Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy Commander Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi downplayed
Washington’s military buildup in the Persian Gulf, and had said the IRGC speedboats have
the needed capability to sink the US aircraft carriers.
Fadavi had said in a meeting with a delegation of Oman’s National Defense College in Tehran:
"The US is not in such conditions that it can threaten us in action, yet it continues
making verbal threats,"
Lieutenant Commander of the IRGC Navy General Alireza Tangsiri said:
Iran has armed IRGC Navy’s speed boats with long-range ‘Qader’ cruise missiles which
can destroy maritime targets including frigates and warships.
In the Noble Prophet 9 exercises conducted in the Straits of Hormuz, Iran constructed
a mock aircraft carrier and proceeded to attack it.
The attack was carried out with anti ship missiles, mines and a simulated commando raid,
which involved troops landing on the flight deck via helicopter and attacking the carrier’s
superstructure.
But a test scenario is different from real life war.
In this video, Defense Updates analyzes WHY IRAN CANNOT SINK A US SUPER CARRIER ?
Iran's naval power has even been acknowledged by foes.
In a Sep. 11, 2008 report, the Washington Institute for the Near East Policy said that
in the two decades since the Iraqi imposed war on Iran, the IRGC has excelled in naval
capabilities and is able to wage unique asymmetric warfare against larger naval forces.
According to the report, the IRGC Navy has been transformed into a highly motivated,
well-equipped, and well-financed force and is effectively in control of the world’s
oil lifeline, the Strait of Hormuz.
The Nimitz-class super carriers are a class of 10 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in
service with the United States Navy, apart from that US has recently commissioned the
USS Gerald Ford.
All these have displacement of around 100000 tons, and overall length of 332.8 m (1,092feet).
To give viewers a perspective, it is about 3 football fields long.
These are nuclear powered , have practically unlimited endurance and have been used to
project power far off from US mainland.
While the threat that small boats pose to major warships has been apparent for some
time, the Pentagon’s Millennium Challenge 2002 exercise brought the issue to mainstream
attention.
In that controversial exercise, small fast boats carrying suicide payloads inflicted
heavy damage on U.S. naval forces.
US Navy has updated its strategy to counter these kinds of attacks.
Most small boats lack the range to find and successfully attack aircraft carriers in the
open sea.
Any boats that did find a carrier battle group would need to navigate a formation of well-armed
helicopters and escort warships, most of which would boast actual Phalanx gun systems that
could chew small vessels to pieces.
The Qader supersonic missile developed by Iran has a range of about 185 miles or 300
km, is self-guided, and can maneuver to lock onto a moving target.
The missile is cheap, easy to launch and can be deployed in “swarms.”
Together with decoys and chaff.
Theoretically it is formidable challenge for defending naval vessels but in practice , things
are different.
Here are the technical problems of using this missile :
1.
185 miles or 300 km means that anything in the Persian Gulf is within easy range of the
missile.
But outside the Persian Gulf, in the Gulf of Oman, the US Navy can romp with ease, beyond
the range of the Iranian threat, but well within the operational range of the US carriers.
The launch platforms of these missile could be neutralized from far off.
2.
Inside the Persian Gulf also, there is a problem.
The missile’s maneuverability is limited because the steering fins are small, to avoid
drag during supersonic flight.
Therefore, the missile can make steering corrections of perhaps 1/2 mile in the last few miles
of approach.
This probably explains why all tests so far, have been with static targets.
US carrier on the other hand will perform evasive maneuvers.
Though massive , US aircraft carrier can move surprisingly fast with a top speed of more
than 30 knots, or about 35 miles an hour.
3.
The missile has a 200-kilogram warhead.
The warhead could potentially damage a super carrier but won’t be able to sink it since
the carrier are designed with compartments and the damaged parts can be sealed off.
It also must me noted that the carriers have kevlar protection on important parts.
It must be noted that the super carriers are not alone but are protected by squadron of
at least two Raleigh Burke-class destroyers and Virginia class attack submarine.
Apart from that, multiple Boeing E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS)
support them.
Arleigh Burke-class warships are designed as multi mission destroyers capable of Anti
Aircraft Warfare (AAW), Anti Submarine Warfare (ASW), Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) and
Anti Surface warfare (ASuW).
Arleigh Burke class destroyers are among the largest destroyers in the world.
These can operate in open sea or coastal waters.
These are equipped especially to protect the super carriers.
These have Tomahawk cruise missile for Land attack, RIM-66M Standard medium range SAM
for air defense and RIM-161 Standard Ballistic missile for AEGIS ballistic missile defense
These also has 2 × Mk 141 Harpoon Missile Launcher for Anti Ship role.
2 × Mark 32 triple torpedo tubes are present for launching Mk-46 or Mk-50 torpedoes
2 MH-60R Seahawk LAMPS III helicopters are also present for Anti Submarine Warfare.
Other than these, they are equipped with long-range naval gun and multiple Close In Weapon System.
Virginia class is designed to take out enemy surface vessel, submarines as well can strike
ground targets.
It has 12 VLS (Vertical Launch System) & 4 torpedo tubes and is capable of launching
Tactical Tomahawks, Harpoon missile and Mark 48 torpedoes.
Boeing E-3 is designed to provide a holistic view of the battle space and will be able
to detect incoming missiles from long ranges.
The pulse-Doppler radar in it has a range of more than 250 mi (400 km) for low-flying
targets like the Qader missile.
The QADER missile could somehow manage to get past all the sophisticated security and
anti-missile protection on the carrier and get a lucky hit on a vulnerable spot, but
that is highly unlikely.
Even if it happens, the carrier will not sink.