The Commander of the Marines of the Iranian Navy said: "The strategic forces of the Army
of the Islamic Republic of Iran are among the top five countries in the world, relying
on the knowledge and expertise of the Iranian staff in the field of submarine construction."
Admiral Seyed Morteza Darkhoran, Commander of the Marines of the Iranian Navy, told reporters
on Tuesday, referring to the achievements of the Navy of the Islamic Republic Army:
"The Navy of the Iranian Army is one of the top powers in the world with the perseverance and
guidance of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution as a strategic force in the production of ships,
destroyers, warships, and hovercrafts."
He referred to the orders and decrees of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution
to seize the control of the Persian Gulf with submarines and said:
"This order has been implemented, and all countries know that Iran
is present at sea with authority, and no country dares to move against it."
"The strategic force of the Islamic Republic Army helps many countries
in securing commercial and oil ships," said the admiral.
The Commander of the Marines of the Iranian Navy added:
"The Marines of the Iranian Army are at the peak of readiness
and will defend the country at every point from the sea to the last drop of their blood,
while they are in the best position in terms of equipment, readiness, and training of manpower."
He added: "At the same time, in terms of equipment,
human resources training is in the best condition. In terms of readiness,
they defend the interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran in all open waters and oceans."
The large-scale Zulfiqar-99 military exercise held in Iran this week looked a bit like America
in the 1980s. U.S.-supplied F-4E Phantom-II jets, Chinook and Sea King helicopters and the massive
Sea Stallion were all showcased. These date back to the 1970s when Iran was an American ally.
And there was legacy equipment from Britain, Germany and others.
But there was one particular piece of kit on display that points to Iran’s growing
self-sufficiency. It is the Fateh, the Iranian Navy’s first indigenous, full-sized submarine.
It’s the first time that the Fateh has been reported to be part of an exercise.
This points toward it slowly becoming an integrated part of the front-line navy.
Although the submarine is relatively basic, it legitimately places Iran
in the list of sub building nations. Iran’s submarine building program has come of age.
By U.S. Navy standards Fateh, which means Conqueror, is actually a small submarine, about
157 feet long and 14 feet across. Its displacement when submerged, which is a common way of comparing
the size of submarines, is about 600 tons. That’s a far cry from the Virginia Class at 7,800 tons.
That said, the Fateh is not a midget submarine. It is a regular patrol submarine and can engage
surface targets, presenting a threat to both warships and civilian vessels,
particularly in the strategic choke point of the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has built a large number of smaller IS-120 ‘Ghadir’ midget submarines which play a major part
in the Iranian Navy line up. But the Fateh will have a longer range and pack a much heavier punch.
It is armed with heavyweight torpedoes and anti-ship missiles. Six weapons are
estimated to be carried, compared to just two aboard the Ghadirs. Some Ghadirs, which are
based on a North Korean design (the MS-29 Yono class), were also taking part in the exercise.
The torpedoes are the Iranian built YT-534-UW1 type,
which is specialized for use against ships. It is an improved version of the
North Korean PT-97W model. The Jask-2 anti-ship missile is highly unusual.
It is a small weapon but its launch container has its own motor like a torpedo.
This allows it to swim out of the tube instead of having to be pushed out by
compressed air or water. This is simpler than the systems used to
shoot full-sized submarine-launched anti-ship missiles like Sub-Harpoon.
Fateh's small size comes at the price of endurance and limited weapons load.
Six weapons is nothing compared to the 40 or more aboard top-end nuclear powered fast attack boats.
But being small can also be an advantage, especially in the confined waters of the Persian
Gulf and Strait of Hormuz, where the larger nuclear submarines would find it harder to hide.
Most of all, it is much cheaper to build.
Fateh may be a test bed for future,
larger, Iranian boats. In April I reported that Iran said it is building ‘giant submarines.’
There have been suggestions that these might, at some point in the future,
be nuclear powered. But that seems far off. And because Iran lacks modern battery and AIP
(air-independent power) the next submarines are likely to still be modest in size.
But Fateh appears to prove that Iran can now build workable, full-size submarines.