Iran Launched New Destroyer
The Iranian announcements of the new destroyer and mini-submarines are likely intended to boost Iran’s military image amid rising tensions with the United States
Dr. Shaul Shay
| 09/12/2018
The new Sahand destroyer in Bandar Abbas, Iran (Photo: AP)
Iran has been furious over US President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out the nuclear agreement and re-impose sanctions on Tehran. In August, the US military’s Central Command confirmed it had seen increased Iranian naval activity, extending to the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway for oil shipments the Revolutionary Guards have threatened to block.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said late November that Iran should increase its military capability and readiness to ward off enemies, in a meeting with Iranian navy commanders.
On the background of the growing tension with the US and its allies in the Middle East, Iran launched in November-December 2018, new locally-produced destroyer and mini-submarines.
The Sahand Destroyer
On December 1, 2018, Iran launched a domestically built destroyer named Sahand. The launch ceremony, held at the southern port of Bandar Abbas, was attended by Iran's Army Commander Maj. Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, Navy Commander Rear Adm. Hossein Khanzadi, and other high-ranking military commanders.
The 1,300-ton vessel is 96 meters long and can cruise at 25 knots and has radar-evading stealth capabilities. The Sahand is equipped with the standard 76 mm gun, two triple launchers for lightweight torpedoes, 20 mm GAM-BO1 guns, four anti-ship missiles – either Nour (C-802) or the longer-range Ghadir version, Iran's Merhad derivative of the SM-1 surface-to-air missiles, as well as sophisticated radar and radar-evading capabilities. The Sahand has a helicopter landing deck, and the vessel is capable of traveling some five months without refueling.
“This vessel is the result of daring and creative design relying on the local technical knowledge of the Iranian Navy ... and has been built with stealth capabilities,” Rear Adm. Alireza Sheikhi, head of the navy shipyards that built the destroyer, told the state news agency IRNA.
Iran has developed a large domestic arms industry in the face of international sanctions and embargoes that have barred it from importing many weapons. The Shi’ite country is reportedly producing its own jet fighters, tanks, missiles, and light submarines and ships.
Iran has so far launched different domestically-built ships as part of a broad project known as Mowj (wave) to revamp its navy equipment which dates from before the 1979 Islamic revolution. However, the Sahand is a new version of the Alvand-class light frigates that were built in the UK for Iran in the 1960s.
The two ships previously produced under the Mowj project were Jamaran and Damavand. Iran added the first domestically made destroyer to its fleet in 2010 in the Persian Gulf.
Mini-Submarines
On November 27, 2018, Iran’s navy announced the acquisition of two Ghadir-class diesel-electric mini-submarines (Ghadir-955 and Ghadir-942) designed for operation in shallow waters such as the Persian Gulf. The submarines have sonar-evading technology and can launch missiles from underwater, as well as fire torpedoes and drop naval mines.
The launch ceremony was attended by Navy Commander Rear Adm. Hossein Khanzadi and Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps’ Navy, Rear Adm. Ali Reza Tangsiri.
While Iran does not disclose the total number of submarines in its fleet, it is believed to have some 12 light and three Russian-made submarines. Iran has so far launched different classes of domestically-built advanced submarines including the Ghadir. Iran began producing the Ghadir-class subs around 2005.
Summary
Tensions between Washington and Tehran are growing over renewed Trump administration sanctions on the country, Iranian-backed groups in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen, and Iran’s latest ballistic missile tests.
The Iranian announcements of the new destroyer and mini-submarines are likely intended to boost Iran’s military image amid rising tensions with the United States. Senior Iranian officials have said that if Iran is not allowed to export, then no other countries will be allowed to export oil through the Strait of Hormuz.
Unable to import many weapons because of international sanctions and arms embargoes, Iran has developed a large domestic weapons industry to achieve self-sufficiency in producing military equipment and often reports on its development of arms which it says are comparable with advanced Western systems.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Iran should increase its military capability and readiness to ward off enemies, in a meeting with Iranian navy commanders. Khamenei praised as “great and fabulous” the advances that Iranian military forces, and the Navy in particular, have made since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979. The Supreme Leader said the Navy’s success in bringing into service homegrown vessels such as the Sahand destroyer or Fateh and Ghadir submarines heralds more progress day after day.
Few days after the Iranian announcements of the new destroyer and mini-submarines, the USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier strike group arrived at the Middle East to exhibit a show of force against Iran. The Stennis is scheduled to remain in the region for about two months, spending most of that time in the Persian Gulf.
