Raad-2

Raad-2 / Thunder-2

Illustration of Raad-2
Type Self-propelled howitzer
Place of origin  Iran
Service history
In service 1997 - present
Used by  Iran
Wars none
Production history
Designer Defense Industries Organization
Designed September 1997
Produced 1997 - Present
Variants Raad-2M
Specifications
Weight 36 tons
Length 6.72 m (without the gun)
Width 3.10 m
Height 1.66 m (without the turret)
Crew 3 (commander, driver and gunner)
Rate of fire 5 rounds/min
Effective firing range 30 km (19 mi)
Main
armament
 155 mm HM44 howitzer
Secondary
armament
 12.7 mm HMG
Engine V-8 diesel for Raad-2
5TDF for Raad-2M
840 hp for Raad-2[1]
700 hp for Raad-2M [2]
Suspension Torsion bar
Operational
range
 500 km
Speed 70 km/h (43 mph)

Raad-2 ("Thunder-2") is an Iranian self-propelled howitzer.

Design and development

In early September 1997 it was reported that Iran had successfully tested a locally built rapid fire mobile field gun known as Raad-2 (Thunder-2).

It uses a turret that has a similar layout to the M109A1 155mm/39-cal self-propelled howitzer. The Iranian Defense Industries Organization claimed that the 155 mm HM44 howitzer manufactured by the Hadid facility of the Iranian Defense Industries Organization had a high firing rate and accuracy. It was described as being able to fire five rounds per minute. The gun's range was reported as 30 km (19 mi), and it also includes features such as a laser range-finder and a semi-automatic loading system. The gun looks exactly like 155mm/39-cal M185 gun from M109A1 and is fitted with a double baffle muzzle brake, fume extractor, screw breech mechanism, hydro-pneumatic recuperator and a hydraulic recoil brake. It uses the Iranian-made Boragh APC chassis, a conversion of the either the Russian BMP-1 or Chinese Type 86 (WZ-501) IFV. It was described as being able to move with a speed of 70 km/h (43 mph) on the battlefield.

Variants

See also

References

Notes
  1. ↑ http://modlex.ir/cgi-bin/store.pl/page=product.html/pid=MXF04-000080
  2. ↑ http://modlex.ir/cgi-bin/store.pl/page=product.html/pid=MXF04-000090
Bibliography
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