Iranian Vehicle Camouflage in the Iran Iraq War 1980 - 1988

(c) Bob Mackenzie 2018/19

V1.0 25/12/18

1 OVERVIEW This essay looks at the evolution of vehicle camouflage in the Iranian Army and Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) from before the start of the war until its end.

Army vehicles went through three distinct phases of camouflage.

1. Pre-war most vehicles were painted a light olive green; this was prevalent in the initial battles of the war. 2. The Iranians realised that the light olive colour was inappropriate for the desert in Khuzestan province so started to

overpaint the olive green with a sandy colour. This was often crude, with patches of olive showing beneath. 3. As the war progressed, they formalised the re-painting in sandy colour, which was much higher quality of than the

previous ad-hoc attempts.

Although there are plenty of pictures of Iranian armour, most are not dated so deducing when the changes took place is not possible. Pictures indicate that the types of camouflage were used concurrently, even in what looks like the same unit.

Figure 1: Possibly the 37th Armoured Brigade showing vehicles in all three states of camouflage. The Scorpions are in pre-war light olive. The M60 in with the yellow flag in the left-centre looks to have a crude application of

yellow paint whist the tanks to the rear have a much more solid yellow colour. It is interesting to note that many of the M60’s appear to have gun tubes in original US dark olive drab or perhaps black. The picture is possibly

from 1982.

IRGC vehicles, for the most part, were left in the paint scheme in which they delivered or captured. Thus, T-55’s in Iraqi cammo are commonly seen, as are artillery pieces left in the dark green paint in which they were delivered. There are photos of IRGC tanks in a neat overall sand colour. These are probably repaired tanks that were re-sprayed as part of their reconditioning.

The IRGC used many civilian vehicles, which were camouflaged to varying degrees.

2 PRE WAR LIGHT OLIVE GREEN With a few exceptions, everything in the Iranian inventory was painted a similar shade of light olive green before the war

Figure 2: An M101 105mm howitzer in pre-war light olive green

Figure 3: An M47 in pre-war green. It looks quite dark in this picture. Unfortunately getting exact shades off pictures is problematic.

Figure 4: This Chieftain is clearly in pre-war green

Figure 5: Transport was painted in similar colours to the armour

Figure 6: Ex USSR equipment was also re-painted in light olive, such as this BTR-50. Note the additional fuel tanks on the rear deck, culled from T-55's. The dust on this vehicle makes the shade of green look lighter.

Iranian vehicles were probably painted green to blend in with the terrain in northern Iran. The Army thinking that the USSR was the biggest threat. The 155th Fortress Brigade, based permanently in the Khuzestan desert, painted its vehicles in a sandy scheme.

Figure 7: 105mm armed Sherman of the 151st Fortress Brigade

Figure 8: An M36 of the 151st Fortress Brigade. This was found by US forces in Iraq in 2003. Given the Iranian Army cockade is still visible it seems probable this is the cammo it was wearing when captured by the Iraqis. The

black writing is graffiti scrawled by Coalition soldiers.

Figure 9: The cammo shown above appears to be the exception for 151st Brigade tanks, most tanks seem to have been painted plain sand

3 CRUDE ATTEMPTS TO RE-COLOUR VEHICLES Fairly soon after the war started the Iranians realised that green was not a suitable colour for vehicles in the desert. Many units attempted to repaint their vehicles. The paint on these vehicles appears to have been applied with a paintbrush rather than a spray gun.

Figure 10: A famous picture of a Chieftain in Khuzestan. It has been repainted in sand colour paint but the original green can be seen showing through, especially on the side skirts. The Iranian cockade is still visible.

Figure 11: A repainted M150, the original green can clearly be seen on the bottom of the cupola. The TOW launcher was not repainted and remains dark olive drab.

Figure 12: Another rough paint job. The original green can be seen along the fenders and above the tracks. Note the M40 106mm recoilless rifle has a black tube.

4 PROFESSIONAL PAINT JOBS As the war progressed, some of the Army’s equipment was more professionally re-painted in a sandy colour. Pictures of vehicles repainted in this way are comparatively rare, probably indicating that it was not a widespread effort.

Figure 13: A Row of Chieftains with newly repainted tanks in the background. Note that the barrels of the guns are black under the thermal sleeves.

Figure 14: M113 repainted with a professional slogan on the side

Figure 15: Repainted Scorpion

5 THE BMP-1 Apparently, some BMP-1s were delivered by the USSR before the start of the war, and promptly put into storage by the Iranians. These BMPs were not repainted and remained in the “Soviet green” in which they were delivered. This does beg

the question as to why the Iranians chose to put the older BTR-50 into service and not the newer BMP, but that’s not the focus of this essay. What is indisputable is that there are many pictures of dark green BMPs around. Some left green, other with crudely painted camouflage.

Some BMPs may have been painted light olive by the Army, though evidence is limited to this blurry picture

Figure 16: BMP-1 in light olive green

Figure 17: Dark green BMP-1

Figure 18: Another dark green BMP, this one clearly used by the IRGC. The sandy coloured vehicles in the background were almost certainly captured from the Iraqis

Figure 19: Although in black and white this BMP is almost certainly painted a dark green colour. There has been a very crude attempt to paint a light (probably sandy) colour over the base paint.

