Iran's Military Ambitions Expose Recklessness and Shortcomings
Position Paper Iran’s Military Ambitions Expose Recklessness and Shortcomings 14 May. 2020
Image source: Iran International
Contents
Introduction ...... 4 I-Technical Error or Electronic Warfare? ...... 5 II-Over Forty Years in Service...... 7 III-Noor...... 11 VI-Iran Hides Shortcomings by Overestimating Capabilities...... 13 V- Analysis and Conclusion...... 15 Introduction
On Sunday, May 10, 2020, local journalists and activists on social media announced that an Ira- nian naval support vessel was struck by a mis- sile from an Iranian Navy frigate, killing at least 19 and injuring 15 of its passengers and crew members. The incident, which took place about 790 miles southeast of Tehran near the port of Jask during a military exercise, was confirmed later by the Iranian Navy. According to local social media, the support vessel Konarak sank after it was accidently targeted by the new anti-ship cruise missile Noor which was being tested by the Iranian frig- ate Jamaran. The Iranian authorities’ silence on the incident extended to the following day when the Iranian Navy issued an official statement.
Iran’s Military Ambitions Expose Recklessness and Shortcomings 4 I-Technical Error or Electronic Warfare?
Iranian official statements and media, includ- ing the IRGC-linked hardline news agency Tas- nim, stated that the vessel Konarak was hit by a missile fired by the Jamaran frigate during a military exercise in the waters of Jask and Cha- bahar. The statement of Iran’s Navy has not confirmed whether electronic warfare by the “enemy” or a technical error was to blame for the incident. In either case, such catastrophic failure neg- atively affects the assessment of the size and capabilities of Iran’s missile force. A technical defect in the missile leading to the incident, would most certainly question its precision, if it were the case, especially after Iran has recent- ly boasted about manufacturing high-precision missiles. Equally detrimental would be, if the United States, whom Iran believes to be an enemy, was responsible for such an act in response to Ira-
Iran’s Military Ambitions Expose Recklessness and Shortcomings 5 nian navy vessels harassing US navy vessels. This would mean that Iran’s missiles can be easily manipulated and even turned into weap- ons against its own forces.
Iran’s Military Ambitions Expose Recklessness and Shortcomings 6 II-Over Forty Years in Service
Both Jamaran and Konarak were manufactured prior to Iran’s 1979 revolution. Despite continu- ous maintenance over the past 40 years, these naval vessels endanger passengers onboard rather than protect them. Iran’s navigational errors are nothing new. In January 2018, an Iranian navy frigate called Damavand crashed into a jetty in the Caspian Sea in northern Iran, killing two sailors of the Iranian Navy and injur- ing several crew members. Although Damavand was claimed to be an ad- vanced indigenous destroyer in Iran’s arsenal, the vessel was not ideal for operations in the shallow waters of the Caspian Sea. Iran’s mili- tary announcements, therefore, are a mere dis- play of power rather than a mark of progress. 1- Jamaran Jamaran, launched in early 2010 in Ban- dar-e-Abbas, is the lead ship of Iran’s Moudge- class frigate. It belongs to the Iranian Army. Ac-
Iran’s Military Ambitions Expose Recklessness and Shortcomings 7 cording to Iran’s naval forces, the home-built frigate was made with the help of Marine In- dustries Group and marked a major technolog- ical leap for Iran’s naval industries. The frigate, with Iran overestimating its strength by calling it a “destroyer,” was built before the I979 revolution when the government of Mo- hammad Reza Shah acquired four 1960s-era British-built Vosper MK 5 class corvettes. The four frigates were named Sabalan, Sahand, Al- borz and Alvand. They underwent some modifi- cations and maintenance after the Iranian rev- olution in 1979 along with Jamaran. Technical Specifications of Jamaran:
Length Beam Speed Displacement Crew
94.5 m m 10 kn 30 1500 tons 140
Jamaran is equipped with light torpedoes, an- ti-ship cruise missiles, known as Noor, medi- um-range ballistic missiles, known as Fajr and a 20 mm Oerlikon cannon. The frigate is also fitted with two navigation radars and one fire control radar. It is claimed to be the first Iranian
Iran’s Military Ambitions Expose Recklessness and Shortcomings 8 frigate to have a heliport for heavy helicopters. The Jamaran frigate
