Toophan

Toophan
Different Toophan versions excluding Qa'em.
Type	Anti-tank missile
Place of origin	Iran
Service history
Used by	Iran Syria Lebanon (Hezbollah)
Wars	2006 Lebanon War
Specifications
Length	1.16 m (probe folded) 1.45 m (probe extended)
Diameter	0.152 m
Warhead weight	3.6 kg
Wingspan	0.46 m
Operational range	3,850 m
Maximum speed	310 m/s
Guidance system	Wire-guided, laser guidance for later versions

Toophan (Persian: موشک طوفان‎, means "Typhoon" in Persian) is a series of Iranian anti-tank missiles. Toophan 1 is a reverse-engineered copy of the US military TOW missile. The Toophan-1's payload is a 3.6 kg high-explosive anti-tank warhead that can penetrate up to 550mm of steel armor. The range is 3,850m, the top speed 310 m/s. The manufacturer is the Aerospace Industries Organization of Iran, which has produced the missile since 2000. Several other variants are also built with more penetration power.

Operational history

Iran was among the earliest countries to import the TOW missile, as far back as 1971. Extensive repair and assembly facilities were set up at the Iran Electronics Industries (IEI) by the Texas-based Emerson Energy Systems as well as Hughes Missile Systems to repair TOW and FGM-77A Dragon missile.

In May 1975 negotiations between Iran and Hughes Missile Systems on co-production of the TOW and Maverick missiles stalled over disagreements in the pricing structure. Hughes set the royalty and initial investment costs for Iran at $20 million for the TOW and $25 million for the Maverick. The subsequent 1979 revolution ended all plans for such co-production.

Hezbollah reportedly used Toophan missiles against Israeli Merkava tanks during the 2006 Lebanon War.

Variants

Toofan 1

Basic version. Has a penetration of 550 mm RHA, a length of 116 cm and a weight of 18.5 kg. It's range is described being 3.5 km.

Toofan 2

An upgraded variant using a much more powerful tandem warhead that can penetrate 760 mm of armor after disabling ERA by its small 40 mm frontal warhead. Missile weight has been increased to 19.1 kg and length to 145 cm. As with Toofan 1 it has a range of 3.5 km.

Toofan 2B

A further upgrade with a heavier warhead and reported penetration of 900 mm RHA

Toofan 5

Another variant with laser guidance and additional four small fins in front of the missile. The missile is described having two warheads. Possibly still with a penetration of 900 mm.

Qa'em

Unveiled alongside Toofan 5, Qa'em is essentially a Toofan variant for use against Helicopters. It is said to have a laser guidance resistant to enemy jamming.

Operators

• Iran
• Syria
• Lebanon (Hezbollah)

See also

• Military of Iran
• Iranian military industry
• Equipment of the Iranian Army

External links

• Jane's Defence Weekly, Another ATGW for Iran
• Army Reconn article on Iranian copies of DRAGON and TOW

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• Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics
• Cyberwarfare

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