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USA vs IRAN: The Full Arsenal — Transcript

by HIKKA · 2,714 words · 450 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:05[music]
0:06>> A 100,000-ton
0:08aircraft carrier, a submarine small
0:10enough to hide in water 50 m deep, a
0:13stealth fighter, and a fighter from the
0:161970s that only one air force in the
0:19world [music] kept flying. This is the
0:21full arsenal of the United States and
0:23Iran side by side. Tanks, artillery,
0:27missiles, air defense, aircraft, drones,
0:30helicopters, and ships. More than 70
0:33machines category by category
0:36>> [music]
0:36>> with the numbers that matter.
0:38The gap in money is enormous. In 2025,
0:42the United States spent about $950
0:45billion on its military. Iran's official
0:48figure was about 7.4 billion. On paper,
0:52that is more than 100 to 1. [music]
0:54Analysts agree the real Iranian number
0:56is higher because part of it comes from
0:58oil money outside the budget. But even
1:01then, the gap is dozens to one.
1:03>> [music]
1:04>> So the two arsenals were never built to
1:06look alike. One country buys the most
1:08advanced systems it can design. The
1:10other spent four decades under
1:12sanctions, copying, upgrading, and
1:15building whatever it could at home.
1:17Along the way, an American weapon that a
1:19treaty banned for 30 years, an
1:22interceptor with no explosive warhead at
1:24all, and a helicopter that was designed
1:27for Iran in the first place.
1:31Aviation. On the American side, the face
1:34of the modern air force is the F-35A
1:37Lightning II, a stealth fighter of the
1:40fifth generation shaped and coated to be
1:42very hard to see on radar. Its real
1:45strength is not speed. It is the
1:47sensors. The F-35 merges data from its
1:50radar, cameras, and other aircraft into
1:53one picture and shares it with everyone
1:55around it. Above it sits the [music]
1:57F-22 Raptor, built for one job, air
2:01superiority.
2:02Only 187 were ever built, and the United
2:06States never allowed it to be exported,
2:08not even to its closest allies.
2:10Then there is the F-15EX Eagle II, the
2:14newest version of a design from the
2:161970s.
2:17No stealth, but it carries more weapons
2:19than any other American fighter.
2:22For long range, there is the B-2 Spirit,
2:24a flying wing with no tail at all.
2:27Only 21 were built at roughly $2 billion
2:30each. Its successor, the B-21 Raider, is
2:34already flying. And behind all of them
2:36stands the support, [music]
2:38tankers like the KC-46,
2:40built on a Boeing 767, which refuel
2:43fighters in the air and let them fly
2:45across oceans. [music]
2:47Iran's air force looks like a museum
2:49that still flies. Almost all of it was
2:52bought before 1979 or arrived in unusual
2:56ways.
2:57Its most famous aircraft is the F-14A
2:59Tomcat. Iran ordered 80 of them from the
3:02United States in the 1970s and received
3:0579. Then came the revolution, and the
3:09spare parts stopped. The US Navy retired
3:12its last Tomcats in 2006.
3:15Iran kept flying them, making its own
3:17parts and upgrading its own missiles. It
3:20is the only air force in the world that
3:22did.
3:23Next to it is the F-4 Phantom II,
3:26another American fighter from the same
3:27era and still one of the main strike
3:30aircraft of the Iranian air force.
3:32>> [music]
3:32>> From the Soviet side came the MiG-29
3:34fighter and the Su-24 bomber. Some were
3:38bought around 1990. Others were Iraqi
3:40aircraft that flew into Iran in 1991 and
3:44never went back. And then there is the
3:46Kowsar, presented in 2018 as Iran's own
3:50fighter. In reality, it is a modernized
3:52copy of the American F-5, a light
3:55fighter from the 1960s with a new
3:57cockpit and avionics.
3:59So, in the air, the gap is the widest of
4:02any category. Fifth-generation stealth
4:04on one side, and on the other, skill at
4:07keeping 50-year-old jets in the sky.
4:10That is exactly why Iran put its money
4:12somewhere else. Before that, the heavy
4:15metal on the ground.
4:19Armor. The main American tank is the
4:21M1A2 Abrams version SEP 53. A 120-mm
4:28gun, layered armor, and around 66 tons
4:31of weight. Instead of a diesel, it runs
4:34on a gas turbine, [music] a jet engine,
4:36with 1,500 horsepower. It is fast
4:39[music] and very quiet, but it burns a
4:41lot of fuel.
