Iran's military has 545,000 active personnel and some of the most advanced military technology of anyone out there.
The thing is, the United States gave them a lot of it.
Granted, it wasn't the modern Iran that we stocked up with some of the hottest tech of the time, but the pre-revolutionary country that, at one point, was a key ally of the United States in the Middle East.
Still, Iran has developed their own military industrial complex to develop, maintain, and upgrade military resources.
And they've gotten pretty good at it.
So ignoring their possible but unconfirmed nuclear program, we run down all the military toys that we found the Iranians are playing with.
Decades of United Nations embargo and a bunch of advanced Soviet and American tech laying around meant that Iran got busy, designing original weapons systems. We'll take a look at that stuff for the first time here.
The AH-1J SeaCobra
The United States sold 202 of these helicopters to Iran from 1975-1978. As of right now, only around fifty remain in service.
Iran used the helicopters with disputed success in the Iran-Iraq War.
The AH-1W, a similar aircraft, remains a cornerstone of the U.S. Marine Corps' attack helicopter fleet.
The attack helicopter carries a crew of two, a max speed of 219 mph, and a service ceiling of 10,500 feet. It's 53 feet long.
Iran has also built an upgrade the Panha 2091, from AH-1J aircraft. Their efficacy is unknown.
The RIM-66 Surface to Air Missile
A naval missile system designed by the United States and exported to multiple nations, these rockets pack a punch.
Entering into service in 1967 and made by Raytheon, this guided missile system can travel at three-and-a-half times the speed of sound and have an operational range of up to 90 nautical miles.
The rockets are 15 feet long.
The Iran Navy has these installed on a number of missile boats and frigates.
The S-300 missile system
This one is unconfirmed, but Iran claims that they have them and the sources are plausible.
And if they do have the S-300, that's a pretty big deal.
Iran claimed they had inked a contract with Russia on some of the systems, which the Russians categorically deny.
They may have gotten some from Gaddafi. They may have scored some from Croatia or Belarus, or some parts from Russia. They have made the Bavar 373 system, which Iran claims has the same capabilities as the S-300.
Still, this system would be quite a get.
NATO called it the S-10 Gladiator. The Soviets developed in the 1970s, and it's been continually upgraded until the cessation of production in 2011.
It's one of the most potent anti-aircraft missile systems in the field today.
There are even variations that have been designed to intercept ballistic missiles. The radar system can track 100 targets at once, and can simultaneously engage 12 of them.
The 23 foot missiles used weigh two tons and have a range of between 56 and 93 miles. They travel at six times the speed of sound. The missile system has never been used in combat as yet, but NATO has trained for that eventuality
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