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Iran’s Shahid Bahman Bagheri drone carrier, which was delivered to the navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on February 5, represents a promising concept, despite several drawbacks.
The ship, a former container vessel, is equipped with a 180-meter runway and is able to operate without refueling for up to one year. It was described by the semi-official Tasnim news agency as the “largest naval military project” in the history of the Islamic Republic.
According to the official Islamic Republic News Agency, the ship can carry up to 60 drones. It can also hold fast-attack craft and unmanned submarines, in addition to short-range anti-ship cruise missiles.
In addition, video footage aired by Iran’s state TV revealed that Shahid Bahman Bagheri can launch and retrieve larger drones, including a miniaturized drone version of the country’s planned Qaher stealth aircraft.
The delivery of the ship came amid a series of large-scale military exercises in Iran. The exercises began last January and are set to end next March.
The Islamic Republic has been facing increasing pressure from the United States since President Donlad Trump assumed office. In addition, the threat of an Israeli attack on the Iranian nuclear program is today more serious than ever.
Converting a container vessel into a drone carrier shows the creativity of Iran’s military industrial complex, which is known for cutting corners to save time and cost. Aside from Iran, very few countries have been considering the concept, including Russia and Turkey.
Still, it is unclear if Shahid Bahman Bagheri would be of much use for Iran. The country’s main enemies, the U.S. and Israel, both possess advanced ISTAR [intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance] capabilities, which means that the movement of the fairly large vessel will likely be exposed at all times.
Furthermore, both the U.S. and Israel maintain advanced offensive means, including submarines and anti-ship cruise missiles. This means that Shahid Bahman Bagheri will be under a real threat even while operating within Iran’s territorial waters.
In a realistic combat situation, the ship will be detected while on its way to launch its drones. And even if a launch was conducted, it will likely be targeted soon after. All in all, it is hard to imagine the ship surviving in an all-out conflict with the U.S. and Israel. Still, it may perform just well in less intense scenarios, for example in a counter-terrorism operation away from Iran’s waters.
It is more realistic to look at Shahid Bahman Bagheri as a proof of concept, an idea that Iran could continue to develop until it reaches a design that is more realistic in a few years.
A scaled-down, faster ship with the capability to carry as much drone, even if smaller models, will likely be of more use for Iran. The country’s navy has already coverted some of its smaller vessels to launch suicide drones. This means that the Islamic Republic has the means to design a more combat drone carrier.
Dozens of such ships under the cover of air defense and electronic warfare, accompanying a squadron of fast missile boats, could allow Iran to dominate the Persian Gulf and launch drone attacks against targets possibly thousands of kilometers away.
While Shahid Bahman Bagheri does not pose a serious threat to U.S. and Israeli forces in the Middle East, it does serve as a warning of Iran’s ability to adapt and create new military solutions with very limited resources.
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q. was this the “mother ship” for the drones in the us drone hysteria? a. no.
it’s dumb. all ships will be sunk pretty soon in a full scale war. they’re wasting resources. and the larger the ship the bigger and easier the target.
stick with hundreds of small boats. the cheaper the better. autonomous ones still even better.
to be fair, this is literally a repurposed cargo ship. unlike a proper carrier, i imagine this thing would probably be fairly cheap to replace.
i wonder what the cost to build was. i’m surprised more countries haven’t done this. though they should remember that it’ll need support ships. namely ships with aa and missile defense systems. carriers, even cheap ones like this, are really big and juicy targets for enemy cruise missiles, and aircraft.
also, what’s going on at the back of the ship? that looks like wasted space.
any surface ship will be vulnerable including all us ships. all us ships provide rich targets for iran missiles.