4:43Iran's newest tank is the Karrar,
4:45unveiled in 2017.
4:47>> [music]
4:47>> It looks very much like the Russian T-90
4:50with a 125-mm
4:52gun, a modern fire control system, and
4:54reactive armor.
4:56The backbone of Iran's tank force,
4:58[music] though, is still the T-72, a
5:00Soviet design bought from Russia in the
5:021990s, together with older tanks going
5:05back to the 1960s.
5:07Behind the tanks comes the infantry
5:09carrier.
5:10The American M2A3
5:13carries a 25-mm cannon and a launcher
5:16for two TOW anti-tank missiles on the
5:18side of the turret.
5:19>> [music]
5:20>> Iran answers with the BMP-2, a Soviet
5:23carrier with a 30-mm gun and its own
5:25anti-tank missile on [music] the roof.
5:28For speed on roads, the United States
5:30has the Stryker, an eight-wheeled
5:32armored carrier that can move a whole
5:34infantry squad at highway speed. Iran's
5:37equivalent is the BTR, a domestic
5:39carrier built on a tracked hull that
5:41goes back to the Soviet BMP-1.
5:44At the lightest end, the American JLTV
5:47is replacing the Humvee, a heavy armored
5:49truck designed to survive mines and
5:51roadside bombs. The Iranian Safir is the
5:55opposite idea, a small, light Jeep often
5:58carrying a machine gun or an anti-tank
6:00launcher, cheap and fast.
6:02So, on the ground, the American side has
6:05newer, heavier, better protected
6:07vehicles.
6:09Iran's tanks are older on average, but
6:11its industry can build and upgrade them
6:13without outside help.
6:17Missiles. [music]
6:18This is the one category where Iran made
6:21its biggest bet, and where the two
6:23arsenals look most different. [music]
6:25Start with the American side. Its
6:27best-known missile is the Tomahawk, a
6:30cruise missile that flies low, close to
6:32the ground, for about 1,600 km. It
6:35launches from ships and submarines.
6:38On land, the US Army has fired the
6:40ATACMS for decades, with a range of
6:43about 300 km.
6:45Its replacement, the PRSM, flies more
6:48than 500, and one launcher pod holds two
6:51of them instead of one.
6:53But here is something unusual. For more
6:55than 30 years, the United States had no
6:58land-based missiles with a range between
7:00500 and 5,500 km at all.
7:04The reason was a signature.
7:06The INF Treaty of 1987 between
7:09Washington and Moscow banned that entire
7:12class of weapons. The United States left
7:14the treaty in 2019, and the army is only
7:17now fielding new long-range missiles on
7:20the ground.
7:21Iran went the other way. With an old air
7:24force, it built missiles instead of
7:26planes, and over the years, its arsenal
7:28has been described as the largest and
7:30most diverse in the Middle East. The
7:33Fateh-110 is a short-range missile,
7:35solid-fueled, accurate, about 300 km.
7:39The Zolfaghar, built on the same family,
7:41reaches around 700. The Shahab 3 goes
7:45back to a North Korean design.
7:47>> [music]
7:47>> It runs on liquid fuel and flies about
7:491,300 km. The Sejil is a two-stage
7:53missile on solid fuel, which means it
7:55can be stored ready and launched much
7:57faster. It reaches around 2,000 km. The
8:01Kheibar Shekan, shown in 2022, is a
8:04newer solid-fuel missile with a range of
8:06about 1,450 km. [music] And the Hoveizeh
8:09is a cruise missile, Iran's answer to
8:12the Tomahawk idea, flying low for about
8:141,350 km. Iranian officials have long
8:18said they keep their missile ranges at
8:202,000 km or less by their own choice.
8:24So, the picture flips. The United States
8:27carries its long-range firepower on
8:29ships, submarines, and aircraft. [music]
8:31Iran put it on the ground in missiles.
8:35Before the next category, a short look
8:37at the people who carry the smallest
8:39weapons of all.
8:41>> [music]
8:43>> Infantry. We covered the soldiers' gear
8:45in detail in a separate video. So, here
8:48is the short version. The American
8:50rifleman is moving from the M4A1 carbine
8:53to the new M7, built around a heavier
8:566.8 mm round. Every rifle has an optic,
9:00and every rifleman in a combat unit can
9:02expect night vision. The Iranian soldier
9:05carries the G3 battle rifle, or in the
9:08Revolutionary Guard, the AK-133.
