Satellite images show Iran's new drone carrier has set sail,
leaving its home port for the first time
A recent image captured by BlackSky shows the Shahid Bagheri missing from its berth at an Iranian shipyard.
www.yahoo.com
6 Dec 2024 ~~ By Josh Epstein
- Iran has spent the past few years turning a container ship into a militarized drone carrier.
- New satellite images show the Shahid Bagheri has left its home port for the first time.
- The vessel's development highlights Tehran's efforts to project power farther out.
A container ship that Iran has spent the past few years turning into a militarized drone carrier has left its home port for the first time, recent satellite imagery obtained by Business Insider shows.
In an image captured on November 12 by BlackSky, which provides space-based real-time intelligence, the new Shahid Bagheri can be seen at an Iranian shipyard along the Persian Gulf.
But an image captured a little more than two weeks later, on November 28, shows the Bagheri missing from its berth at the Iran Shipbuilding & Offshore Industries Complex, just west of the southern port city of Bandar Abbas.
Open-source intelligence gathered by H I Sutton, an independent defense analyst, suggests that the Bagheri left the port
to begin sea trials off Iran's coast. It's unclear whether these are still ongoing. When asked to comment on the situation, a US defense official said the military didn't provide assessments on adversary capabilities or actions.
The Bagheri started as a container ship known as the Perarin, but in 2021, Iran began working on the vessel to transform it into a functional drone carrier for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy.
At nearly 790 feet long, the Bagheri somewhat
resembles a Soviet aircraft carrier with a distinctive ski-jump ramp, which was added in 2023. The ship's angled flight deck, used for launching and recovering drones, measures just under 600 feet.
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The capabilities of the Bagheri and Mahdavi don't come close to those of the American carriers, which can launch and recover advanced fighter jets and travel with smaller but powerful warships. But the Iranian vessels could still have an impact in an asymmetrical naval warfare role, especially if they're armed with missiles, helicopters, and drones.
Heavily armed drone carriers such as the Bagheri could allow Iran to engage in this kind of warfare at greater distances rather than being constrained to its neighborhood or having to rely on proxy forces.
"They should be considered a threat not only to sea lines of communication and freedom of shipping and things like that but also to coastal and inland facilities and infrastructure as well," Nadimi said.
Commentary:
Meanwhile, our East coast cities and States are reporting unknown aircraft (drones) flying within our airspace.
Didn't Joey B just extended wavers on the $108 Billion sanctions against Iran.
At nearly 790 feet long, the Bagheri should be really easy to sink when the time comes to neutralize it.
That ship should be deep in the Hudson Rover Canyon off the East Coast.
Drones are the future of warfare and it's a fairly low cost real world solution. The age of iron sides and battle ships went bye bye with advances in air craft tech and other innovations the big floating cities at sea will be scaled back and eventually even eliminated as unmanned systems get perfected less need for humans at risk. Nationalism aside it's undeniable a great concept how it used remains to be seen.