Image source: (jangaavaran.ir)
2- Konarak Konarak is a Hendijan-class support and logis- tics ship that belongs to the Iranian army and it was manufactured by Damen Shipyard in the Netherlands. The ship, acquired by Iran more than 40 years ago, entered service in the Irani- an Navy on October 8, 2018 after it was over- hauled. Technical Specifications ofKonarak : Length Beam Draft Displacement Crew m 47 8.5 m m 2.9 tons 460 100
Iran’s Military Ambitions Expose Recklessness and Shortcomings 9 Konarak, which was struck by a Noor missile fired from Jamaran, is equipped with the Noor missiles and a 20 mm Oerlikon cannon. It is also capable of laying sea mines. The Konarak ship
Image source: (Tasnim news)
Iran’s Military Ambitions Expose Recklessness and Shortcomings 10 III-Noor
Even though Jamaran and Konarak are old and poorly maintained, the Iranian Navy’s state- ment only attributed the missile firing incident to a technical error. The Noor missiles are be- lieved to be a variant of the Chinese C801 and C802 and among the very first Iranian-made cruise missiles as they entered service in the Iranian armed forces in 1991. Technical Specifications ofNoor : Operation- Length Diame- Speed Weight Warhead al range ter 40 - 170 m 6.38 cm 36 0.9 715 kg 165 kg km mc Noor is solid-fuelled and designed to attack boats or coastal targets. The missile is used on several launch pads such as the BH 7 hov- ercrafts, Mil-17 helicopters, and F-4 Phantom fighter jets. Iran’s Noor has been among the missiles transferred to pro-Iran groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Ye- men. In 2016, the Arab coalition in Yemen an- nounced that the Houthis fired Iran-supplied
Iran’s Military Ambitions Expose Recklessness and Shortcomings 11 anti-ship missiles at UAE ships. The missile was later identified as aNoor anti-ship missile. A Noor missile fired from a frigate
A Noor missile launched from a mobile coastal plat- form
Iran’s Military Ambitions Expose Recklessness and Shortcomings 12 VI-Iran Hides Shortcomings by Overestimating
Capabilities
Iranian military commanders and media outlets with close ties to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards often vastly overestimate their country’s mili- tary capabilities. The Iranian Navy, for example, insists on calling the Jamaran frigate a “de- stroyer” although its core mission is far from that of a destroyer. The Navy also calls Konarak a “frigate” even though it is a support vessel. Despite its periodical announcements of major advances in weapons, the Iranian Navy is not among the most capable navies in the world. Moreover, most of the country’s indigenously de- veloped weapons are reverse-engineered vari- ants of other nations. For a long period of time, Iran has been banned from importing weapons and spare parts. This has hindered Iran’s man- ufacture of advanced weapons. To demonstrate its ability to resist US sanc- tions, Iran implemented the strategy of inflat-
Iran’s Military Ambitions Expose Recklessness and Shortcomings 13 ing and exaggerating its military achievements as a firm principle in its military doctrine. The country also claims it seeks to achieve self-suf- ficiency in building military equipment despite its continued black-market activity.
Iran’s Military Ambitions Expose Recklessness and Shortcomings 14 V- Analysis and Conclusion
After the downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane, the friendly fire incident confirms that the Iranian military establishment is suffering from shortcomings. These repeated blunders lead to the following conclusions: 1. The command and control process in the Ira- nian military suffers from an apparent weak- ness in controlling weapons. This assertion is based on Iran’s official statement that suggests the firing of the missile was a mistake. 2. Iran’s regular navy is unprofessional despite efforts to restore its power. Since the 1979 rev- olution, Iran has neglected its regular army’s land, sea, and air forces and has focused its at- tention on the IRGC Navy and its armed speed- boats. 3. The capabilities of Iran’s ships are overesti- mated and therefore incompatible with their ac- tual capabilities.
Iran’s Military Ambitions Expose Recklessness and Shortcomings 15 4. Rules of military exercises were not followed. Live-firing exercises, for example, should only be conducted against derelict equipment.
Iran’s Military Ambitions Expose Recklessness and Shortcomings 16 [email protected]
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