9:11>> [music]
9:11>> Optics and night vision are far less
9:13common, and the best equipment does not
9:15reach every conscript. But in anti-tank
9:18weapons and machine guns, Iran is much
9:20closer. Those are exactly the things its
9:23industry has built for decades.
9:27Artillery.
9:29The American M109A7
9:31Paladin is a self-propelled howitzer, a
9:34155 mm gun in an armored turret on
9:37tracks.
9:38>> [music]
9:38>> It can stop, fire, and move again before
9:41return fire arrives.
9:43Iran's counterpart is the Raad 2, a
9:46domestic 155 mm self-propelled gun that
9:49borrows heavily from the same American
9:51design.
9:53For towed guns, the US Army has the
9:55M777.
9:57Thanks to titanium, it weighs only about
9:594.2 tons, light enough to be carried
10:02under a Chinook helicopter.
10:04With guided Excalibur shells, it can
10:06reach around 40 km.
10:08Iran relies heavily on the D-30, a
10:11Soviet 122 mm howitzer. Its three legs
10:15spread out like a star, so the gun can
10:17turn a full circle without moving the
10:19carriage.
10:21Then, rockets. The American HIMARS is a
10:24rocket launcher on a six-wheeled truck.
10:27It carries six guided rockets with a
10:29range of around 70 km, or one of the
10:32long-range missiles we saw earlier.
10:34Iran's Fajr 5 fires much bigger unguided
10:37rockets, 333 mm wide, [music]
10:41out to about 75 km. So, the American
10:44edge here is precision. Fewer rounds,
10:47each one guided. Iran's approach is
10:50volume. More barrels, heavier rockets,
10:53simpler ammunition.
10:55Next is the category where Iran stopped
10:57copying and started exporting its own
11:00ideas.
11:03Drones. The best-known American drone is
11:06the MQ-9 Reaper.
11:08>> [music]
11:08>> Long, thin wings, a propeller at the
11:10back, and up to a full day in the air.
11:13It watches and can carry guided missiles
11:16and bombs.
11:17Higher up [music] flies the RQ-4 Global
11:20Hawk. Its wingspan is close to 40 m,
11:23wider than that of a Boeing 737.
11:26It flies above 18 km and can stay up for
11:29more than 30 hours, mapping huge areas.
11:33At the small end, the Switchblade 600 is
11:36a loitering munition.
11:37>> [music]
11:37>> It launches from a tube, folds out its
11:39wings, and can circle for about 40
11:42minutes before choosing its target.
11:44>> [music]
11:44>> Iran built a whole drone industry of its
11:46own, largely under sanctions. The
11:49Mohajer-6 is a medium drone with a
11:51pusher propeller and twin tail booms. It
11:54watches and can carry small guided
11:57bombs.
11:58The Shahed-129 is larger, close in size
12:01and role to the American Predator
12:03[music] with an endurance of about 24
12:05hours. And the Shahed-136
12:08is a different idea altogether. A
12:10triangular flying wing with a small
12:12piston engine
12:13>> [music]
12:13>> launched from a rack in groups.
12:15Estimates put its cost at tens of
12:17thousands of dollars, a tiny fraction of
12:20an aircraft or a missile.
12:22This is the clearest example of the
12:24Iranian approach. Not the best machine,
12:27but a cheap one that can be built in
12:28large numbers.
12:30And where there are drones and missiles,
12:32there has to be a shield.
12:36Air defense.
12:38The core of the American system is the
12:40Patriot, and its newest interceptor, the
12:42PAC-3 MSE. The PAC-3 is a hit-to-kill
12:47missile. Instead of exploding near its
12:49target, it is built to strike it
12:51directly, like a bullet hitting a
12:53bullet. And above it works the
12:55interceptor from the start of this
12:57video. THAAD defends against ballistic
13:00missiles at the very edge of the
13:01atmosphere, and its interceptor carries
13:04no explosive warhead at all. The impact
13:06alone, at enormous speed, is enough.
13:10At the lowest level, a single soldier
13:12carries the Stinger, a shoulder-fired
13:14missile that homes in on the heat of an
13:16engine, out to about 5 km.
13:19Iran's most capable imported system is
13:22the Russian S-300 PMU-2.
13:25It was ordered in 2007. The deal was
13:28frozen and the system finally arrived in
13:312016, almost 10 years later. Iran's own
13:35answer is the Bavar 373,
13:38a long-range system that Iran describes
13:40as its domestic equivalent of the S-300.
