Iran to unveil locally-made UAV-carrier warship

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
24 Feb 13:13

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps Navy Commander announces that the Shahid Bahman Bagheri warship can carry about 30 Ashura-class destroyers.

IRGC Navy Commander Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri (MEHR)

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) will soon unveil the Shahid Bahman Bagheri warship, announced Navy commander, Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, while speaking to Iran’s national TV,

The warship, which is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) carrier, will include a runway of 180 meters in length on which the light aircraft land on wheels, in addition to "about 30 Ashura-class destroyers" carried in "the lower part of the Shahid Bagheri carrier."

Tangsiri said, "In the near future, we will add Shahid Soleimani 2 under the name of Shahid Bahman Bagheri, which was designed and produced locally by our youth, to the IRGC Navy's combat organization in the IRGC's 2nd maritime District [in the Gulf]."

According to the commander, these warships "are invisible to radars" and can withstand challenging circumstances as "their resilience is very high." Furthermore, Tangsiri noted that the missiles, which the vessel will utilize, "are also being manufactured locally inside the country."

New military vessels added to Iranian fleet

When the Admiral referenced the features of the Martyr Soleimani vessel, he said, "This vessel is the first vessel built by the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is equipped with 12 Nawab defense missiles and can easily go from Chabahar to India with an operational range of 5,000 miles."

The IRGC Navy commander also announced, "We will introduce 90 destroyers into our combat organization in the first weeks of the Month Esfand (started on February 5)."

Moreover, Tangsiri revealed that the IRGC "will also officially introduce the Shahid Mahdavi vessel with a speed of 18 knots into the IRGC naval combat organization in the near future" and explained that "Shahid Mahdavi is equipped with 4 missiles with a range of 750 and 300 km, and three helicopters can land and take off on its deck."