Its ambitious design was a step too far for Soviet technology in the 1960s. Soviet military intelligence was also becoming increasingly concerned about the development of the British Chieftain, whose thick armour and 120mm gun threatened to make the T-62 obsolescent. The T-62 was entering service, but would do little more than achieve parity with the 105mm-armed Centurion and M60.

Meanwhile, Russia is on track to offer the Armata series of tanks and armored vehicles, and there are plenty of other options on the market, so Iran's Tiam tank seems to have dubious prospects as an export.David Porter on military history’s doomed inventionsīy the early 1960s, Soviet T-54/55 tanks were finding themselves outclassed by the British 105mm gun that was fitted to most new NATO main battle tanks. Hossein Dehghan says is '100% Iranian made and it can even be superior than T-90 in some degrees,' according to Iran's Mehr News Agency. The roll out on the 13th included a few other Iranian-built vehicles, including a self-propelled 57 mm air defence system called the Bahman, and a nuclear, biological, and chemical detection (NBC) vehicle called the Shahram, IHS Janes reports.Īnother Iranian tank, the Karrar, which Iranian Brig. The tank appears to have no radar or active defense modules, the trend now in ground combat vehicles. When the tank was unveiled in a public ceremony on April 13, it came out partially covered in explosive reactive armor bricks, and spewing thick black smoke from it's engine, which was designed more than half a century ago.

The Tiam sports a 105mm rifled main cannon, slightly underpowered when compared to the 120mm cannons found on US and German tanks, or the 125mm cannons found on newer Russian tanks.

Battle of 1960 first use of tanks