How powerful Iranian military will be by 2035?
How many new weapons Iranian military will purchase by 2035?
To answer these questions we have to analyze
The Russian State Armament Development Program for 2011–2020.
In 2011 Russia started its
Armament Development Program 2011–2020.
In 2011, with the GDP of 54trln rubles, Russia planned to spend 3,5% of its GDP on military in the period 2011-2020 with the eventual goal of spending 19trln rubles on its military by 2020
By spending that much money on its military, Russia planned to procure these weapons between 2011-2020:
100 surface and submarine vessels, including:
- 10 Project 955 "Borei" strategic nuclear submarines
- 30 non-strategic submarines
- 35 corvettes, including 30 Project 20380 corvettes
- 14 frigates, including 6 Project 11356 and 8 Project 22350
- 6 Project 21630 "Buyan" small missile ships
- 6 Project 11711 "Yantar" large landing ships
- 4 "Mistral" helicopter carriers
Air Force Procurement:
- 600 aircraft, including:
- 52 T-50 (PAK FA) fighters
- Su-35S, MiG-35 (37 units)
- Su-34 frontline bombers and Su-25SM attack aircraft
- Il-76 and An-70 transport aircraft
- 1,100 helicopters, including:
- Mi-28N and Mi-28NM "Night Hunter"
- Ka-52 "Alligator"
- Mi-8AMTSh combat transport helicopters
- Mi-8-MTV-5, Mi-26 transport helicopters, and "Ansat"
Missile and Ground Forces:
- 10 battalions of S-500 air defense systems
- 56 battalions of S-400 air defense systems
- 2,300 tanks
- 2,000 artillery systems
- 10 brigades of "Iskander-M" missile systems
- 270-280 "Yars" intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs)
We have to answer the question of what share of military spendings of 19trln rubles was spent on purchase of major military hardware:
1) 19trln rubles in 2011 is equivalent to 50trln rubles (
543bln$) in 2025 when adjusted for inflation. So in 2025 prices, Russia planned to spend 543bln$ on defense between 2011-2020
2) here are known prices of Russian military equipment for the Russian Ministry of Defense in 2025 (based on 2018 prices adjusted for inflation):
T90C-2,8 mln$
BTR-82A-0,53 mln$
BMP3-1,4mln$
Tigr armored car-150K$
Ka-52 attack helicopter-16mln$
Msta-S self-propelled howitzer-1,6mln$
Kalibr cruise missile-750K$
new Kilo submarine-194mln$
new Sovremeny-class destroyer-540mln$
1 battalion of S-400- 260mln$
3) Based on these prices, we can make a
rough estimation of the total cost of planned major weapons purchases between 2011-2020:
10 Project 955 "Borei" strategic nuclear submarines and 30 non-strategic submarines have a total displacement of 405.000 tons which is equal to 172 Kilo submarines that cost 194mln$. 172 Kilo * 194mln=
33,3bln$
35 corvettes, 14 frigates, 6 Project 21630 "Buyan" small missile ships, 6 Project 11711 "Yantar" large landing ships and 4 "Mistral" helicopter carriers have a total displacement of 250.000 tons which is equal to 31 Sovremeny-class destroyers that cost 540mln$. 31*540mln=
16,7bln$
600 aircrafts with an average cost of 35mln$ per aircraft=
21bln$
1,100 helicopters with an average cost of 9mln$ per helicopter=
9,9bln$
10 battalions of S-500 air defense systems=
2,6bln$
56 battalions of S-400 air defense systems=
14,5bln$
2,300 tanks with an average cost of 2,8mln$ per tank=
6,4bln$
10 brigades of "Iskander-M" missile systems (240 missiles)= roughly
0,5bln$
270-280 "Yars" intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) at an average cost of 7mln$ per ICBM=
1,9bln$
Total= 107bln$
So out of 543bln$ defence budget, Russia spent 107bln$ on purchases of major weapons and this means that 20% of the defense budget goes to major weapons purchases.
And now we can make a similar calculation for Iran's military:
1) Based on prices of Russian military equipment we can make a rough estimation of prices of Iranian military equipment.
Note that dollar salaries in Iran are lower than in Russia so dollar prices of Iranian military equipment must be lower.
Karrar tank-2,2mln$
New APC-0,45mln$
New IFV-1mln$
Raad armored car-130K$
Shahed 216-14mln$
Simorgh transport aircraft-18mln$
Raad 2 self-propelled howitzer-1mln$
Howeyzeh cruise missile-650K$
Raad 500 ballistic missile 500km-380K$
Khaybarshekan ballistic missile -600K$
Qaem-110 ICBM 12.000km-4mln$
Qaem-120 ICBM 12.000km-11mln$
Shahed 136 drone-30K$
Shahed 129 drone-700K$
Dehlavieh ATGM-20k$
Shahid Soleimani corvette- 20mln$
Iranian 2000ton submarine-150mln$
Fateh 600ton submarine-45mln$
7000ton destroyer-430mln$
2) Iran's military budget 2020-2035. To calculate it we assume that Iran's nominal GDP grows 3% per year until 2035 and the annual military budget is 3,6% of GDP
So Iran will spend 327bln$ on its military between 2020-2035.
Just like in case of Russian military Armament Development Program, we assume that 20% of military budget will be used for purchase of major military equipment and this means that Iran will purchase military equipment worth 65bln$ between 2020 and 2035.
You have 65bln$, I listed the prices of Iranian military equipment, so you can make your own Plan for Weapons Purchases while taking Industrial constrains into account.
It seems like Iran has more than enough money to rearm its military with domestically developed weapons by 2035 and reequip its Air Force with foreign made aircrafts.