A new public report, Iran’s Military Power, produced by the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency, details how the 40-year-old Islamic regime boosts its relatively weak conventional forces with “a hybrid approach to warfare” that relies on missiles, naval forces, and proxies to threaten its neighbors.
“Iran’s military strategy is primarily based on deterrence and the ability to retaliate against an attacker,” said Christian Saunders, a senior Iran analyst with the DIA at a briefing for reporters at the Pentagon yesterday. “Iran probably will continue to focus on the domestic development of increasingly capable missiles, naval platforms and weapons, and air defenses while it attempts to upgrade some of its deteriorating air and ground capabilities primarily through foreign purchases.”
The report cited the Iranian military’s three core capabilities: a vast arsenal of ballistic missiles, naval forces capable of threatening navigation, and the use of partners and proxies abroad. The report also breaks out a number of categories, as follows.
Ballistic missiles: Lacking a modern air force, Iran has embraced ballistic missiles to dissuade its adversaries from attacking. Iran has the largest missile force in the Middle East and can strike targets as far as 1,200 miles away. It’s also developing more accurate cruise missiles and a space launch vehicle which could eventually give it an ICBM capability.
Drones: Iran is assessed to be making “rapid progress” in advancing the capabilities of its Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. “Iran sees these as versatile platforms for a variety of missions, including Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, or ISR, and air-to-ground strikes and has steadily expanded its UAV inventory,” the report states.
Air defenses: Iran is building and buying more capable integrated air defense systems, which have for the first time provided a capability to defend against a modern air force. “Iran is fielding more capable domestically developed surface to air missiles and radar systems, and in 2016, acquired the Russian SA-20C air defense system.”
Partners and proxies: Iran projects its military power through two different military institutions: the regular forces, or Artesh, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or the IRGC. “The IRGC Qods Force, Iran’s primary tool for unconventional operations, maintains a wide network of non-state partners, proxies and affiliates including Hezbollah, Iraqi Shia militant groups, the Houthis in Yemen, some Palestinian groups, the Taliban and Bahraini Shia militants.”
Naval forces and A2/AD: Iran’s naval capabilities emphasize an anti-access area denial strategy, which employs asymmetric tactics and numerous platforms to overwhelm an adversary’s naval force, including “ship- and shore-launched anti-ship cruise missiles, small boats, naval mines, submarines, unmanned aerial vehicles, anti-ship ballistic missiles and air defenses.”
Cyber/nuclear weapons: The report concludes that Iran continues to improve its cyber capabilities, which it views as “a safe, low-cost method to collect information and retaliate against perceived threats. And while Iran has no nuclear weapons, its nuclear program remains a significant concern.” The report notes Iran has begun gradually exceeding some of the nuclear-related limits in the 2015 nuclear deal, after the United States withdrew from the agreement with six world powers.
Jamie McIntyre is the Washington Examiner‘s senior writer on defense and national security. His morning newsletter, “Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense,” is free and available by email subscription at dailyondefense.com.
