Israel’s Nightmare: Iran Now Has a ‘Drone Aircraft Carrier’
Iran’s deployment of a new drone carrier should be seen as the first in a series of steps forward for its navy.
Earlier this month, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) achieved a major milestone and increased its naval capabilities when it accepted delivery of its first drone and helicopter carrier featuring a traditional flight deck. Last Thursday, the IRGC officially commissioned the Shahid Bahman Bagheri (C110-4) at a ceremony in the port city of Bandar Abbas.
While far from as capable as even the United States Navy’s aircraft carriers built before the Second World War, it is a notable leap forward for the Islamic Republic. Named for Shahid (martyr) Bahman Bagheri – an IRGC officer who was killed during the Iran-Iraq War – the vessel isn’t actually a purpose-built carrier but rather a converted container ship. It follows the launch of the Shahid Mahdavi (110-3), another transport vessel converted to a de facto carrier.
The newer flattop is equipped with a flight deck that is “partially cantilevered over its port side and a ‘ski-jump’ ramp to help fixed-wing aircraft take off,” international military analyst firm Janes reported.
Iran Built the Carrier Domestically
It should be noted that Tehran is essentially following the lead of the U.S., UK, and Japan in the years after the First World War, when other vessels were converted into carriers.
The USS Langley (CV-1/AV-3) was converted in 1920 from the collier (coal transport ship) USS Jupiter (Navy Fleet Collier No. 3), while it wasn’t until the arrival of the Royal Navy’s HMS Hermes and the Imperial Japan Navy’s Hōshō that truly “purpose-built” carriers arrived on the scene.
By contrast, in the Cold War, countries like India and China jumpstarted their carrier programs by purchasing retired flattops from other nations. Only in the past decade or so have Beijing and New Delhi domestically built their own respective carriers. Even then, the capabilities of those warships lag behind that of the U.S. Navy’s nuclear-powered Nimitz and Gerald R. Ford classes.
Yet, the more important point is that Tehran didn’t spend billions of dollars either, yet, the new vessel can still be employed to launch Iran’s domestically produced unmanned aerial systems (UAS). Drones and other unmanned systems are areas where the Middle Eastern nation has made significant, and likely worrisome, progress.
Video of the carrier launching and recovering drones has been shared on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
The U.S. and Israel Are Right to Worry
The fact that the IRGC has any warships of any size that can launch aircraft should be seen as a serious concern, given that it will enable Tehran to rattle its saber throughout the region and beyond. It is also a huge propaganda win for the Islamic Republic and its regional allies and proxies.
The Middle Eastern theocracy began its military self-sufficiency plan more than three decades ago, and it has sought to domestically produce submarines, jet fighters, tanks, missiles, and drones.
“An operational range of 22,000 nautical miles enables the carrier to conduct missions for a whole year in distant waters without the need to refuel,” said Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri at last week’s ceremony, according to a report from Naval News. “The addition of this vessel to the IRGC Navy fleet marks a significant step in enhancing Iran’s defense and deterrence capabilities in distant waters, while also contributing to the protection of the country’s national interests.”
It is unclear if the capabilities are exaggerated, but as Brandon J. Weichert wrote for The National Interest last month, Tehran has converted a container ship into a drone carrier and “enhanced their naval power projection significantly on the cheap.”
Iran could deploy the vessel relatively far from its shores and potentially disrupt commercial shipping in the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea, the Strait of Hormuz, the Strait of Bab El-Mandeb, the Red Sea, and perhaps even further into the Indo-Pacific. This should be seen as the first in a series of steps forward for Iran, not the last or only step in that direction.
An Imitation Carrier, Not a Real One
At the same time, Shahid Bahman Bagheri still isn’t a true carrier—nor does the IRGC have the other assets to form anything close to a carrier strike group (CSG).
As Weichert further emphasized, “There are, of course, downsides to this jerry-rigged vessel. While it is insanely cheap and gives the Iranian Armed Forces significant capabilities boost, the vessel was not originally designed as a military ship. Therefore, there are inherent limitations to the ship. This is especially true in light of Iran’s serious lack of protective escorts for the drone carrier.”
The airwing of the Shahid Bahman Bagheri should be seen as limited. The carrier also lacks destroyers, submarines, and other vessels to screen for an adversary.
“This ship is relatively easy to spot and track for most modern intelligence agencies. So, its threat is likely still limited,” added Weichert. “Where Shahid Bagheri can do the most amount of damage is in the waters surrounding the Middle East. If, however, Tehran gets it in its head that this boat can be used to project military power across distances, such as the Atlantic Ocean, they would find whatever advantages the ship gave their navy utterly negated.”
Still, foresight is inherently difficult. Few Western observers took the threat from the IJN Hōshō seriously, but December 7, 1941, changed the view of carriers forever. In other words, the U.S. shouldn’t hit the snooze button, and instead should heed this as a wake-up call warning of a very real and growing threat. It isn’t just the Shahid Bagheri that is the major concern; it is what comes next, too.
About the Author: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: [email protected].
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