DI S C OV ER Y
March 16, 2015
Iran
Mock Aircraft Carrier
Returns to Port
Joseph S. Bermudez Jr.
COPYRIGHT © 2015 by ALLSOURCE ANALYSIS, INC.
IMAGE COPYRIGHT © 2015 by DigitalGlobe
DI S C OV ER Y
Mock Aircraft Carrier Returns to Port
Assessment:
Iran
UAE
Oman
Location:
Bandar Abbas, Iran
Coordinates:
27.141888° N, 56.201947° E
Date of Report:
March 16, 2015
Date of Imagery:
March 1, 2015
During mid-2013 the Iranian Revolutionary
Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy began construction of a large-scale, nonfunctional, mockup
of a US Navy Nimitz-class nuclear-powered
aircraft carrier at the Gachin Shipyard
(27.052700o N 55.973009o E) approximately 25 km west of Bandar Abbas.* The
exact purpose for this vessel was initially
unclear but it was assumed that it was
intended to be both a propaganda tool and
training aid.
Analysis of available satellite imagery
indicates that by February 2014 the deck
had been completed and mock aircraft
began to be added to the almost completed vessel. By April 2014 a total of 16 mock
aircraft were installed and the vessel was
“launched” with much fanfare. The vessel
participated in a brief exercise and returned
to the Gachin Shipyard where it may have
been used as a training aid for special
operations forces. The vessel remained
here while additional work was completed
until early January 2015.
Sometime between January 3rd and 14th
the vessel was towed out of the Gachin
Shipyard and was first sighted at the
Bandar Abbas naval base on January 22nd.
Here it remained until February 25th.
The vessel departed the Bandar Abbas
naval base sometime before February 25th,
when it participated in the annual Great
Prophet 9 exercise (Payambar-e Azam 9).
For the exercise the vessel was towed into
the Persian Gulf where the IRGC conducted
a widely covered military exercise in
which the mock aircraft carrier served as a
target vessel. Here swarms of IRGC Navy
fast attack craft—reports suggest 100
vessels were involved—first targeted the
vessel with anti-ship missiles and rockets,
then closed in to employ cannons and
machineguns. Next, helicopters moved in
with missiles, rockets and machineguns,
and followed this by
landing special operations
troops who attacked the
aircraft and superstructure.
This was followed by a
remote-controlled explosive
boat being crashed into the
port side of the mock aircraft
carrier. Finally, the vessel
was reportedly attacked
using a coastal defense
cruise missile. Describing
the exercise, the Fars news
agency declared that the
“Iranian naval forces displayed their skills in
targeting enemy vessels and destroyed a
mock U.S. aircraft carrier during the Islamic
Revolution Guard Corps
Navy’s massive war games
in the Persian Gulf and the
Strait of Hormuz.”
The mock aircraft carrier,
however, was not completely destroyed and was
subsequently towed back
to the Bandar Abbas naval
base where the satellite
images below were taken
on March 1, 2015. Damage to
the vessel was extensive—
IRIB the forward port side of the
vessel was heavily damaged
with the deck being peeled up and away,
the sheathing of the superstructure had
been blown away and all the mock aircraft
were missing and presumed destroyed. It
is presently unclear what future plans the
IRGC leadership has for the vessel.
* The Iranian mock aircraft carrier, at 204-meters-long, is approximately two-thirds the size of Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, which are 332-meters-long.
COPYRIGHT © 2015 by ALLSOURCE ANALYSIS, INC.
IRIB
DIS C OV ER Y
Mock Aircraft Carrier Returns to Port
Mock aircraft carrier
An overview of the western section of the Bandar Abbas navy base and port showing the Iranian mock aircraft carrier berthed at a commercial pier, March 1, 2015.
COPYRIGHT © 2015 by ALLSOURCE ANALYSIS, INC.
IMAGE COPYRIGHT © 2015 by DigitalGlobe
DIS C OV ER Y
Tug boat
Mock Aircraft Carrier Returns to Port
Deck severely
damaged and
“peeled” back
Damage to superstructure
Sixteen mock
aircraft missing
- presumably
destroyed.
Possible IRGC
Navy fast attack
craft.
Close-up view of the mock aircraft carrier showing the damage it suffered while participating as a target vessel in the Great Prophet 9 (Payamber-e Azam 9) military
exercise, March 1, 2015.
COPYRIGHT © 2015 by ALLSOURCE ANALYSIS, INC.
IMAGE COPYRIGHT © 2015 by DigitalGlobe
DIS C OV ER Y
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