Iran’s Head Mounted Thermal Optic from IPAS 2017 and Isfahan Police Demonstration

Notice the covered objective lens.

Photographs coming out of IPAS 2017 (Telegram source) and a recent demonstration put on by  Isfahan Law Enforcement have revealed what appears to be a battery powered thermal optic that attaches to a user’s helmet and has a single ocular lens attachment that covers the left eye. The optic “detects” through an objective lens on the helmet, which appears to project an image into the ocular lens. The fact that this optic is in use by what appears to be special Law Enforcement teams in Isfahan would make it seem that it has been in development for a while, and has perhaps even been available to Iranian defense forces for some time as well, due to Law Enforcement worldwide routinely lagging behind in equipment procurement.

From Farsi-“The heated (Thermal) binocular resting on a head/hat”
The optic is powered by what is most likely an AA battery inserted from the right side of the device. The two objective lens’ stay in the upper position throughout use, and are covered with a lens cap during daylight hours. The eyepiece swivels down on a ball mount for maximum flexibility.

A Closer Look at Iran’s Barrett M107 Copy, the Hoveizeh

IPAS 2017 in Iran brought with it the introduction of the .50 BMG Hoveizeh anti-material rifle. Thanks in part to a popular Iranian Telegram channel we’re able to take a much closer look at the rifle and exactly what the Defense Industries Organization duplicated, and what was added. From what we can tell, the general layout and operating mechanism of the U.S. Barrett M107 was copied, but some of the exterior features of the weapon weren’t. One difference was the magazine which appears to be a polymer shell held together with screws, not unlike some Airsoft designs.

In this photograph the barrel bushing has an extra pin protruding from it that we don’t know the purpose of yet. Notice what appears to be a hex screw holding the upper frame to the receiver. In addition notice the flutes down the barrel.

The sling swivel appears to be on a sliding arrangement where a user might be able to loosen the screws of the swivel and tighten them back down where it fits the best. However, the monopod and rear gripping surface looks to be stationary with the three screws anchoring it to the receiver of the rifle. 

Notice the different bipods mounted on the rifle in the leaflet compared with the bipods mounted at the defense exhibition

A point of controversy lies in the name of the rifle itself. The majority of online material, show leaflets, and even abbreviated on the rifle itself on the magazine well is هویزه, however in this leaflet we clearly see the name, فائز printed next to the rifle.

Basij Militia Selfie Stick

 

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During the training exercises of Iranian Basij militia forces, the personnel found a controversial use for what looks to be a Chinese made underfolder AK-47. The guy in the image has mounted a phone on the stock and uses the gun as a selfie stick! Why controversial? Well, at first it looks to be a nice trick, which various armies’ soldiers have been doing lately. On the other hand, the Basij soldier violates key safety rules by pointing the gun at himself. He actually doesn’t care about three of four safety rules. I hope at least he has a good trigger discipline.

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About the Basij Militia, from Wikipedia-

The Basij (Persian: بسيج‎‎, lit. “The Mobilization”), Niruyeh Moghavemat Basij (Persian: نیروی مقاومت بسیج‎‎, “Mobilisation Resistance Force”), full name Sāzmān-e Basij-e Mostaz’afin (Persian: سازمان بسیج مستضعفین‎‎, “The Organization for Mobilization of the Oppressed”), is one of the five forces of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution. A paramilitary volunteer militia established in Iran in 1979 by Ayatollah Khomeini.
It was an independent organization from inception until 17 February 1981, when it was officially incorporated into the Revolutionary Guards organization structure by the Iranian Parliament.
Today the force consists of young Iranian volunteers. Basij serve as an auxiliary force engaged in activities such as internal security, law enforcement auxiliary, providing social services, organizing public religious ceremonies, policing morals, and suppression of dissident gatherings. The force is named Basij and individual members are called basiji.

 

Iranian M9-02 Handgun Introduced

Recent news from The Firearm Blog show Iran’s state ran small arms company introducing a new striker fired, polymer framed handgun. The name of the handgun appears to be M9-02 as marked on the slide and it is in 9x19mm NATO. It appears to be very similar to a Walther P99 in dimension and operation. Connections to the P99 might come from Turkey as we know that Iran has a strategic and business friendship with Turkey. From a small arms perspective, at the very same defense exposition these handguns were revealed at, Iran’s newest assault rifle was seen with a Turkish Safir AR magazine inserted on Silah Report. That being said, Turkish company Canik has produced a locally copied version of the P99 as the Canik 55 TP-9. This American blogger has put together an excellent comparison of a Walther P99 and the Canik 55 TP-9, showing the massive similarities.

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From TFB-

It appears to be a polymer framed, striker fired, 9x19mm handgun, with much inspiration drawn from a Walter P99 through the method of disassembly and overall shape of the frame. The magazine appears to have an added capacity floor plate, leading me to assume that another magazine is available with a flush fit option. It seems to lack a manual safety, usually a requirement for military handguns, and it appears to have night sights by way of white dots embedded in them. Whether these sights light up at night through the use of tritium or another substance is unclear at this moment.

Iran is going through a substantial rearmament and redesign of a number of weapon systems, to include the primary issue rifle, taking on an AR15 appearance. Earlier, Iran produced a Glock-like handgun called the Raa’d (Thunderbolt), but this appears to have not been adopted in any substantial numbers or at all.

This image shows the differences and similarities between the Walther P99 and the Canik 55 TP-9

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Safir AR Magazines in use by Peshmerga, Iran

Safir Arms is a Turkish firearms company that primarily produces .410 AR clones. However, the company debuted a 5.56x45mm NATO AR magazine in 2014 along with a bullpup rifle under the name T-14 that shared a number of AR components. The rifle never seemed to have advanced past a prototype stage, but the magazine design included was turned into a manufacturing run. Currently it is listed on the company’s website and in the catalog. The listed magazine and bullpup rifle appear below along with a modular adaption of an AR rifle.

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Unlike similar polymer magazines such as Magpul’s Pmag and ProMag’s signature polymer magazine, the Safir Arms version has four columns along the side of the magazine, in addition to a ribbed portion that sits below the magazine well of an AR when inserted. Observe the differences in the photographs of the Magpul and Promag-

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However, recently the same magazine design has appeared in usage with certain Peshmerga forces, specifically security forces armed with NEA Arms PDWs in Kurdistan. In addition it also appeared in a recent Iranian defense weapons exposition in Tehran. Whether or not the magazine has been copied by the Iranians and being manufactured locally is unknown at this point in time.

With the Peshmerga in the ARES post-

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And at the Iranian exposition-

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