Iran Calls Off Plan to Send Warships to the Atlantic

Rise in piracy in the Gulf of Aden cited as the reason.

Just send some carpets, pistachios and caviar to US Navy servicemen , everything will be fine :)

Iranian Navy announced today that it has called off plan to deploy warships near U.S. territorial waters in the Atlantic Ocean.IRIN Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said in Tehran such changes in naval plans are routine, “considering the situation in the region.” (Fars News Agency, 13 April)

Adm. Sayyari, however, did not provide specific reasons for the change, but hinted that the “rise in piracy in the Gulf of Aden” might have prompted the decision to cancel deployment to the Atlantic.In January, Iranian navy announced that its deployed naval group, consisting of a frigate and a replenishment ship, were making a voyage to the Atlantic, with a port visit to South Africa, to demonstrate the country's ability to project power beyond the Middle East.

File photo: IRINS Sabalan (73) Alvand-class frigate (above), and IRINS Kharg (431) Kharg-class replenishment ship (below) were part of Iran’s 29th Deployed Naval Group that were to reach the Atlantic. (FNA)

Iran Is Building Mock-UP Aircraft Carrier

The New York Times reported today that Iran is building a non-functioning mock-up of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln at its Gachin shipyard, near Bandar Abbas on the Persian Gulf. Times said U.S. intelligence analysts studying satellite photos of Iranian military installations first noticed the vessel rising from the shipyard last summer. The barge-type structure has the same distinctive shape and style of the Nimitz-class carriers, as well as the Nimitz’s number 68 neatly painted in white near the bow. Mock aircraft can be seen on the flight deck.

“Based on our observations, this is not a functioning aircraft carrier; it’s a large barge built to look like an aircraft carrier,” said Cmdr. Jason Salata, a spokesman for U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. “We’re not sure what Iran hopes to gain by building this. If it is a big propaganda piece, to what end?” (The New York Times, 20 March)

Iran has previously used barges as targets for missile firings during training exercises. It was not clear when the mock-up will take its maiden voyage. Navy officials told the Times that it will presumably be shipped by rail on tracks that run through the shipyard, to its destiny in the Persian Gulf just a few hundred yards away.

Top Photo: Iran is building a mock-up of a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier in its Gachin naval shipyard, near Bandar Abbas. (Digitalglobe/The New York Times)

Iranian Navy's 'Fateh' and 'Besat' class submarines

Transport of IRIN Fateh class submarine from ISOICO new vessel shipbuilding facility

Launched IRIN Fateh class submarine

Construction ceremony for IRIN Fateh class submarine at ISOICO Shipyard

Crew station console for IRIN Fateh class submarine

 IRIN Fateh class submarine emerging from ISOICO new vessel shipbuilding facility 

Construction of IRIN Fateh class submarine within ISOICO new vessel shipbuilding facility

IRIN Besat class submarine, under construction

Astrium imagery from 27 October 2013 depicting Fateh Class at ISOICO shipyard  [IHS Jane's]

Video documentary from Iran TV 


On Sunday, the website Military.ir published the first images of the new Iranian submarine, Fateh (‘Conqueror’). The images, like the two posted here, are video stills from the official Channel 1 TV presentation, with interesting caption: Rahi Keh Amedim (‘The Path We Have Taken.’)

The Fateh, a new class of submarine, is a major milestone for the Iranian navy. It is far more capable that the previously produced Ghadir class. The Fateh is reportedly a 600-ton diesel sub, with operational diving depth of 200 meters, and range of 5,000 km. The sub’s top speed is 14 knots. It armaments include up to 12 torpedoes and marine mines.

Tracking Islamic Republic of Iran Midget submarines

U.S. has great difficulty tracking Iranian submarines: retired U.S. Navy commander

U.S. Navy Commander Christopher Harmer said that the United States has great difficulty tracking Iranian mini-submarines.   

 

Iranian mini-submarines are “a huge problem for us,” said Harmer, who served as the director of Future Operations for the U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet in Bahrain from 2008 to 2009. 

 

Any submarine weighing less than 500 tons is generally regarded as a mini-submarine. 

 

“They are a threat to us because they can disperse them throughout the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea, and it’s extremely difficult for us to track them,” he stated, adding that as a result, they can lay “in wait to execute an ambush.”  

 

The U.S. Navy is more accustomed to tracking large, Soviet-era nuclear-class submarines, something Iran knows well, Harmer added.  

 

He stated, “Looking for small subs in shallow water is much more difficult, because the acoustics are so much more difficult -- smaller makes less noise.” 

 

As a result, he added, the Iranian military “has prioritized these mini-subs and (has) gone into overdrive building them.” 

 

Five years ago, Iran had “no mini-subs,” said Harmer, who is currently a senior naval analyst at the Institute for the Study of War in Washington, adding that now Iran has 19 in service and is building an average of four per year, which is a “strategically significant” force.  

 

Iran also has “significant special operations capability,” including “extensively” trained frogmen, Harmer stated. 

 

According to U.S. military officials, while the diesel-electric powered Iranian mini-submarines have limited range, they have torpedo tubes and can quickly lay mines.