How real is Iranian naval power?
In February 2010, an important event took place in the development of the naval forces (Navy) of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI). The first self-produced destroyer with guided missile weapons, which was named "Jamaran", was launched into the water. The destroyer's displacement was 1,420 tons, and its length was 94 m. The crew of the ship, capable of speeds up to 30 knots, includes up to 140 people. The ship's armament consists of a 76-mm OTO Melara automatic artillery mount, small-caliber assault rifles and two twin launchers of Noor anti-ship cruise missiles (Iranian version of the Chinese C-802 missile). The battleship has a helipad and a place for launching portable anti-aircraft missile systems, as well as, apparently, an anti-submarine bomb launcher.
According to the Iranian side, the Jamaran destroyer was developed exclusively by Iranian specialists and became a technological breakthrough in the Iranian military industry. In order to confirm this, it is noted that the destroyer is a multipurpose high-speed combat ship and can simultaneously fight against enemy submarines, aircraft and ships in conditions of electronic warfare.
Analysis of the available information allows us to conclude that in reality Iranian specialists have built a multipurpose patrol ship in the near sea zone (according to the western classification - a corvette). The Russian analogue - the ship of the project 20380 ("Steregushchy") has a helipad for the Ka-27 anti-submarine helicopter, a displacement of 2220 tons, a length of 105 m, a speed of 27 knots and a crew of 99 people. A battleship of this type is really intended to combat enemy surface ships and submarines, as well as to provide artillery support for amphibious assault forces and patrol the zone of responsibility for the purpose of blockade. However, its air defense capabilities are quite limited, and the cruising range is limited to 4 thousand nautical miles (the displacement of the Iranian counterpart is 36% less, which significantly reduces the reduced value).
The Russian ship of project 20380 has a steel flat-deck hull and a superstructure made of multilayer composite materials, which are slow-burning and significantly reduce its visibility in the radar and infrared ranges. In addition, special architectural solutions were adopted, which made it possible to integrate missile weapons and antenna posts into the ship's hull, as well as technical means that have a significant impact on visibility and increase vulnerability to air, surface and ground attack weapons. As a result, the probability of targeting the ship with anti-ship cruise missiles (ASM) has been reduced by five times. The Iranian counterpart does not have all this, which is clearly visible from the published photographs. Its hull and architecture are largely the same size and design as the Alvand-class ships built by the British company Vosper for the Iranian Navy in the late 1960s.
The Russian ship of project 20380 is equipped with various complexes of shock, anti-aircraft and anti-submarine weapons (one 100 mm artillery mount A-190 "Universal", two artillery mounts AK-630, six torpedo tubes, eight ship-borne missile systems "Uran" with an anti-ship cruise missile of the X type -35 and two anti-aircraft missile and artillery complexes of the "Kortik" type),combat control, detection, target designation, protection and communication. In particular, the ship is equipped with four PK-10 launchers of the "Brave" fired jamming complex for self-defense against enemy detection equipment and its anti-ship missiles, as well as two column 14.5 mm machine-gun mounts and two DP-64 grenade launchers from pirates and submarine saboteurs. …
The electronic weapons of the Russian ship include the Sigma combat information and control system, the Furke-2 general detection radar, the Monument-A target designation radar, the Zarya-2 sonar system, the Minotaur sonar station -M "with an extended towed antenna, a lowered hydroacoustic station" Anapa-M ", an automated communications complex" Ruberoid ", electronic warfare and navigation equipment. The given equipment and armament of the considered warships are generally incomparable, since the Iranian Jamaran was created mainly on the basis of technologies of the 1960s – 1970s.
The missile weapons installed on the Iranian ship deserve separate consideration. Thus, the Jamaran spacecraft has already successfully launched the Noor anti-ship missile system at a distance of 100 km. The use of this type of anti-ship missile was not accidental, since back in 2002 at the shipyards in Bandar Abbas (Iran) there was a group of eight Chinese specialists with the task of adapting the C-802 anti-ship cruise missile (Chinese prototype) to 1000-ton corvettes of the "Moudge" type of the IRI Navy. Somewhat earlier, the adaptation of such missiles was performed on Iranian anti-submarine helicopters of the See King type.
The C-802 (YJ-82) anti-ship missile system is designed to equip surface ships, submarines, coastal batteries and aircraft. It was developed by the China Electro-Mechanical Technology Academy (CHETA) located in Haidian and first demonstrated in 1989. Chinese destroyers, frigates and missile boats of various classes are equipped with missiles of this type. The possibility of underwater launching of C-802 missiles through torpedo tubes is possessed by Project 039 (Song Class) diesel-electric submarines. In 2005, a modernized version of the rocket was developed, which received the designation C-802A.
