South Front
Click to see full-size image. Source: the Tasnim News Agency.
The Ground Forces of the Iranian Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Ground Force had successfully tested a new anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) with a top-attack capability dubbed “Sadid-365”, the Tasnim News Agency reported on April 15.
Head of the Research and Self-Sufficiency Jihad Organization of the IRGC Ground Forces, General Ali Kouhestani, told the semi-official news agency that the new optically-guided missile has a maximum range of eight kilometers.
The Sadid-365 strikes its target from the top and can even defeat vehicles equipped with active protection systems (APS) of tanks, Kouhestani explained.
The development of the Sadid-365 is still ongoing. According to Kouhestani, the ATGM will be equipped with folding fins and a new fire control system in the future. IRGC Ground Forces armored personnel carriers will be armed with four missiles.
Tasnim shared footage of the successful test, showing the missile being launched from a modified Soviet-made BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicle and hitting its target, a main battle tank, with high-precision.
The Sadid-365 is not Iran’s first top-attack ATGM. In 2021, the IRGC unveiled the man-portable Almas missile, which is a copy of the Israeli Spike system.
Both the Almas and the Sadid-365 ATGMs were most likely developed by Iran to defeat Israel’s Merkava IV main battle tanks, which are outfitted with the Trophy APS. The IRGC could attempt to transfer these missiles to its allies, like Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Hamas Movement in the Palestinian Gaza Strip.
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