In early February of 2023, Iran unveiled a sprawling underground air base that its leaders
claim will be able to repel a full-scale enemy attack.
A video shared on state media, accompanied by a detailed press release, revealed Iran's
latest clandestine underground facility, complete with a fleet of 40-year-old American-made
fighter jets.
Iranian authorities also announced that the nation's Air Force expects to receive at least
three dozen modern Russian fighters this year to take up residence in the mysterious base.
Recognizing the potentially dangerous implications of such a base, open-source intelligence monitoring
groups promptly took to web forums to discuss the location of the facility.
Although Iranian authorities did not reveal the exact location of Eagle 44, the accumulating
evidence provided ample material for online commenters to analyze…
The Eagle Base
On February 7, 2023, the official anniversary marking the participation of air officers
in the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iranian state media Tasnim News Agency reported the unveiling
of the nation's army's latest underground base, codenamed Eagle 44 or Oghab 44.
Alongside the press release, the official news agency IRNA also released images and
a video segment filmed inside the newly constructed base.
Broadcast on national news, the footage features Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major
General Mohammad Bagheri and Iran's Army Chief Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi touring the
Oghab 44 base, the first of its kind in the Islamic Republic.
As explained by state media, the tactical airbase can accommodate and prepare various
aircraft, including fighter jets, bombers, and unmanned aerial vehicles, for missions
designed to withstand possible strikes by United States bunker-busting bombs.
The expanding underground complex is carved into an Asmari limestone rock formation, with
four north-facing entrances connected to an uncovered 1.8-mile surface runway.
Composed of concrete walls, ceilings, and floors, the Oghab 44 base contains various
sections and rooms, including an alert area, warplane hangars, a command post, navigation
and airport equipment, fuel tanks, and a repair and maintenance center.
Based on the photographs, the only visible equipment appears to be a bright yellow cart,
likely a starter cart designed to provide air conditioning power for ground operation
and starting up jets.
As per the video segment, the large subterranean airbase is also equipped to receive the Iranian
Air Force's newest fighter jets and prepare them for missions.
American Aircraft In Iran
Inside the base, Iran holds mostly Russian MiG and Sukhoi fighter jets, some dating all
the way back to the Soviet era, as well as some Chinese-made aircraft, like the Chengdu
J-7.
These and all future aircraft will be able to reach the runway through two partially
covered taxiways measuring 0.86 and 1.1 miles in length.
In the visible portion of the base, a single elongated tunnel contains five revetments,
each housing an American F-4 Phantom fighter jet.
These McDonnell Douglas Western aircraft trace their origins to 1979 when the jets were sold
to Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, before the Islamic Revolution.
At the time of the sale, Iran, bolstered by oil exports, received over 200 F-4 Phantom
fighter jets.
According to several documents, 58 of these F-4s remain in operation, boasting a 60-percent
availability rate.
The jets are observed to be equipped with white-painted AGM-65 Maverick missiles, a
type of laser-guided bomb, and in at least one case, what appears to be a Nasr anti-ship
cruise missile.
Mountain Bases
Oghab-44 is just one of several tactical underground bases established by the Iranian Air Force
in recent years.
Designed to withstand powerful attacks from the regime's enemies, namely the United States
and Israel, the bases are usually located beneath mountainous areas to enable surprise
aerial operations in locations and times the opponents would least expect.
Though the base currently houses a small number of aging American fighters, new Russian jets
due to arrive in the spring could potentially occupy the enigmatic facility.
While the state media report did not disclose the Oghab-44's exact location, it initially
reported that it was located hundreds of feet beneath the mountains, deep enough to withstand
bombings by strategic enemy aircraft.
Nevertheless, as soon as the base was announced in early February of 2023, Western internet
users began speculating about its location.
The presence of anti-ship missiles in the photographs suggests that the base is likely
not situated in the mountainous north of the country, as the nearby Caspian Sea lacks hostile
naval forces.
Previously accessible satellite images from mid-2021 show that the process of building
an airbase started in the mountains in southern Iran, including the development of underground
hardened hangars within the base's territory, where an airstrip had not yet been established.
Geo Discovery
Additional clues about the precise location are related to the aircraft themselves.
The F-4 Phantom has a combat radius of approximately 400 miles, roughly the distance the plane
can fly while armed with weapons before needing to turn back to complete the return journey.
Considering this, online commenters speculated that the base was likely situated around 100
miles from Iran's southern coast, enabling it to threaten land targets in Kuwait and
Saudi Arabia while simultaneously targeting naval forces from the United States and its
European Union allies.
Less than a week after the initial announcement, open-source intelligence monitoring groups
allegedly succeeded in determining the geolocation of the Oghab 44 underground airbase.
Joseph Dempsey, a defense researcher working with the International Institute for Strategic
Studies, shared on his Twitter account that the new base is situated in southern Iran,
and posted the coordinates.
This location places the Oghab 44 base 74 miles northeast of Bandar Abbas and about
18 miles west of Tarom, Hormozgan.
Implosion
According to online commentators, Eagle 44's most formidable adversary might not even be
human.
Based on the photographs and videos, there appears to be no visible form of ventilation
within the base, such as air shafts in the ceiling or fans designed to expel poisonous
carbon monoxide and circulate fresh air.
In an emergency, an explosion inside a base filled with so many diesel-powered machines
could result in a devastating blast.
In the words of Gholam Reza Jalali, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps general who leads
the Passive Defense Organization, the Oghab 44 base could be a game changer during times
of war, potentially forcing the enemy to reconsider its military calculations.
Even without modern aircraft or a large fleet, Iran's new and costly underground airbases
could provide the nation with some degree of aerial first-strike capability against
United States-owned naval assets in the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, and the Arabian Sea.
Unlike surface bases, which can easily be detected by the enemy before a conflict, underground
facilities usually remain concealed until missiles, drones, and fighter jets emerge.
As the video showcasing the latest Iranian base circulates online, its construction could
prompt other countries in the region to enhance their underground facilities or develop new
ones.
But given that this particular base's location is now accessible to anyone with a computer,
the Department of Defense may already be taking specific measures to safeguard its assets
in the area…
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