After the Internet was unblocked in Iran (it had been blocked since the beginning of the American Operation Epic Fury), photos of an unknown surface-toair missile (SAM) system appeared on the network. In terms of its concept, this system is very similar to the russian Pantsir self-propelled medium-range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery system.
However, the SAM system that we can see in the photo has a different, previously unknown radar detection station, it seems to have a different combat turret in structure, and it also lacks 30-mm automatic cannons. All this suggests that this could be a new Iranian-made SAM system.
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If this is indeed the case, then, obviously, there was help from the russians, who probably could have participated in the development. This is not the first case when everything indicates that russian specialists helped the Iranians create SAM systems, as, for example, was the case with Raad air defense system, which has an obvious origin from the Soviet/russian Buk-M2 SAM system (Note: at that time russia and Iran denied the fact of joint development).
It is interesting that, based on the published photos, the new unknown Iranian air defense system was built on the chassis of a Czech Tatra 815-7 8x8 truck, or its local copy, as indicated by the identical cabin as well as general appearance.
In the published photos, you can also see that this air defense system is in a somewhat neglected state – it is covered in dust, and having tires on the roof. These photos lead to the conclusion that this Iranian air defense system is in some kind of warehouse, where it seems to have been stored for a long time (possibly since the beginning of Operation Epic Fury). Although it cannot be ruled out that this system could have fallen into a dust storm.
It is important to note that Iran had big problems with air defense, since American and Israeli aircraft flew freely in the sky over Tehran and other cities during a recent operation. But, despite the problems with air defense, Iran seems to have been able to avoid using these SAMs.
This, in turn, may indicate that this air defense system was helpless against the influence of American and Israeli electronic warfare systems, and therefore there was no point in using it, or that this SAM system is still in the development stage.
It is also possible that this is actually a new, previously unseen version of the russian Pantsir SAM system, but in a version for Iran on a local chassis (a copy of the Tatra 815-7 8x8), which could theoretically have been brought there, for example, to test their ability to counter modern electronic warfare systems.
For now, we can just wait for additional details and better photos to determine exactly what this SAM system is and what its true fate in Iran is.
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