88th Armored Division

88th Armored Division

The 88th AD is based in the Sistan-Baluchistan region with brigades in Zahedan, Khash and Iranshahr. They may have an additional smaller detachment in the city of Zabol. (1) In 2011, the 1st brigade in Zahedan began moving to a new base south-east of the city from their old compound in the city. Also in 2011, the cities of Zahedan, Khash and Iranshahr began to be reinforced with artillery contingents. (2)

As a military unit, it started out as an armored brigade during the days of the Imperial Iranian Army, equipped with Chieftain tanks. During the war it was expanded to a full division; sometime between 1980 and the 1990s they adopted the M-47 and M-48 tank. They are rarely seen and are often assumed to be relatively lightly armored and more comparable to a mechanized infantry division. They are also stuck with the lowest quality heavy armor available to Iran. However, despite this, they still follow roughly the same pattern of equipment distribution of other armored units.

Zahedan
The 1st Brigade is based in Zahedan, the capital of the Sistan-Baluchistan province; it's current headquarters can be found in the south-east corner of the city though there are facilities outside the city as well.

A tank battalion (34 tanks) is parked out in clear sight with three companies; one company of M-47Ms and two companies of M-48A5s. Next to them are lighter AFVs including a company of BTR-60s and a number of BMPs and M113s. There are about six of each which is a bit larger then a platoon size, but would amount to a very understrengthed company (about 60% strength). It's possible these additional vehicles were in overhaul or simply elsewhere at the time. On the other side of the compound, there is a battery of D-20 towed guns (6 pieces)

Adjacent to the airport is an army aviation facility with 12 helicopter landing pads with blast walls providing a small amount of protection from attack. There are also five hardened aircraft shelters designed for helicopter storage. While no aircraft are visible in the pictures, Zahedan is rumored to be host to three Bell 214As for airborne assault, three AH-1Js for attack and one AB-206 for reconnaissance. The helicopters here belong to the 3rd Support and Assault group based out of Kerman (3)

Southwest of the main army base are several firing ranges set into a range of low hills.

South-west of the city is a storage depot with a number of bunkers under construction from sometime between 2004 and 2009. The facility is ringed with watchtowers and has several AAA positions.

Here is part of the newly-finished "Shahid Yakoob Garrison" in Zahedan during a tour of the facility by General Pourdastan, commander of the IRIA, in November 2010. The exact location of this garrison is unknown but is reported to be "south-east" of Zahedan. (4)

(IRNA)

Khash
The second brigade has a compound to the north-west of the city of Khash 140 km south of Zahedan. The facilities here are a fair bit bigger then in Zahedan and are centrally located rather then being spread out. However the force composition appears to be roughly equal.

A full battalion of D-30 guns is layed out with it's three batteries of six guns with various support vehicles (probably of a Mercedes-Benz type). There's also a battalion of M113 APCs with several vehicles missing from immediate view (28 out of the full 33+ in a battalion). The tank battalion here resembles the one with Zahedan with one company of M-47Ms and two companies of M-48A5s, though like the M113s, several vehicles are out of sight (25 out of the full 34 tanks in a battalion).

West of this facility is a large compound that covers many kilometers that is used for exercises and is dotted with earthworks, trenches and revetments.

Iranshahr
The third brigade can be found in Iranshahr which can be found 130 km south, south-west of Khash. Unfortunately high quality imagery of the region is not available. While only the most general of features can be discerned the layout is similar to the other bases with barracks clustered around a parade ground, adjacent to a motor pool with garages holding armor and artillery.

Zabol
Supposedly houses an infantry battalion. Like Iranshahr many features cannot be discerned. A motor pool contains what may be light armor like M113s or BMPs or simply heavy trucks. Relatively recent construction, as of 2003, can be seen occurring in the north-eastern section of the compound.

Works Cited:
(1) Central Clubs Forum. http://www.centralclubs.com/topic-t65380.html
(2) Mehr News. http://www.mehrnews.com/fa/newsdetail.aspx?NewsID=1263696
(3) Scramble on the Web Order of Battle. http://www.scramble.nl/ir.htm
(4) ibd Mehr News

Images Via Google Earth