The C-802 rocket differs from its prototype C-801A (YJ-81) anti-ship missile in that it uses a turbojet engine (TRD) instead of a solid-fuel one. Thanks to this, the maximum firing range of the missile was increased by 50% and reached 120 km (for the C-802A modification, up to 180 km). The C-802 rocket is made according to the normal aerodynamic configuration with a folding cruciform delta wing of low aspect ratio. It has a solid propellant booster, a launch weight of 715 kg and an armor-piercing high-explosive warhead weighing 165 kg. The rocket is equipped with an active monopulse radar homing head operating in the 10-20 GHz range, and equipment for receiving correction commands, which is used in the initial section of the trajectory before the target is captured by the homing head. It is possible to equip the rocket with the GLONASS / GPS satellite navigation subsystem.
According to Chinese data, the probability of hitting the C-802 anti-ship missile target, in conditions of opposition from the enemy, is 75%. At the same time, the small effective scattering area of the rocket, the extremely low flight altitudes, as well as the interference suppression complex make it difficult to intercept it. The flight altitude of this subsonic missile on the cruising section of the trajectory is 50-120 m, in the final section of the trajectory, the missile drops to a height of 5-7 m and performs an anti-aircraft maneuver.
Iran planned to purchase a large batch of C-802 and C-801 anti-ship missiles from China. In part, these purchases were carried out, which made it possible to receive, for example, 80 S-802 missiles. But under American pressure, China was forced to abandon the continuation of further missile deliveries to Iran in exchange for expanding military and economic ties with the United States. Nevertheless, in October 2000, Iran announced an eight-day naval exercise in the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman, during which a new version of the C-802 missile, developed in close cooperation with North Korean specialists, was tested. It is still difficult to assess the characteristics of this Iranian anti-ship missile system, but one can only assume an increase in its firing range (according to Iranian data, up to 170 km). However, it was most likely not possible to achieve a qualitative breakthrough, as the Chinese did when creating the YJ-83 supersonic anti-ship missile system.
Russian anti-ship missiles of the Kh-35 type are designed to engage surface targets in conditions of intense interference and fire resistance from the enemy. In terms of its tactical and technical characteristics, it is in no way inferior to the Chinese S-802 rocket: with a firing range of about 130 km, a circular probable deviation of only 4-8 m is provided. control system. In the final part of the flight path, an anti-jamming active radar homing head is used. The defeat of the target is provided by a penetrating high-explosive fragmentation warhead, sufficient to reliably defeat surface targets with a displacement of up to 500 tons. The combat effectiveness of the missile is increased due to the complex flight path at extremely low altitudes.
Considering the above, it becomes obvious that the Iranian ship "Jamaran" has a fairly modern missile armament, but outdated combat control, detection, target designation and communication systems. The latter will significantly limit the actual range of use of existing anti-ship cruise missiles. In addition, the Iranian ship does not have a serious anti-aircraft (anti-missile) defense, which in the conditions of significant visibility in the radar and infrared ranges will make it an easily vulnerable target for a strong enemy. But such a task is most likely not posed, given the presence in the Iranian Navy of only nine corvettes with a displacement of up to 1,500 tons (some of them were built in the 1960s) and three Russian-made diesel submarines of the 877EKM project. More important is to demonstrate its apparent naval power and confirm its claims to regional leadership.
In reality, Iran is preparing for a completely different war - sabotage. For this, high-speed military boats were purchased in Italy, capable of speeds up to 130 km / h. The construction of missile boats continues, the total number of which is approaching twenty. First of all, to equip them, the Chinese built a plant in Iran for the production of Nasr-1 anti-ship missiles (Iranian version of the S-704 missile). An anti-ship cruise missile of this type has an active homing head and a firing range of up to 40 km. In addition, North Korea purchased ultra-small submarines of the Yono type with a displacement of about 100 tons (the Iranian version is the Nahang), and also built three diesel mini-submarines of the Gadir type with a displacement of about 500 tons.
At the same time, under the leadership of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the infrastructure necessary for the implementation of sabotage activities is being created on the coast of the Persian Gulf. The first such base was opened in October 2008 in the Strait of Hormuz on the territory of the port of Jask. Later, at least four more similar bases were opened along the entire coast. At the same time, Tehran took into account the negative experience of the Iran-Iraq war, when hundreds of boats tried to attack the enemy at the same time and, as a result, became easy prey for its aviation. Now the main focus is on decentralizing the control of many mobile units and the factor of surprise, when one or more boats attack such a large sea target as a tanker. For this, it is supposed to carry out reconnaissance of the water situation on an ongoing basis, observe radio silence and conduct operations to misinform the enemy.
Thus, Iran's naval power has not yet become a reality. In fact, it is a screen behind which large-scale preparations for sabotage activities in the Persian Gulf and adjacent waters are carried out in order to make it as difficult as possible, if necessary, to transport hydrocarbons from here.
