The Tabas is a recent Iranian air defense missile system. It is an improved and more capable version of the Raad, equipped with mechanical radar.
Its name refers to the desert of Tabas incident in 1980. This Iranian system strongly resembles and is similar in function to a Soviet Buk, that was adopted back in the 1980. Most likely that this air defense system was developed with Russian assistance. It was officially displayed in 2014. It is in service with Iranian military.
This system uses Taer-1 and Taer-2 missiles can reach targets at a maximum range of up to 75 km and can reach targets at an altitude of 25 km. This air defense system can engage aircraft and helicopters. Most likely that Tabas can also engage ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, anti-radiation missiles, smart bombs and unmanned aerial vehicles.
A battery contains 1 Transporter Erector Launcher and Radar (TELAR) and 2 Transporter Erector Launcher (TEL) vehicles. These are based on a heavily modified IVECO 6x6 commercial truck chassis. Each vehicle carrier 3 missiles. So a single battery has 9 ready-to-fire missiles. A battalion has 4 batteries with 4 TELARs and 8 TELs and can engage multiple targets simultaneously.
Each battalion additionally includes a Bashir S-band 3D phased array surveillance radar which has a detection range of 350 km. The battalion also has a command and control (C2) unit, based on IVECO truck chassis. The C2 unit provides communication between Tabas batteries. Furthermore, the C2 unit can connect other air defense systems of the Raad family, including the older Raad and further imoproved Sevom Khordad, into a single air defense network. This allows to cover large area and targets can be engaged with a wide range of missiles from the cheapest Taer-1 missiles to the most capable Taer-2s. This adds the capability of facing different types of threats with different types of interceptors. In case of heavy jamming when even the X-band engagement radar can’t handle its duty, the C2 unit can provide an additional data link, connecting the system to electro-optical engagement systems of Raad batteries, in order to guide missiles toward targets.
Variants
Sevom Khordad (also known as 3rd Khordad) is a further improved version of the Tabas. It uses an active phased array radar. It is capable of reaching targets within range of up to 105 km and at an altitude of up to 30 km altitude. This system was officially displayed in 2016. By 2019 it was the most advanced and powerful Iranian medium-range air defense missile system.