6 JEEPS The Iranians manufactured their own version of the US M38 Jeep: the Keohwa M-5GA1. This was apparently delivered in a very dark green, almost black. There are examples of army jeeps in light olive, but the majority of pics seen are of black-green vehicles. As black-green is a terrible colour for camouflage in the desert examples abound of vehicles smeared in local mud or with crudely applied sand coloured paint.

Figure 20: A jeep ready for a 106mm recoilless rifle, painted black-green

Figure 21: A black green Jeep with an improvised mount for a DshK machine gun

Figure 22: Another dark green jeep. It is notable that in most pictures seen of recoilless rifles firing they are at a considerable elevation and appear to be being used for indirect fire.

Figure 23: a dark green jeep with a TOW launcher with a crude attempt at camouflage. This might be mud rather than paint.

Figure 24: More mud applied as camouflage. TOW jeeps appear to have operated paired with a non-TOW jeep, probably used for carrying missile reloads

Figure 25: Although black and white this picture shows a much more sophisticated camouflage attempt. Note the barrel of the 106mm is painted black.

Figure 26: Army Jeeps were painted light olive. Again, note the launcher is painted black or dark olive green.

7 CAPTURED EQUIPMENT Equipment captured from the Iranians was passed to the IRGC. They almost inevitably used it wearing the same colours in which it was captured. That is, in Iraqi colours.

Figure 27: Captured T-55 in standard Iraqi camouflage crewed by the IRGC

Figure 28: This crew obviously though that the Iraqi camouflage scheme was inadequate

Figure 29: This picture is interesting for a number of reasons. Pictures of captured T-62s are much less common than pictures of T-54/55s. On this tank, an attempt has been made to distinguish it from similar Iraqi machines, by painting the national colours on the bore evacuator; usually the IRGC seems not to have bothered with such

niceties. Lastly, the majority of the paint job seems to be the “Soviet green” the tank was delivered in with a hasty overpaint of a few splodges of sandy colour.

Figure 30: A BMP-1 in plain sand. Many pictures of IRGC BMPs exist without green stripes. These may have been captured that way from the Iraqis or be the result of an IRGC overhaul and re-spray.

Figure 31: A very neat looking paint-job on a T-55. This may have been a repaired vehicle that was subsequently re-sprayed.

8 IMPORTED EQUIPMENT Iran imported a great deal of weaponry during the war. For example, T-54/55 series tanks were delivered from Libya (125) and Syria (120). Similar Type 59 (300) and Type 69-II (500) tanks were delivered by China. The SIPRI database is a good starting point for tracking imports during the war, though it’s not exhaustive: http://armstrade.sipri.org/armstrade/page/trade_register.php

It is certain that the artillery delivered to Iran was not repainted before entering service, being left plain “Soviet green” (or Chinese green, or North Korean green). What is less certain is what happened to the front line equipment such as tanks. Give the BMPs that were in storage from the before the war were not repainted and neither was imported artillery it seems very likely imported tanks and APCs were left in the colours they were delivered in. Unfortunately, the photographic record is painfully thin in this regard. It is further complicated because the Iraqis used much of the same kit

and they didn’t always bother repainting it before entering battle. This means a green painted tank could be an Iranian import or it could be a captured Iraqi vehicle.

Figure 32: A 130mm M46 (or a Chinese or North Korean copy) still in the green paint it in which it was delivered

Figure 33: a North Korean M1978 “Koksan” gun. These were operated by the IRGC in their original colours. The example found by US forces in Iraq in 2003 when they invaded was painted sand colour indicating these guns

may have been re-sprayed by the Iranians before the end of the war.

Figure 34: A well know picture of a North Korean M1985 240mm MRL still in the colour in which it was delivered

Figure 35: Evidence of what happened to imported tanks is more difficult to come by. There are a few pics of plain green tanks in IRGC hands but it’s not clear if these are imports or captured from Iraq. Iraq was known to

commit tanks to battle without camouflaging them first.

Figure 36: Imported AA guns were left in their original colours. This ZPU-4 has been mounted on a T-55 chassis as an ad-hoc SPAAG

9 IMPRESSED CIVILIAN VEHICLES The IRGC used large numbers of civilian 4x4 vehicles, as transport in Iran was scarce. These were often left in their original colours, often caked in dust. Like other vehicles, both crude and more sophisticated repainting was attempted.

Figure 37: Somewhat hidden, this pickup has its original white paintwork.

Figure 38: The chrome windscreen on the right hand Landrover and the white roof on the left hand vehicle seem to indicate these are civilian vehicles wearing the paint in which they were delivered.

Figure 39: This 4x4 has been given a fairly crude coat of sand coloured paint, including the windows. This may have been to reduce glint.

Figure 40: The Toyota FJ40 was very widely used by the IRGC. Most were painted in this sandy colour

Figure 41: Some Toyotas were painted in a light green akin to the Army’s light olive

Figure 42: There were some local attempts to camouflage the Toyota. The cab and doors were removable so they are seen with and without cabs

Figure 43: Probably the most sophisticated re-paint of a civilian car seen during the war. This Range Rover, with the funky police lights, belongs to the HQ 9th Battalion 27th IRGC Division. Notice the silver wheel hubs were not

painted.