Brief on the Iranian Navy (COULD take the Confederate Air Force)

Iranian helicopters and warships take part in maneuvers in the Strait of Hormuz in 2000. The White House on Monday sternly warned Iran against "provocative actions that could lead to a dangerous incident," after a stand-off between US and Iranian ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
(AFP/File)

As of 2001 the regular Iranian navy was in a state of overall obsolescence, and in poor shape because they have not been equipped with modern ships and weapons. Iran's three destroyers are over 50 years old and are not operational. The readiness of the three 25-year-old frigates is almost non-existent, and the two 30-year-old corvettes do not have sophisticated weapons. Ten of 20 missile-equipped fast attack craft have limited operational readiness, and four of them are not seaworthy as of 2001. Only 10 Chinese-made Thodor-class craft are operationally reliable. The four 30-year-old minesweepers are obsolete, lack seaworthiness, and do not have a mine-sweeping capability. Iran has many amphibious and auxiliary ships, but these are superfluous to requirements and are used purely for training personnel. Iran's ten hovercraft are old and used sparingly.

Iran's navy has 20,000 men, but they are young and inexperienced, and most of them are riflemen and marines based on Persian Gulf islands. And at higher levels, there is fierce rivalry between the IRGC and regular navies for scarce resources. Due to these shortcomings, Iran's three Kilo-class submarines would be vulnerable, and they are limited to laying mines in undefended waters. Mines, however, are one area in which Iran has made advances. It can produce non-magnetic, free-floating, and remote-controlled mines. It may have taken delivery of pressure, acoustic, and magnetic mines from Russia. Also, Iran is negotiating with China for rocket-propelled rising mines.

Iranian officials announced in September 2000 that the first of a planned trio of "1,000-ton," missile-equipped "destroyers" would be launched shortly, but there has been no subsequent announcement of the event. The locally designed vessels are said to be 289 feet long, and their machinery, electronics, and weapon systems, along with much other equipment, would have to have been imported.

In mid-2001 Iran launched the first of a new type of locally built craft equipped with "rocket launchers," according to Tehran Radio, which noted that the ship had been delivered to the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) by the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics. The same ceremony, presided over by Defense Minister Rear Adm. Ali Shamkhani, saw the launch of two Barak-class oilers, of 1,000 tons capacity, and one Karbala-class tank landing ship (LST). All were designed and built by the Defense Ministry's naval industry department. The landing ship is one of three Hormuz 21-type LSTs, and may be the one launched at Boushehr in 1997. It is not clear from published sources what type of oilers were launched--the same is true of the missile craft. The new craft could be one of the reported trio of 1,200-ton corvettes under construction at Bandar Abbas.

In January 2003 it was reported that the Iranian Navy had designed advanced gunboats and destroyers and missile launcher frigates in line with the goal of attaining self-sufficiency in the armed forces. Executive works on building the 350-ton missile launcher frigate 'Sina' will start in the next two months. The Navy would launch the 1400-ton 'Mouj Destroyer' by March 20, 2003.

In January 2003 a report in the World Tech Tribune indicated that the Iranian Navy would launch a missile frigate in March 2003. The frigate was identified as Sina 1.

In January 2003 a report in the World Tech Tribune indicated that Iranian officials stated that a destroyer will also be introduced over time. The destroyer, the Mowj, is being constructed and should be completed sometime after the launch of Sina 1.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iran/navy.htm

Iran has more subs now and ordered 15 from China

all I'm saying is this report is 5 years old
Iran has a bigger navy now than that