It seems odd to believe that Tehran has adopted old American M60’s and endowed them with a more regionally fitting name, however, the history and performance of this MBT are more than meets the eye.
The United States military retired the Cold War-era M60 tank from front-line service in 1997, but it remains in operation with dozens of countries around the world. One of those operators is Iran, which had received around 460 before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Currently, around 150 are still in service, and Tehran has gone to great lengths to keep any of its antiquated tanks operational given the limited options it has in obtaining new military hardware.
Refurbishing A Classic
The latest updates have resulted in the Suleiman-402 main battle tank (MBT), a domestically-modernized variant of the M60 overseen by the Islamic Republic’s Defense Industries Organization.
According to claims made by Iranian state media, the tank is equipped with an enhanced fire control system, which features a thermal imaging and laser rangefinder. Explosive Reactive Armor (ERA) positioned on the hull and turret will increase the survivability for the four-person crew,
The greatest upgrade may be to its armament, with a new 120mm smoothbore main gun that replaced the M60’s 105mm M68 rifled cannon. The upgrade will allow, “the tank to fire more advanced, high-velocity rounds, including armor-piercing munitions, which would significantly improve its ability to engage and destroy modern enemy armored vehicles at longer ranges,” Army Recognition reported.
The more powerful gun will put it on par with modern MBTs, while an upgraded AVDS-1790-2A diesel engine will increase its speed, range and even agility on the battlefield. A Remote-Controlled Weapons System (RCWS) for secondary armament is further meant to bring the Suleiman-402 in line with other modern MBTs.
More Symbolic Than Functional
Even with the upgrades, the tank likely can’t match the capabilities of Western MBTs such as the U.S.-developed M1 Abrams, the British Challenger 2, or Germany’s Leopard 2 series tanks. It is still based around a platform that was developed more than two decades before the Islamic Revolution.
Yet, for Tehran that may not matter. Its introduction is more symbolic, highlighting that Iran can significantly upgrade the M60 to near modern standards.
“Modernising the M60 to the Suleiman-402 standard is not expected to allow the vehicles to pose a serious challenge to modern classes of main battle tank fielded abroad, but could make them significantly more capable in an infantry support role,” Military Watch explained.
“Likely a primary rationale for investing in modernising the M60 fleet is Iran’s ability to service and produce parts for the vehicles without relying on foreign supplies, with the cost and economic advantages of investing in an entirely indigenous solution to the obsolescence of the country’s armour expected to be significant.”
An Odd Name Choice
Though the Suleiman-402’s capabilities aren’t considered especially remarkable, the choice of name for the MBT certainly is.
Suleiman the Magnificent was the leader of the Ottoman Empire from 1520 to 1566, during his rule, he launched three separate invasions against Persia to defeat the rival Muslim Safavid dynasty. As a result, the Persian Shiites became bitter enemies of the Ottomans, and even today modern Turkiye and modern Iran are far from friends.
Moreover, Suleiman I of Persia’s brief reign in the seventeenth century barely compared to that of the Ottoman sultan, and is generally remembered, if remembered at all, for being rather unremarkable, while Suleiman II was little more than a puppet ruler/pretender.
Though the Islamic Republic today often opts to name its military hardware after great Muslim rulers and military leaders from history, the MBT is only fitting ironically. It is unremarkable and may be Tehran’s way to pretend it is something more capable than it is!
Still, the Suleiman-402 will extend the service life of the remaining M60s while the Islamic Republic focuses on developing a true domestically-built tank.
Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: [email protected].
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