Seeing the performance of its combat drones in Ukraine and Yemen, seems to have increased Iran's confidence to further explore the use of drones, one of which is the deployment of combat drones (UCAV) and kamikaze drones (loitering munitions) from warships. As recent news reveals that the Iranian military is building drone carriers.
Just as when realizing the IRINS Makran 441, namely the largest multipurpose aircraft carrier operated by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the drone mother ship also comes from the conversion of a former civilian container ship.
Reported by USNI (US Naval Institute) News contributor H I Sutton, a drone carrier is being built from a former container ship. This is known from the analysis of satellite photos. In more detail, the figure of the drone carrier is IRIS Shahid Mahdavi, which is known to be working on its conversion at the Iran Shipbuilding & Offshore Industries Complex Co (ISOICO) in Bandar Abbas near the Strait of Hormuz.
Shahid Mahdavi is known to have been in dry dock, at least since May 2022, namely in the phase of undergoing conversion from a merchant ship to a warship. And recent photos indicate that the container ship's deck has been removed, and is now fitted with a sort of launch pad deck.
The fact that the superstructure extends from the original deck means that a conventional carrier layout is out of the question on the Shahid Mahdavi. Then, the angle on the auxiliary flight deck is also uncharacteristic of the aircraft carrier we know.
It is suspected that the flight deck will be made to extend obliquely from the front of the bridge to the front of the superstructure.
Iranian media have talked about the ship's existence to house drones in enhancing Iran's long-range strike capabilities. Modeled on the US Expeditionary Sea Base, the Iranian Navy and Iranian Revolutionary Guard have converted merchant ships that Iran cannot deploy due to international sanctions.
IRIS Shahid Mahdavi was formerly MV Savin. The Iranian-flagged container ships were previously named Sarita, Dandle, Twelfth Ocean and Iran Esfahan. This ship was built in 2000, with an overall length of 240.2 meters and a width of 32.2 meters.
IRIS Shahid Mahdavi has relatively the same length as IRIS Makran 441 - Iran's largest sea bas, but in terms of tonnage, IRINS Makran 441 is still the champion in the floating base segment, where the weight of IRIS Makran 441, a former tanker, reaches 106,000 tons. Meanwhile, IRIS Shahid Mahdavi weighs 'only' 41,971 tons.
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