Shahid Roudaki (Persian: شهید رودکی) is a warship operated by the Navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran that is capable of carrying aircraft, missile launchers and drones.
History
Shahid Roudaki was commissioned into service on 19 November 2020 in a ceremony attended by Major General Hossein Salami and Commander Alireza Tangsiri, commanders of the IRGC and its naval forces respectively.[1] In line with the naming convention of the IRGC she is named after Vice-admiral Abdullah Roudaki, a martyr (Shahid) and commander of the IRGCN who was assassinated.[2]
Previous service
Jeremy Binnie of Jane's Defence Weekly stated that it is likely that she is the former Galaxy F, an Italian-built cargo ship launched in 1992.[3] H. I. Sutton maintains that "we cannot say for certain, at this stage, that it is her. But Galaxy F is a strong candidate and even if not, the design is essentially identical".[4]
Following such reports, the Italian MP Antonio Zennaro (a member of the Parliamentary Committee for the Security of the Republic) filed a formal interrogation addressing the Italian government, asking it to verify if Shahid Roudaki really was Galaxy F and—if that were the case—if the ship had been sold to the Iranians in contravention to international sanctions against dual-use technology.[5][6]
Description
Chinese news agency Xinhua has described Shahid Roudaki as a light fleet carrier.[7] Thomas Newdick opines that it is a former roll-on/roll-off ship modified for military purposes, and compares it to the MV Ocean Trader or a much smaller version of the Expeditionary Mobile Base concept.[2]
She displaces 12,000 tonnes and is 150 m (492 ft 2 in) long, with a beam of 22 m (72 ft 2 in), according to a statement released by public relations office of the IRGC.[7]
Armament
It is equipped with one 23 mm (0.91 in) anti-aircraft gun and several heavy machine guns.[8] The vessel is capable of carrying helicopters and multiple armament on her deck, including drones and missiles.[9] She is equipped with 3D phased-array radar, anti-ship missiles and electronic warfare systems.[7] The vessel functions as a mothership to smaller vessels, as well as a platform for launching unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).[7] In the footage of commissioning ceremony, a Bell 412 helicopter, four speedboats, six Ababil-2 drones, a Sevom Khordad TELAR and eight anti-ship cruise missiles in four twin container launchers (possibly of Ghader or Ghadir type) were spotted on her deck.[2] According to H. I. Sutton, it would be unlikely for the IRGC to use the ship with such a formation of equipment in future operations because they were showcasing the asymmetrical roles and potential capability of Shahid Roudaki in the commissioning ceremony.[8]
Shahid Roudaki along with the similar Shahid Mahdavi mothership are able to be armed with Fateh-class ballistic missile containers such as Dezful.[10]
References
- ^ Hafezi, Parisa; Barrington, Lisa (19 November 2020), Mark Heinrich (ed.), "Iran's Guards launch aircraft carrier-scale warship amid tensions with U.S. - TV", Reuters, retrieved 19 November 2020
- ^ a b c Newdick, Thomas (19 November 2020), "Iran Unveils Its New Sea Base Warship That Looks Like A Floating Arms Bazaar", The Drive, retrieved 19 November 2020
- ^ Frantzman, Seth J. (21 November 2020), "Iran has a new warship packed with drones and missiles", The Jerusalem Post, retrieved 21 November 2020
- ^ Sutton, H.I. (21 November 2020), "Iranian IRGC Forward Base Shahid Roudaki", Covert Shores, retrieved 21 November 2020
- ^ "The mystery of the Iranian warship that was an Italian cargo". Formiche.net. 2020-11-27. Retrieved 2020-11-29.
- ^ "Di Maio e Conte, l'interrogazione sulla nave italiana finita alla Marina militare iraniana: servizi segreti in allerta (Di Maio and Conte, the interrogation on the Italian ship that ended up in the Iranian Navy: secret services on alert)". Libero Quotidiano (in Italian). Milan. 2 December 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
- ^ a b c d "Iran's IRGC navy commissions new multifunctional warship", Xinhua, 19 November 2020, retrieved 19 November 2020
- ^ a b Sutton, H.I. (19 November 2020), "VIDEO: Iran Inducts New Special Operations Ship", USNI News, retrieved 19 November 2020
- ^ Sykes, Patrick (19 November 2020), "Iran Aims for Naval Presence Beyond Persian Gulf With New Ship", Bloomberg, retrieved 19 November 2020
- ^ "IRGC Warship Fires Long-Range Ballistic Missile - Politics news". Tasnim News Agency. Retrieved 2024-02-14.