IRGC-N Shahid Mahdavi - Design
An arsenal ship is a concept for a large, heavily armed naval vessel designed primarily to carry and launch a large number of missiles. The idea behind the arsenal ship is to provide a mobile platform capable of delivering overwhelming firepower in support of naval and ground operations. The defining characteristic of an arsenal ship is its capacity to carry hundreds of missiles. To reduce costs and vulnerability, an arsenal ship would typically be operated by a relatively small crew, The primary role of an arsenal ship is to provide massive fire support. It acts as a floating missile battery capable of delivering precision strikes. An arsenal ship can project power over long distances, delivering strikes from international waters without the need to rely on land-based missile systems. An arsenal ship would be integrated into a broader network of forces, receiving targeting data and launch orders from command and control centers or other ships.
The arsenal ship concept was heavily studied by the U.S. Navy in the 1990s as part of efforts to enhance naval firepower in the post-Cold War era. However, the project was not pursued to full-scale development due to cost concerns and shifting strategic priorities. While no full-fledged arsenal ships have been built, modern naval vessels, such as guided missile destroyers and cruisers, incorporate elements of the arsenal ship concept by carrying large numbers of vertical launch systems (VLS) for missile deployment.
SARVIN (IMO: 9209348) is a Container Ship that was built in 2000 and is sailing under the flag of Iran. It’s carrying capacity is 3280 TEU and her current draught is reported to be 7.7 meters. Her length overall (LOA) is 240.2 meters [788 feet] and her width is 32.2 meters [106 feet]. Her Gross Tonnage is 36,014 tons, with a Summer DWT: 41,971 tons.
Shahid Mahdavi retained original deck for mounting shipping containers. Indicates this will be a multi-mission ship, with different modules and armament able to be added quickly and easily. Initially, Iranian shipping container missiles weren Fath/Fateh-class short-range ballistic missiles, and foreign concepts (incl. RU/CH/US) have toyed with different potential uses for this concept. The ship itself can operate helicopters, catapult-launched UAVs, and fast boats. For self-defence it has 20mm + 23mm AA guns and 4x 200-300km range Ghader/Ghadir anti-ship missiles.
Container ships are marine vessels (cargo ships) that are designed and constructed for storing and transporting shipping containers (intermodal containers). Typically, container ships carry all of their load in truck-size intermodal containers. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal freight transport and now carry most seagoing non-bulk cargo. Container ship capacity is measured in 20-foot equivalent units (TEU). Typical loads are a mix of 20-foot and 40-foot (2-TEU) ISO-standard containers, with the latter predominant.
Shipping containers are stowed in the cargo holds in the hull, i.e. below the main deck, and above the main deck of a container ship. In the longitudinal direction of the container ship storage space is divided into container bays, in the transverse direction of the hull the storage space is divided in a number of rows, and in the vertical direction the storage space is divided in a number of horizontal container layers called tiers. The shipping containers are stowed as high as possible with some container ships operating with up to ten or eleven tiers above the main deck.
Container ships are provided with a deckhouse housing the navigation bridge and accommodation. The deckhouse is conventionally arranged towards the stern of the ship, immediately above the main engine room (single island design), with most of the cargo holds arranged in front of the deckhouse and the remaining holds aft of the deckhouse. The deckhouse provides for a significant part of the torsional strength of the hull when it is placed in the conventional location above the engine room or approximately amidships.
In order to maintain good forward visibility from the navigational bridge, necessary to comply with maritime regulations, there is a limitation as to how high shipping containers can be stowed in front of the deckhouse/bridge, i.e. how many tiers of shipping containers can be carried by the ship above the main deck on the most forward bays in front of the deckhouse.
Since it is an offensive weapon, a missile launcher is likely to be targeted by enemy combatants. If one of the missiles in a multi-cell missile launcher is hit by an enemy strike, it is possible that the missile will explode. The explosion of one of the missiles within a multi-cell missile launcher can trigger a chain reaction in which another missile within the launcher also explodes. While a ship, especially a larger one, might be able to withstand a strike from a single missile, the detonation of multiple missiles within a multi-cell missile launcher can destroy a ship.
A vertical launching system (VLS) consists of a number of cells for holding and firing missiles on surface ships and submarines used by many navies around the world. Typically, each cell can hold a number of different types of missiles, enabling the ship flexibility to load an appropriate set for a given mission and to enable replacement of earlier missiles with upgrades without expensive rework. When the command is given, the missile flies straight up long enough to clear the cell and the ship, and then turns on course. The most popular VLS system in the world is the MK 41, being used by eleven navies around the world.
Weapon fratricide represents a long-standing safety concern for weapon systems. Fratricide is defined as an attack on friendly forces by other friendly forces. Calculating the probability of fratricide has proven to be technically challenging. Manual resources devoted, to these efforts yield limited results due to their time-consuming nature and the simplifying assumptions necessary to render the mathematical calculations tractable on a reasonable scale.
To decrease the likelihood of a chain reaction, each individual cell in a multi-cell missile launcher is usually armored with an “anti-fratricide shield.” Conventional anti-fratricide shields are typically metal plates or sandwich panels that are located between missiles. As such, they add weight and expense and consume valuable space in the launcher.
Shahid Mahdavi configured as an arsenal ship would face similar concerns. But the walls of the launch containers could be reinforced with an anti-fratricide shield in the area of the missile warhead. Since the missiles are emplaced on the weather deck of the ship, a chain reaction detonation of several missiles would damage those missiles, but would be unlikely to inflict much damage on the ship itself. In any event, the concept of operations would be to win the battle of the first salvo, s the theory owuld be that the Iranian missiles would be launched before the target aircraft carrier can attack the IRGCN vessel.
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