Iranian Loadouts

[Impulse]

Some background:

Since 1979, Iran has been making trouble for the US time and time again. Switching from being heavily supported by the US in the 1970's, to being locked in an eight-year war with Iraq (who had US backing), to their current situation, bordered on two sides by US-occupied nations, has left the Islamic Republic of Iran in a very interesting position on the global scheme that often lands them in the OPFOR role in modern-themed milsim games.

Iran's varied military history brings them to a mix of doctrines; pre-1979, the Artesh was moving toward a Western model of forces, heavy in armor, while post-Revolution Iran has purged a significant portion of that doctrine in favor of a more East-bloc strategic mindset.

Equipment-wise, Iran largely used top-line American equipment prior to 1979 - the F-14s being the most popular example, but M60 tanks and a variety of other equipment were also present. However, much of this was destroyed in the Iran-Iraq war, and more has decayed beyond in the interval due to a lack of replacement parts. Post-war Iran has relied more on indigenous equipment production, which is still somewhat behind western standards but nearing our 1990's level.

An important consideration when making Iran kitlists is that the Iranian military does not equip its units as uniformly as the US does. While each member of a unit has the same type of equipment - the military is broken into regional commands which have the freedom to select which uniforms and gear will be issued to their soldiers. Beyond this, there are also the Marines, Republican Guard, and various special units. Thus a great number of Iranian camouflages are available:



You can see here a dot pattern similar to Australia's desert pattern, two 'desert-dot' patterns, a duplicate ACU, and the older vertical lizard pattern - suprisingly not seen too often anymore.

So onto the good stuff:



Indigenous Aramid/Kevlar helmet, very similar to the US PASGT. This helmet is fairly common in high-profile units, while the older M1 helmet (replica of the US design) is still very common among standard infantry. Rated at level IIIA.



Iranian-made plate carriers, built from a similar soft armor as the US PASGT vest and capable of carrying polymer or ceramic panels.

These vests are used against different fragments according to standard stanag 2920 and against different types of bullet class I, IIA, II, IIIA according to standard NIJ 0101.03 and also can prevent the knife penetration.

In case of equipping the above mentioned vests with polymer panels, it could prevent penetration of different types of class III bullets and if equipped with ceramic panels, it could be used against class IV bullet.

A PACA replica in woodland or 3-color would be a reasonable stand-in.


This photo show the composite helmet and plate carrier, along with one of the more common camouflage patterns, a DPM variant not dissimilar to the classic commercial 'Safariflage'. Three shades of tan and one dark brown / black.


Other camouflages frequently seen:
ACU copy


Digital desert


Six-color



Three-color


Woodland



Load-bearing gear is more of a mystery, as it's difficult to find photos of Iranians on exercise - they're very secretive. In parades web gear is used - but this may be a more formal appearance. One can certainly see the Omega-style tactical vest in 3 color woodland on the digital desert photo above, but whether that would be worn with the plate carrier is a unknown.

Weapon-wise, while photos often show the G3A3 and MP5, there are also AKM rifles in service (along with Type 56's and the locally produced KL-7.62) and a large amount of S 5.56 rifles - a locally-made copy of the Norinco CQ, itself a copy of the M16A1. So yes, Iran does have M16s, and has been working a bullpup version known as the KH2002.


You can also see here an interesting chicom-style setup., and some 3-color ballcaps.


Looks somewhat like LBV-88 rigs used in the last photo. Also notice the balaclavas and OD kneepads a few rows back.


A variety of small-arms in current use. S'5.56 with RIS and what may be a folding stock, SVD, older S'5.56 build, G3A6, KH2002, and some RIS'd KL-7's.


Locally made webgear, M1 helmets, RPG-7, and woodland patterns.


This shows the webgear to be more similar to the M1956 US type... and it also appears to be made from cotton duck.


So, what would I use as an Iranian loadout?
M16A1 with A2 handguards, AKM with rails, or G3.
M1 or PASGT helmet with six-color cover, or desert ballcap. Or a beret, I have nothing else to say.
BDUs, DCUs, DBDUs, or Safariflage dyed slightly tan if it were still in production.
PACA vest with Chicom or M56 harness, or woodland 'tactical vest'.
OD kneepads.
Black boots.

But there's lots of other options available. Big point to notice: no shemaghs!

[Thor]

Really? No one commented on this yet? I'm ashamed of all of you.

This is a pretty good write up Impulse. If you find any place to buy genuine Iranian kit, please feel free to add it in here.

[dash]

Very nice write up! I've been getting more and more interested in middle-eastern militaria to expand my Cold War collection. I know that in the Iran-Iraq war you can find a lot of old British P37 gear in use. Infact, I think you can even see it in some of the parade pictures you've posted. I have a pair of Safariflage pants and it appears as though they still make pants but no jackets? I've seen T-shirts but that's about it. Have they discontinued the pattern? Also, the G3 is still pretty much standard issue across the board if I'm not mistaken. CQM311 and AKM are more for special troops. I think there is a move to push the KH2002 into production and that would ideally become the standard issue rifle but it has failed for the most part.

[Impulse]

Indeed Dash, the woodland / M-56 / G3 / steel pot setup seems to be general issue across the board for regular troops (with adjustment based on regional directives), Iran definitely prefers to show off the better equipment of their special troops however. In an airsoft event I'd expect players to try to emulate the cooler of the troops, especially as M16s and RIS AK's are more common than G3's in most players' arsenals.

The entire line of Ultra Force fashion camos seem to be out of production (finally). That includes the red, pink, orange, sky blue, etc. variants that were somewhat popular in the 90's (and earlier? I wasn't around, but I definitely remember Joe's Army Navy being stocked up with purple urban camo when I went shopping for gear around 2002). That also includes the more useful Safariflage and Concrete Jungle patterns. You can still find them in old stock online, though. I should probably grab a set of the safariflage soon.

With the amount of old stock that Iran has recycled for decades, it seems clear that they don't have the domestic production capability to give the entire military the newest kit - and likely they don't have too much reason to do so either, the individual soldier doesn't have the same cultural value that we're accustomed to and they haven't been engaged in a major ground war since '88. Besides, most of the nations that would be considered likely combatants (neighbors) were of equally poor equipment standards... until Iraq and A-stan's new armies were bolstered up with US kit. I would have expected some kind of major across-the-board modernization effort since 2007-ish; but who knows, maybe there has been one and it hasn't been publicly announced. I wouldn't bet on it.

As for buying the authentic Iranian stuff, they do actually export the body armor and some other systems, but I imagine you need a fairly large order. And customs MIGHT be a problem, haha.

modlex.ir/ - Ministry of Defence Legion Export.

[auzzie]

Always love their military show of force. I wounder how this gear will actually work in combat. Wouldn't the load out be different from division to division because it seems like they all have different gear and weapons. I do have a photo of Iranian troops in ghillie suits warmed with G3s. I bet the SF will have the better gear and weapons.