IRGC-N Shahid Mahdavi
In March 2023, the IRGC's Navy received the Shahid Mahdavi warship, a unique vessel based on the conversion of a 240-meter-long cargo vessel. The ship was expected to serve the purpose of hosting small speedboats, helicopters, and unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as defensive weapons. The Shahid Mahdavi vessel provided the IRGC with a floating base, from which it could deploy several naval or aerial vehicles near the contentious Strait of Hormuz, which had been seeing increased US militarization.
However, the IRGC's engineers surprised the world yet again, by installing missile launchers, derived from shipping containers, on the ship's deck. These silos house medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs), from the Zulfiqar class, dubbed Dezful. The containers can reportedly host missiles other than the Dezful-type missiles, which are capable of precisely hitting targets located up to 1,000 km from the point of launch.
This new addition to the arsenal of the IRGC allows them greater options in selecting their method of targeting stationary targets, such as military facilities hundreds of kilometers away, from a naval mobile platform. The oceangoing warship is equipped with a three-dimensional phased array radar, sea-to-sea and sea-to-air missiles, and sophisticated telecommunication systems for electronic warfare. The Shahid Mahdavi is capable of carrying various types of attack helicopters, combat drones as well as fast attack craft.
In February 2024, the IRGC Navy launched two ballistic missiles from inside two containers on board the warship. Iran IRGCN on 13 February 2024 simulated a strike on a major Israeli airbase, making a show of its naval capabilities in Exercise Great Prophet 18. IRGC commander-in-chief Hossein Salami said the force for the first time has succeeded in launching long-range ballistic missiles from a warship. “This new achievement increases the range of our naval influence and power to any desired location because our ocean-traversing warships can be at any point in the oceans,” he said. “There will be no safe place for any power that wants to create insecurity for us.”
Footage carried by state television showed two long-range ballistic missiles being launched from the Shahid Mahdavi, a multi-purpose warship capable of carrying a variety of missiles, drones and radar systems. The missiles, which have a claimed range of at least 1,700km (1,050 miles), were reportedly launched from somewhere in the Sea of Oman and hit targets in a desert in central Iran.
H.I. Sutton is the military ship expert who first identified the ship near Bandar Abbas. New Iranian IRGC-N vessel, Shahid Mahdavi looked to be a 36,000-ton, 240 meter [ 800 feet] long, 27 meter wide conversion of the cargo vessel Sarvin. The choice of the name for the Guard's newest ship — Shahid Mahdavi, or Martyr Mahdavi — comes from Nader Mahdavi, an Iranian guardsman killed by the U.S. Navy in 1987 during the "Tanker War." America's killing of Mahdavi, which came after his forces opened fire on U.S. special forces helicopters, still resonates in Iran today.
On 31 May 2023, Hamshahri Online published a photo of the "Shahid Mahdavi" hull and wrote that its construction is nearing its final days. In these reports, this vessel was mentioned as a "support" vessel, which has been converted from a "bulk carrier" to a military logistics vessel, and with its launch, the Navy will be able to "perform distant missions". Based on the previous pictures of the ship, which has a similar curve to its body, it seems that the Shahid Mahdavi hull is the result of the reconstruction of an Iranian cargo ship called "Servin" that arrived in Bandar Abbas at the end of July 2022. And then he turned off his trackers. By January 29, satellite photos from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by the AP showed the vessel at drydock at Shahid Darvishi Marine Industries, a company associated with Iran's Defense Ministry just west of Bandar Abbas.
The photos of the "Martyr Mahdavi ship" belonging to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in a floating dock at the "Iran Offshore Shipbuilding and Industries Complex" in Bandar Abbas near the Strait of Hormuz. The Shahid Mahdavi ship has been floating in this dock since at least 2022 and has been transformed from a commercial ship into an aircraft carrier that can accommodate drones and unmanned helicopters. In the new picture, the deck of this merchant ship has been removed to install the landing deck.
The domestically-developed oceangoing warship operated by Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy crossed the line of zero degrees latitude, the Equator, and sailed into the Southern Hemisphere. The Shahid Mahdavi, which is a multipurpose vessel designed for long-range operations, registered the achievement on Friday 03 May 2024 as Iran's naval forces are expanding their presence in the international waters and high seas.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
