Endless Inspiration of Islamic Revolution: Iranian Army Unveils Optimized Zolfaqar, Samsam Tanks

Home-made Zolfaqar and Samsam tanks optimized by Iranian Army experts were unveiled by Commander of the Iranian Army Ground Force Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan on Monday.

During the unveiling ceremony, which was attended by a group of army commanders and high-ranking military officials, advanced versions of Zolfaqar and Samsam tanks were unveiled.

The ceremony was held on the occasion of the Ten-Day Dawn celebrations (marking the Iranian revolution’s victory over the former Pahlavi regime) and the anniversary of historic return of the late Imam Khomeini to the country from exile on February 1, 1979 and ends with the victory of the Islamic Revolution on February 11.

In mid-January, Pourdastan said Iran will start mass-production of Zolfaqar tank after the approval of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces.

Pourdastan had earlier said that Iran continued optimizing Zolfaqar tanks in a bid to upgrade its capabilities against modern threats.

“Each day we work on a newer version of Zolfaqar tanks so that the tank could maintain its efficiency in the battlefield and ground defense,” Pourdastan told FNA in September.

“We certainly make changes in Zolfaqar tanks in accordance to threats and prepare it and make it an advanced tank in accordance with our battleground needs.”

Zolfaqar is a second generation of Iran’s main battle tank (MBT). The test prototypes of the tank were evaluated in 1993. Six semi-industrial prototypes of the tank were produced and tested in 1997. The tank has a distinctive box-shaped, steel-welded turret of local design. Zolfaqar combat weight is reported to be 36 tons and has a 780 hp diesel engine; the tank has a 21.7 hp per ton ratio.

Zolfaqar is operated by a crew of three personnel. The automatic loader is believed to be the same one from the T-72 tank.

The Zolfaqar-1 uses a fire control system which enjoys a ‘fire-on-the-move’ technology. The Zolfaqar mounts a laser-warning pod on the turret. Its design enables the tank to use an Iranian-made package of reactive armor.

Zolfaqar-2 is a prototype tank used as a test bed. The Zolfaqar-3 also features considerable upgrades to the fire control system, chassis, engine and main gun, with a 125mm autoloader.