Serpentine
INT'L MOD
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Shipbuilding is a parent industry. Its products are the extract of all of the technological achievements and national talents of a nation. A host of exclusive and expensive cutting-edge technologies are used to build a destroyer — some of them may be used only once and only on one product. An expansive range of all of the military equipments that is used on the ground is reconfigured for adaptability on sea and is used on a military vessel.
Machine guns with high rates of fire, artillery guns, missile systems, all types of anti-ship and mid-range ballistic and cruise missiles, drones, torpedoes, the most advanced technologies for radars, electronics and communications, hulls and propellers, aerodynamics and hydrodynamics, pyrotechnics, technologies for welding, cutting, formwork, and sheet metal work, advanced and meticulous engineering calculations, technology, process, and services management, and a high volume of materials, hardware, and human resources at one very large facility or at separate ones come together and offer their final achievements to build the final product that is a military vessel or a submarine. An Iranian battlecruiser is the true representative of Iran’s entire defense industry.
Therefore, if a country manages to operate a meaningful naval industry, it will have exploited many of its capacities in an effective manner. Such activity will not just lead to a financial turnover, employment, and the development of novel technologies, but will also help drag super-advanced small, medium, and super-heavy shipbuilding-related and other related industries out of inactivity. And all of that will be in addition to the boosting of the country’s defense power.
At present, Iran’s Navy does not fare favorably in technological terms and in terms of the quantity of large vessels such as frigates and corvettes that it deploys. The coasts of the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, stretching past 1,400 kilometers, are protected with a fleet of boats with missile-launchers, frigates, and small submarines in addition to on-shore security measures. In the event of a full-scale war, those forces would not be able to break a maritime embargo deep into the Sea of Oman or to protect shipping and maritime borders for a sustained period. The defensive and offensive capabilities of the Mowj-class vessels, which are the spearheads of the Iranian Navy, do not match the threats and necessities of the near future, or perhaps even those of the present. None of them would survive in an off-shore battle without aerial or on-shore covering fire. That is not because of weaknesses in them, or in the Air Force, or because there is no suitable technology to defend them; rather, it is because of the weaknesses in their old designs, which go back to the 1970s. Because of its lack of experience in shipbuilding after the 1979 revolution, Iran had to use the same Vesper-class warships that had been purchased from England by the Pahlavi regime as the basis for the acquisition of knowledge in the field of battleship manufacturing. That happened because the experience, the necessary training, and the workforce were available and because the ships were interoperable with the other equipment that the Navy was in possession of from older times. Although new and updated equipment have been used on the Vesper (Mowj)-class vessels, the design of the vessels themselves does not correspond with the necessities that arise from present conditions and threats. The Islamic Republic of Iran Navy has realized that and has taken very important steps toward revolutionizing the Navy with domestic knowhow. Iran’s defense achievements are many and are varied.
Iran’s air defenses now display real advances that have been proven in real combat. The Talash (Endeavor), Bavar (Belief), and Oqab (Eagle) missile systems can all be used on the sea as well. The Cheshm-e Oqab (Eagle’s Eye) phased array radar system has been exclusively designed for application on the sea. So are the Bavar (Belief) vertically-launched missile that comes with silos designed to take less space on board a vessel, the Soomar, Hoveizeh, Ya Ali, and Mobin cruise missiles, and the new generation of anti-ship supersonic cruise missiles currently being developed. None of the Navy’s current ships are capable of exploiting the above-mentioned equipment and technologies — which are fully accessible — in terms of adequate space, weight, the propeller’s strength, and suitable accommodation capabilities.
The necessity of designing new battleships of heavy classes
Special plans are underway to that end. The Shiraz surveillance battleship, the Loqman training battleship, the Dena battleships, and the very promising Safineh trimaran project. It is worth mentioning that the first Mowj-class battleship took 12 years to design and build. But once that period was over, according to Admiral Khanzadi, the commander of the force, Iran could build a battleship in the Mowj class such as Dena within 18 to 24 months. The Dena battleship series is equipped with vertical launch systems and the latest generation of Iranian-built, advanced sea-based radars. The massive, 6,500-ton Loqman battleship (of the Persian Gulf class) is currently under construction after seven years of designing and engineering work and will be launched in four years.
The Safineh trimaran can itself be mounted with a large spectrum of other achievements, including from aerial industries (new helicopters such as Shahed, Homa, and Saba). Due to its use of 96 vertical and eight horizontal launchers, Safineh can have all defensive and offensive capabilities at the same time. Adapted versions of sea-based cruise missiles, such as Soomar, Hoveizeh, Ya Ali, and Mobin, which, in their new sea-based formats, can be used against ground targets within 450 to 1,500 kilometers of range, are among the notable options to be used on those launchers. The Sayyad-3, Sayyad-4, and Bavar 373 missiles can be used in defensive operations in support of the battleships and to ward off aerial threats in ranges of up to over 150 kilometers. The jet-engine Sejjil and the VTOL Pelican drones are the latest achievements of Iran’s aerospace industry. In terms of electronics, avionics, and radar, the battleship will have the necessary design to use the most advanced detection and target-acquisition phased array Cheshm-e Oqab (Eagle’s Eye) radar.
With the necessary technologies that will be used to design and build new generations of Iranian battleships on a rare level and perhaps even beyond the standards of the day, Iran will not only provide the necessary advancement for the future of its Navy but will also move to provide growth and permanent employment in other related industries. As such, it will have also remarkably prepared its military for new threats, for presence in high seas, and for the due protection of Iran’s maritime borders. Security comes before economy, and a powerful navy will protect a powerful economy.
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The Navy, a contributor to growth and development of advanced industries
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