[Sources: Arab News, Al Jazeera, Tasnim, Jane's, AP, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times]
The Iranian announcements of the new destroyer and mini-submarines are likely intended to boost Iran’s military image amid rising tensions with the United States
The new Sahand destroyer in Bandar Abbas, Iran (Photo: AP)
Iran has been furious over US President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out the nuclear agreement and re-impose sanctions on Tehran. In August, the US military’s Central Command confirmed it had seen increased Iranian naval activity, extending to the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway for oil shipments the Revolutionary Guards have threatened to block.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said late November that Iran should increase its military capability and readiness to ward off enemies, in a meeting with Iranian navy commanders.
On the background of the growing tension with the US and its allies in the Middle East, Iran launched in November-December 2018, new locally-produced destroyer and mini-submarines.
The Sahand Destroyer
On December 1, 2018, Iran launched a domestically built destroyer named Sahand. The launch ceremony, held at the southern port of Bandar Abbas, was attended by Iran's Army Commander Maj. Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, Navy Commander Rear Adm. Hossein Khanzadi, and other high-ranking military commanders.
The 1,300-ton vessel is 96 meters long and can cruise at 25 knots and has radar-evading stealth capabilities. The Sahand is equipped with the standard 76 mm gun, two triple launchers for lightweight torpedoes, 20 mm GAM-BO1 guns, four anti-ship missiles – either Nour (C-802) or the longer-range Ghadir version, Iran's Merhad derivative of the SM-1 surface-to-air missiles, as well as sophisticated radar and radar-evading capabilities. The Sahand has a helicopter landing deck, and the vessel is capable of traveling some five months without refueling.
“This vessel is the result of daring and creative design relying on the local technical knowledge of the Iranian Navy ... and has been built with stealth capabilities,” Rear Adm. Alireza Sheikhi, head of the navy shipyards that built the destroyer, told the state news agency IRNA.
Iran has developed a large domestic arms industry in the face of international sanctions and embargoes that have barred it from importing many weapons. The Shi’ite country is reportedly producing its own jet fighters, tanks, missiles, and light submarines and ships.
Iran has so far launched different domestically-built ships as part of a broad project known as Mowj (wave) to revamp its navy equipment which dates from before the 1979 Islamic revolution. However, the Sahand is a new version of the Alvand-class light frigates that were built in the UK for Iran in the 1960s.
The two ships previously produced under the Mowj project were Jamaran and Damavand. Iran added the first domestically made destroyer to its fleet in 2010 in the Persian Gulf.
Mini-Submarines
On November 27, 2018, Iran’s navy announced the acquisition of two Ghadir-class diesel-electric mini-submarines (Ghadir-955 and Ghadir-942) designed for operation in shallow waters such as the Persian Gulf. The submarines have sonar-evading technology and can launch missiles from underwater, as well as fire torpedoes and drop naval mines.
The launch ceremony was attended by Navy Commander Rear Adm. Hossein Khanzadi and Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps’ Navy, Rear Adm. Ali Reza Tangsiri.
While Iran does not disclose the total number of submarines in its fleet, it is believed to have some 12 light and three Russian-made submarines. Iran has so far launched different classes of domestically-built advanced submarines including the Ghadir. Iran began producing the Ghadir-class subs around 2005.
Summary
Tensions between Washington and Tehran are growing over renewed Trump administration sanctions on the country, Iranian-backed groups in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen, and Iran’s latest ballistic missile tests.
The Iranian announcements of the new destroyer and mini-submarines are likely intended to boost Iran’s military image amid rising tensions with the United States. Senior Iranian officials have said that if Iran is not allowed to export, then no other countries will be allowed to export oil through the Strait of Hormuz.
Unable to import many weapons because of international sanctions and arms embargoes, Iran has developed a large domestic weapons industry to achieve self-sufficiency in producing military equipment and often reports on its development of arms which it says are comparable with advanced Western systems.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Iran should increase its military capability and readiness to ward off enemies, in a meeting with Iranian navy commanders. Khamenei praised as “great and fabulous” the advances that Iranian military forces, and the Navy in particular, have made since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979. The Supreme Leader said the Navy’s success in bringing into service homegrown vessels such as the Sahand destroyer or Fateh and Ghadir submarines heralds more progress day after day.
Few days after the Iranian announcements of the new destroyer and mini-submarines, the USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier strike group arrived at the Middle East to exhibit a show of force against Iran. The Stennis is scheduled to remain in the region for about two months, spending most of that time in the Persian Gulf.
[Sources: Arab News, Al Jazeera, Tasnim, Jane's, AP, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times]
