How far can the Iranian Navy go?The shield ship is far from the end, and the cruiser is also likely to appear
The commissioning of the destroyer "Dillman" has attracted a lot of attention from the Iranian Navy, as the country's second shield ship, which, despite its tonnage equivalent to the corvette Type 056 of the Chinese Navy, exudes future potential. Despite its outward resemblance to the British "Al Vand" class frigates, the "Dirkman" has been optimized and upgraded in terms of superstructure design, ship electronics and ** systems, demonstrating the technological progress of the Iranian Navy.
With the easing of economic, military and technological sanctions against Iran, Iran is expected to purchase a large amount of equipment from other countries. This will provide Iran with the opportunity to advance its military technology by dismantling, analyzing, and studying this equipment. The introduction-copying-domestic model will be a critical path for the future development of the Iranian Navy, and it is also a strategy adopted by many countries with military ambitions.
So far, the Iranian Navy has produced two types of missile destroyers in China, namely the Mojie class and the Mojie-2 class. Among them, the Mojie class includes the "Jamaran", "Sahand" and "Talayekh", while the Mojie-2 class has "Damavande-2" and "Dierman". Although there are some differences in the design of the two destroyers, the most significant difference is that the Mojie-2 class uses Iran's new integrated radio frequency mast, is equipped with four "Hawkeye" phased array radar antennas, and uses the latest missile vertical launch system and shipboard automated combat operating system. The Mojie-1, on the other hand, still uses old radars and traditional anti-aircraft missile launchers. This shows the unremitting efforts of the Iranian Navy in technological innovation and equipment upgrading.
From the point of view of carrier-based **, these two Iranian destroyers are mainly dominated by imitation. For example, their anti-aircraft missiles are of the "Sayed-2" type, an improved version of the American Standard-1 medium-range anti-aircraft missile;And the anti-ship missile uses the "Noor" anti-ship missile, which is an Iranian imitation of the C-802 anti-ship missile. In terms of naval guns, they all use Iranian imitation of the Otto Melera 76mm rapid-fire naval gun. Therefore, at the moment the Iranian Navy is still in the stage of development of relying mainly on imitation.
Looking ahead, Iran is expected to move towards a completely domestic path, with independent design, independent research and development, and independent construction. Taking the destroyer "Dillman" as an example, its tonnage is only 1,420 tons, which is similar to that of the "Alwand" class frigate, but its ship electronics and armament are already quite advanced, and both radar and missiles have ushered in a significant improvement. However, without improving all the basic conditions, independent improvement** and radar configuration may lead to problems such as limited space, insufficient power, unstable power, and reduced material reserve space.
The solution to these problems is not difficult, but Iran has not yet taken this step. One potential solution would be to enlarge the hull in equal proportions. If Iran is not 100 percent confident in its own ship type, it can first try to enlarge the hull in equal proportions. For example, the length and width of the destroyer "Dillman" can be enlarged in equal proportions to get a medium-sized destroyer of about 3,000 tons**, or even a further twofold magnification to obtain a larger destroyer of about 6,000 tons.
After that, Iran can configure a hangar for this ** and add more missile vertical launch units. After all, the biggest problem of the destroyer "Dierman" at the moment is the lack of hangars, and the relatively small number of vertical launch units, which leads to insufficient fire continuity. The main change and cost required for this design change is only to configure one more power pack and complete the connection and parallel operation of the two power systems. After completing this step, Iran will have the opportunity to sum up its experience, analyze the changes in various physical characteristics of the enlarged hull and prepare for the construction of new, larger **.
When it comes to the size of the ships of the Iranian Navy, the size of their construction is mainly influenced by the need to perform the mission. Iran has named the 1,400-ton small ** "destroyer", which may be both for self-glorification and to reflect the reality of the small sea area of the Persian Gulf. In operations around the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea, Iran does not need to have excessive tonnage**. It is expected that by 2030, Iran's largest tonnage of combat ships will remain below 6000 tons.
If the 1400-ton ** can be called a "destroyer" in Iran, then in the future once Iran builds the 6000-ton **, it is possible to classify it as a "cruiser". Britain's "Jane's Defense" has reported that the top level of the Iranian Ministry of Defense said that it will devote itself to the development and manufacture of 6,000-ton heavy-duty ** in the future. This suggests that Iran may launch a model similar to the Aegis cruiser. This new type of ** may be unveiled in the near future!