Iran Flexes Its Anti-Ship Muscles with New Naval Drone
Iran is the weakest it has been geopolitically since 2003. Yet it still has capabilities that could threaten U.S. carrier groups passing through waters they claim as their own.
The Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier strike group is currently patrolling the Middle East. The carrier strike group is there to deter further aggression from the ailing Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as likely to show strength in the region at a time when the Trump administration is making controversial and bold claims about “owning” Gaza Strip. During such times of uncertainty, the Americans are likely to send messages of strength when the entire region seems to be aligning against them.
The Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have been terrorizing the waters around the Red Sea for the last three years. And it hasn’t just been international shipping transiting through the Red Sea and the Bab El-Mandeb strait. The Houthis have been posing increasing levels of threat to America’s expensive aircraft carriers that have been operating near their shores.
Iranian Capabilities
But the Houthis are not the greatest regional risk to America’s vaunted flat tops. The Houthis’ backers, the Islamic Republic of Iran, poses a much larger threat to U.S. Navy surface warships than the Houthis ever could. There are a handful of advanced anti-ship weapons systems in Iran that could immediately deny the Americans access to the critical Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s primary oil chokepoints. U.S. warships routinely patrol this waterway to ensure that Iran does not obstruct it. Meanwhile, Iran has been training to block the waterway for decades.
Their anti-ship ballistic missiles might do the trick. Writing back in 2022 in these pages, Sebastien Roblin described the Khalij Fars. That system is very similar to China’s DF-21’s, albeit smaller than the Chinese system. According to Roblin, the Khalij Fars is “one-quarter the DF-21’s range at 190 to 220 miles, and relatedly doesn’t fly as high or fast, with a lower maximum speed of Mach 3 as it plunges toward its target.” In Roblin’s estimation, this slower speed and shorter range would make it easier for an American carrier group to intercept.
Then again, the U.S. Navy’s forces have struggled to protect themselves from the less advanced Houthi anti-ship missiles that are routinely popped off from Yemen at U.S. Navy surface warships.
Khalij Fars (meaning “Persian Gulf” in Farsi) possesses an electro-optical/infrared seeker that guides the weapon to the target. Attached to the missile is a 1,433-pound warhead. The two bodies of water where the Khalij Fars would likely be deployed against U.S. Navy warships would be in the Persian Gulf or the aforementioned Strait of Hormuz. In both cases, the waterways in question are narrow, making maneuverability difficult for the Navy warships. What’s more, the Iranians could saturate the defensive systems of the carrier strike group, doing much damage to the iconic American flat top.
There are several other systems that complement the Khalij Fars, such as the Soumar and Hoveizeh cruise missiles. The former has a range of 1,800 miles and the latter can travel around 839 miles. The Hoveizeh, while shorter range than the Soumar, is more accurate. Indeed, the Soumar is derived from the Russian Kh-55. In 2005, the Russians admitted that a dozen of these systems were sold to Iran illegally (though “legality” is a fungible concept for the Kremlin), and it is likely that the Iranians reverse-engineered the Soumar from the Kh-55, a highly accurate—even nuclear capable—system.
Iran’s Nightmare Drone
Iran’s military recently revealed the world’s first underwater-launched suicide drone that, according to Iranian propaganda, can be guided to its target by artificial intelligence (AI). The ability to deploy this system from beneath the waves is key. It gives the Iranians the element of surprise and makes the drone very difficult to intercept.
There are concerns that the Iranians could choose to deploy this system in the already crowded and chaotic Persian Gulf, which could complicate international shipping even more—especially if the Houthis begin lobbing missiles into other key global maritime chokepoints nearby.
All these developments mean that Iran has the potential to seriously threaten the U.S. aircraft carrier battle group with the various anti-ship systems they’ve arrayed.
Of course, the aircraft carrier group has countermeasures. But the issue remains maneuverability in tight quarters and the defenses for that carrier group being overwhelmed by swarming tactics.
The Pentagon’s New Path
Already, the Houthis have demonstrated that they can get their missiles within 200 meters (656 feet) of a U.S. aircraft carrier. And the Houthis, as noted above, are nowhere near as advanced as Iran is with anti-ship capabilities.
Iran is the weakest it has been geopolitically since 2003. Yet it still has capabilities that could threaten U.S. carrier groups passing through waters they claim as their own. Rather than risking a carrier group, the Trump administration should instead deploy submarines with cruise missiles onboard into the waters near Iran.
The Pentagon must develop new methods and capabilities to overcome these anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) strategies of America’s enemies unless it wants to see some of its most expensive and iconic warships sunk or damaged by those systems.
About the Author: Brandon J. Weichert
Brandon J. Weichert, a Senior National Security Editor at The National Interest as well as a Senior Fellow at the Center for the National Interest, and a contributor at Popular Mechanics, consults regularly with various government institutions and private organizations on geopolitical issues. Weichert’s writings have appeared in multiple publications, including the Washington Times, National Review, The American Spectator, MSN, the Asia Times, and countless others. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine is available for purchase wherever books are sold. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
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