(1) Against modern Enemy (like US), may be switch blade is a better option, while artillery is not going to help due to enemy's air superiority.
@VEVAK
(2) There is another option, which is known as "precision guided artillery munition".
What do you think about it (price? effectiveness vs switch blade vs normal munition? ....)
Switchblade is specifically replacement for mortars! to replace artillery you have to go with LOCUST
I personally think if your purchasing artillery from the U.S. it would be about the same cost to build large number of mini cruise missile of your own with 60-100lbf engines (single turbine, single compressor, short lifespan capable of up to 5-10 min flight ) armed with 5kg-20kg warhead (depending on the engine)
http://www.pbsvb.com/customer-industries/aerospace/aircraft-engines/tj40-g2-turbojet-engine
5 min flight time flying at over 600kph that's 50km
For a missile that weighs in at ~90lb with a 20lb warhead & 30lb Airframe with a near 1-1 thrust to weight ratio
If you build the missile yourself using imported off the shelf parts each unit will cost no more than ~$7,000-$14,000 USD per missile depending on the engine
If you build your own micro jet engine each missile will NOT cost any more than $2,500 - $7,000 USD depending on the engine. The missile will be ~7inches - 10 inches in diameter & about 7ft-10ft long depending on the engine with a max range of 50-100km depending on the engine.
A standard 155 artillery shell is about 6inches in diameter & with the propellant and everything it's at least 4ft tall
A modern M982 Excalibur with the charge will be about 6ft tall with max range of 40km but in terms of cost each shell is $68,000 USD (Even if you had to import all the part you can build a far more effective mini cruise missile with that money)
A laser guided M712 copperhead cost +$85,000 USD per shot
So no! I'm not a great supporter of Artillery cannons for modern war at all because I believe there are far better cost effective ways to achieve that range using various different types of systems
But I do support both guided & unguided MLRS as appose to standard artillery & building your own mini cruise missile & guided rocket artillery as appose to guided artillery shells
If a single guided artillery shell is going to cost over $70,000 USD you can drop 5 guided mini cruise missile at $7,000 USD per missile on the same target with the same range at half the cost with far greater effect so even if 4 out of 5 get intercepted you would still be better off using them over US built guided artillery shells
modern US rail guns are no different each projectile will cost $25,000 USD so it's still overpriced as appose to a mini cruise missile you could build
today cellphones & laptops have facial recognition, you can fit 1 TB of information on the tip of your finger, advancements in digital optics you can buy an HD night vision camera for under $50USD.
In terms of production 3D printing, industrial robots, modern computer assisted cutting & casting methods allow for faster production & composite materials allow for lighter & stronger materials.
This is moor's law in effect in a modern battlefield & any country that doesn't take advantage of that on the battlefield will lose to a country that does!
An RPG-7 launcher cost ~ $2000 USD & each 5lb grenade cost $500 USD with an effective range of 200 meters now with modern advancements in tech any moderately advanced country should be able to build a far better guided & semi autonomous system with the same payload & over double the effective range using off the shelf tech accessible to any country at half the cost you can build anything from an armed quadcopter to something similar to the switchblade
A T-90 costs ~$3million USD & a modern Abrams $8 Million USD!
Lets say Iran buy's the T-90 for $2 Million USD per but with the same money Iran can build:
2 $250K armored command and control truck/stations ($500K)
10 $10,000 USD mini cruise missiles ($100K)
1 $100K Truck & Launcher ($100K Total)
4 $100k Armed tracked Unmanned Ground Vehicles ($400K)
1 $500K MALI UAV Shahed-129
2 $200K Light APC armed with ATGM OR 20 X $20K Safir Jeeps armed with ISW (ATGM or other type of ISW) ($400K)
So who in their right mind would buy a $2Million or $8Million USD Tank over all of that? And that's why the number of Tanks Iran has is not so relevant!
