From Tehmina Mustapha
TEHRAN: Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) on Thursday unveiled a homegrown ocean-going warship and 99 indigenous missile-launching speedboats of different classes in a ceremony in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas. The unveiling ceremony, in which IRGC took delivery of the vessels, was attended by IRGC Chief Commander Hossein Salami and IRGC Navy Commander Alireza Tangsiri, official news agency IRNA reported.
The ocean-going warship, named Shahid (Martyr) Nader Mahdavi, is a heavy multi-purpose vessel capable of carrying different kinds of helicopters, drones and missile-launching speedboats as well as missiles, defense and radar systems, Tangsiri was quoted by IRNA as saying.
The warship is a mobile marine base with a length and width of 240 meters and 32 meters respectively, a weight of 14,000 tonnes, and a loading capacity of 41,000 tonnes, he said It is equipped with a 3D phased-array radar, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, highly advanced electronic warfare telecommunication systems, and marine cruise missiles with a range of more than 700 km, the commander added.
The warship is capable of moving at a speed of 18 knots and allows takeoff and landing by helicopters and drones, Tangsiri noted. According to IRNA, among the other unveiled watercraft are Salman Farsi missile-launcher with a 65-knot speed and equipped with long-range missiles, operational Tareq-class vessels capable of going at a speed of over 90 knots, ambulance boats, and firefighting vessels
