Iran is converting a former commercial container ship into an aircraft carrier drone at a dock near the entrance to the Persian Gulf, according to satellite and open-source imagery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has its own naval arm and is known for its fleet of small armed speedboats that it uses to harass large US Navy ships in the Persian Gulf. However, the IRGC could soon begin operating a much larger class of warship, an “aircraft carrier.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A former Iranian-flagged container ship is being converted into a warship to carry helicopters and fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles at the Iran Shipbuilding & Offshore Industries Complex Co (ISOICO) in Bandar Abbas near the Strait of Hormuz, according to images released on December 30, 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two ships are expected to be built: Shahid Mahdavi and Shahid Bagheri. Based on open sources, the first is believed to be Shahid Mahdavi (110-3). However, Iranian social media sources also reported that it is Shahid Bagheri. The two ships would probably be similar or identical, so this detail is less critical. The first of the two ships could be launched early this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The merchant ship had been in dock since at least May 2022, when it was converted to a warship, according to a previous report by The Maritime Executive. The Maritime Executive said the ship is identical to the Iranian-flagged container ship Sarvin (formerly Sarita, Dandle, Twelfth Ocean, Iran Isfahan). Sarvin’s operating company is covered by US sanctions on Iran’s shipping sector, preventing its use on most trade routes. As such, it may have been decided to convert it into a warship for the IRGC, the Maritime Executive said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the report suggests the ship was originally the Perarin, a large container ship built in 2000 and operating under an Iranian flag. It has a carrying capacity of 3,280 TEU, a length overall (LOA) of 240.2 meters and a beam of 32.2 meters. Her reported draft was 7.8 meters. However, Iran appears to have taken a page from the US expeditionary sea-basing model when it converts merchant ships into warships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
US Special Operations Forces have been known to use base ships for covert action. US SOF reportedly use such a “civilian” base vessel in the Western Pacific, and another commercial conversion with special operations capabilities, the Ocean Trader, formerly known as Cragside, has been out of Automatic Identification System (AIS) since 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the prominent examples of Iran’s adoption of the flagship concept is the Iranian Navy’s IRINS Makran, a former petrochemical tanker converted into a warship in 2021. The Makran ranks among the largest naval vessels in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last year, the Makran and the Iranian Navy frigate IRINS Sahand were deployed in the Atlantic for four months. They traveled to the Baltic Sea to represent Tehran in a review of the Russian navy. The Makran appears to be transiting the Pacific, following the recent sighting of the ship reported by the French Navy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
New aircraft carrier could increase Iranian drone threat The new aircraft carrier drone will provide the IRGC with a long-range strike capability, leveraging the wide variety of aerial combat drones developed by Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iran has been a pioneer in the UAV industry for many years. The country is taking a more prominent role as an emerging drone superpower in the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iran’s armed forces are known to operate more armed drones than many other nations with twice the defense budget, and that too under crippling Western sanctions. Iran has many UAVs ranging from small, light short-range systems to medium to heavy unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Shahed-136 kamikaze drones deserve special mention as they have wreaked havoc on Ukraine’s air defenses and critical infrastructure in recent weeks at the hands of the Russian military. In addition to this, Iran also reportedly used the Shahed-136 to attack an oil tanker owned by an Israeli billionaire off the coast of Oman last November, according to a US Navy investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The attack took place on an oil tanker, the Pacific Zircon, which was operated by Singapore’s Eastern Pacific Shipping, owned by Israeli tycoon Idan Ofer. The incident caused damage to the ship, but no one was injured. According to Western and Israeli officials, the attack was allegedly carried out from an IRGC base in the southeastern Iranian city of Chambahar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Iranian drone threat could be multiplied in terms of scale when combined with an aircraft carrier, allowing the IRGC to strike anywhere at any time. As the ongoing war in Ukraine has shown, Iran could fill the skies of rival nations with swarms of UAVs to overwhelm their air defense systems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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