered of two similar types)
-1 x 37mm cannon

Marmon-Herrington CTL1 tankette (1 or 12?)
- ~4.3 tonnes
- 1 x 7.62mm machine gun
- Varying reports of whether this was also a one-off sale or a larger order of 12.

Interesting Links:


http://kavehfarrokh.com/military-hi...mored-vehicles-of-the-iranian-army-1921-1941/

https://www.aviarmor.net/tww2/armored_cars/usa/ac_tk6.htm

Great piece with excellent images of Czech export tanks, including those sold to Iran, during their development.
http://tankarchives.blogspot.com/2017/03/ckd-export-tanks-offer-you-cant-refuse.html

 

[AmirPatriot]

@eagle2007 there is a site called WW2afterWW2 with a piece giving a lot of info and pictures about WW2 equipment (Not just armour) used in Iran after WW2. Very fascinating.

https://wwiiafterwwii.wordpress.com/2016/10/16/wwii-weapons-in-the-ayatollahs-iran/

 

[eagle2007]

Proceeding to the days after World War II and the occupation of Iran by the British and Soviets, the Imperial Iranian Army looked first to the US for it's post-war rearmament.

This came in the form of M4 Shermans, M36 Jacksons (tank destroyers), M18 Hellcats, and M24 Chaffee light tanks.