Mock Aircraft Carrier Returns to Port...Mock Aircraft Carrier Returns to Port IRIB IRIB UAE Iran Oman * The Iranian mock aircraft carrier, at 204-meters-long, is approximately two-thirds

COPYRIGHT © 2015 by ALLSOURCE ANALYSIS, INC.

DISCOVERY

IMAGE COPYRIGHT © 2015 by DigitalGlobe

March 16, 2015

Iran Mock Aircraft Carrier Returns to PortJoseph S. Bermudez Jr.


DISCOVERY

Location: Bandar Abbas, Iran

Coordinates: 27.141888° N, 56.201947° E

Date of Report: March 16, 2015

Date of Imagery: March 1, 2015

Assessment:

During mid-2013 the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy began construc-tion 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) approxi-mately 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 complet-ed 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 com-pletely 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—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.

M o c k A i r c r a f t C a r r i e r R e t u r n s t o P o r t

IRIB

IRIB

UAE

Iran

Oman

* 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.


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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.

Mock aircraft carrier


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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.

Deck severely damaged and “peeled” back

Tug boat

Possible IRGC Navy fast attack

craft.

Sixteen mock aircraft missing

- presumably destroyed.

Damage to superstructure

All satellite imagery in this document: DigitalGlobe Inc. Ground imagery in this document: IRIB.

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DISCOVERY

Mock Aircraft Carrier Returns to Port...Mock Aircraft Carrier Returns to Port IRIB IRIB UAE Iran Oman * The Iranian mock aircraft carrier, at 204-meters-long, is approximately two-thirds

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