13:43Below it stands the Khordad 15, a
13:46medium-range system on a truck that
13:48carries its own radar. And the Misagh 2
13:51is Iran's shoulder-fired missile based
13:53on a Chinese design that itself goes
13:55back to Soviet roots. On paper, both
13:58countries have layers from long range
14:00down to a single soldier. The difference
14:03is in the radars, the networks that
14:05connect them, and how many years each
14:07system has been tested. [music]
14:11Helicopters. The AH-64E Apache is the
14:15American attack helicopter. A 30-mm
14:18cannon under the nose, Hellfire missiles
14:21on the wings, and a round Longbow radar
14:24above the rotor that can find targets
14:26from behind cover.
14:27The UH-60 Black Hawk is the workhorse,
14:30carrying a squad of soldiers since the
14:32late 1970s.
14:34And the CH-47F
14:35Chinook, with its two big rotors, lifts
14:38heavy loads, trucks, artillery, even the
14:42M777 howitzer we saw earlier.
14:45Iran's helicopter fleet is, again,
14:47mostly American and almost all of it was
14:50bought before 1979.
14:52The AH-1J Cobra was the first true
14:55attack helicopter design in the world,
14:58and Iran bought more than 200 of them.
15:01And now the helicopter from the
15:02beginning of the video. The Bell 214 was
15:05originally developed for Iran. The
15:07Iranian army asked Bell for a more
15:09powerful version of the Huey for hot,
15:12high mountains and became its launch
15:14customer with nearly 300 ordered. Iran
15:17also flies the CH-47C
15:20Chinook, an older version of the same
15:22helicopter the US Army uses today, built
15:25under license in Italy. [music]
15:27So in the air, part of the Iranian fleet
15:29is the same family as the American one,
15:32just 50 years older.
15:34>> [music]
15:34>> And that leaves the last and largest
15:36category of all.
15:39The Navy.
15:41The flagship of the United States is the
15:43USS Gerald R. Ford, often called the
15:46largest warship ever built. About
15:49100,000 tons and 333 m long. [music]
15:54Instead of steam catapults, it launches
15:56aircraft with electromagnetic ones, and
15:59it carries around 75 aircraft. And it is
16:02not alone. The US Navy runs about 10
16:05nuclear carriers. Around each carrier
16:08sail destroyers like the Arleigh Burke
16:10class, built around the Aegis radar
16:12system and around 90 vertical missile
16:15cells. More than 70 of them have been
16:17built. Below the surface go Virginia
16:20class nuclear submarines. They have no
16:22traditional periscope at all. Cameras on
16:25a mast send the image to screens inside
16:27the hull. And close to shore, small
16:30patrol boats like the Mark VI guard
16:32harbors and coastlines.
16:34Iran's navy was built for a very
16:36different sea. The Persian Gulf is
16:39shallow, crowded, and narrow. At the
16:41Strait of Hormuz, the passage is only
16:44about 39 km wide. Iran's largest
16:47warships are small [music] frigates like
16:49the Jamaran of the Moudge class, the
16:51first warship of this size designed and
16:54built in [music] Iran, commissioned in
16:552010. It also bought three Kilo class
16:59submarines from Russia in the 1990s,
17:01diesel-electric boats known for being
17:04very quiet. And here is the small
17:06submarine from the very start. The
17:08Ghadir is a submarine of about
17:11120 tons. The Persian Gulf has an
17:14average depth of only about 50 m, too
17:17shallow for big submarines, but just
17:19right for small [music] ones. Iran built
17:21more than a dozen of them. The most
17:23typical Iranian vessels though, are fast
17:26boats of the Revolutionary Guard. Small,
17:28quick, armed with machine guns, rockets,
17:31or missiles, and built to operate in
17:33large numbers close to their own coast.
17:35>> [music]
17:36>> So, at sea, the contrast is the sharpest
17:38of all. The American Navy is built to
17:40operate anywhere on the planet. Iran's
17:43Navy is built for one stretch [music] of
17:45water, its own.
17:49Category by category, the picture is
17:51consistent.
17:52>> [music]
17:53>> In aircraft, ships, sensors, and
17:55precision, the United States is in a
17:57different league with a budget dozens of
18:00times larger.
18:01Iran answered in the places where money
18:03matters less. Missiles, drones, [music]
18:06small boats, and the ability to build
18:09and repair everything at home. Two
18:11arsenals
18:12>> [music]
18:12>> built for two completely different jobs.
18:15One to reach anywhere in the world, the
18:18other to defend [music] one region as
18:20cheaply as possible.

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