The Iranian navy added a brand new, domestically-made stealth destroyer to its fleet on Saturday,
Reuters reports, deploying the warship and its purported radar-evading systems to join
rest of the country’s regular navy at the mouth of the strategically-crucial Strait
of Hormuz in yet another challenge to the U.S. Navy.
The new Sahand destroyer, the first in a new family of Iranian warships, was “the result
of daring and creative design relying on the local technical knowledge of the Iranian Navy…
and has been built with stealth capabilities,” Iranian navy shipyard chief Rear-Admiral Alireza
Sheikhi told state TV.
State TV also claimed destroyer comes outfitted with a “flight deck for helicopters, torpedo
launchers, anti-aircraft and anti-ship guns, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles,
and electronic warfare capabilities,” per Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
The unveiling of the destroyer represents the latest technological challenge to the
U.S. Navy vessels operating in the region. In October, the Iranian military claimed it
had boosted the range of its land-to-sea ballistic missiles up to 700 km (435 miles), capable
of hitting “any vessel or ship” at that range.
While the Iranian navy has, for the most part, scaled back its harassment of U.S. Navy vessels
in the Persian Gulf since President Donald Trump took office, these advances in the Persian
Gulf pose a growing threat to military personnel there following months of growing tensions
over freedom-of-navigation operations in key regional waterways.
“We remain committed to providing and promoting security and stability in the region and continue
to stand with our partners to sustain freedom of navigation and free flow of commerce in
international waterways,” U.S Naval Forces Central Command Cmdr. Joshua Frey told Task
& Purpose in a statement at the time. “We advocate for all forces to conform to international
customs, standards, and laws.”
Even if the Sahand doesn’t become the primary instigator in confrontations between the two,
a successful demonstration of its stealth capabilities could prove embarrassing to the
U.S. Navy. After all, as The War Zone reported in September, the Navy’s beleaguered USS
Zumwalt may be the least-stealthy “stealth” ship currently on the high seas.
Iran has launched a domestically made destroyer, which state media said has radar-evading stealth
capabilities, amid rising tensions with the United States.
In a ceremony on December 1 broadcast live on state television, the Sahand destroyer
joined Iran’s regular navy at a base in Bandar Abbas, at the mouth of the strategic
Strait of Hormuz.
According to state TV, the Sahand has a flight deck for helicopters, torpedo launchers, anti-aircraft
and anti-ship guns, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, and electronic warfare
capabilities.
Iran added the first domestically made destroyer to its fleet in 2010 in the Persian Gulf.
Reportedly Iran has five other destroyers.
"This vessel is the result of daring and creative design relying on the local technical knowledge
of the Iranian Navy... and has been built with stealth capabilities," Rear-Admiral Alireza
Sheikhi, head of the navy shipyards that built the destroyer, told the state news agency
IRNA.
On November 29, Iran's navy announced the acquisition of two mini-submarines designed
for operation in shallow waters such as the Persian Gulf, including one new sub and an
overhauled one.
The announcements are likely intended to boost Iran's military image amid rising tensions
with the United States, which in November reimposed all sanctions that had been lifted
under a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.
President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of that deal in May. Trump said the agreement
was flawed because it did not include curbs on Iran's development of ballistic missiles
or its support for proxies in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq.
The United States has said its goal is to reduce Iran's oil exports to zero. Senior
Iranian officials have said that if Iran is not allowed to export then no other countries
will be allowed to export oil through the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf.
The 1,300-ton vessel named Sahand after a mountain in northern Iran took six years to
build, according to the report. Iranian TV showed a ceremony marking the inauguration
with a three-gun salute at the southern port of Bandar Abbas, at the mouth of the strategic
Strait of Hormuz, the passageway for nearly a third of all oil traded by sea.
The Sahand has a helicopter landing pad, is 96 meters (105 yards) long and can cruise
at 25 knots. It is equipped with surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles as well as anti-aircraft
batteries and sophisticated radar and radar evading capabilities, the report said.
Since 1992, Iran has been working to build a self-sufficient military, reportedly producing
its own jet fighters, tanks, missiles and light submarines as well as torpedoes.
Iran added the first domestically made destroyer to its fleet in 2010 in the Persian Gulf.
Reportedly Iran has five other destroyers.
On Thursday, Iran's navy announced the acquisition of two mini-submarines designed for operation
in shallow waters such as the Persian Gulf, including one new sub and an overhauled one.
The announcements are likely intended to boost Iran’s military image amid rising tensions
with the United States, which in November re-imposed all sanctions that had been lifted
under the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. The Trump administration pulled
America out of the deal in May.