Iranian Operational Warfighting Ability: An Historical Assessment and View to theFuture

摘要

This monograph provides an assessment of Iranian warfighting abilities at theoperational level during the eight years of the Iran-Iraq War. It also looks at post-war Iranian arms purchases and training exercises to predict future Iranian operational warfighting abilities. The assessment of Iranian warfighting abilities is framed within the structure established by United States Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Pamphlet 11-9, Blueprint of the Battlefield. The pamphlet details six Operational Operating Systems (OOSs): operational movement and maneuver, operational fires, operational protection, operational command and control, operational intelligence, and operational support. This monograph concludes that future Iranian warfighting abilities at the operational level will be anchored on a formidable missile capability and a growing, maturing, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) equipped and trained to conduct both conventional and unconventional warfare.