Remember that in January of this year, there was an aircraft carrier under construction by *** Iran on the Internet?The screen shows a sliding deck and a beveled deck, which is really stunning. Now, it's finally on public display, and it's called the Shahid Bageri, which really has a sliding deck. However, the so-called beveled deck did not, and it should be that the satellite happened to take pictures of the crane lifting the hull components at that time, which caused misunderstanding to the outside world.
Judging from the picture, the glide deck of the Iranian aircraft carrier is cocked at a large angle, which can be used for carrier-based aircraft to glide and take off. But the hull of the large container ship has basically not changed, even the aft building of the tail is there, and it has not been moved to the side, so I don't know how the carrier-based aircraft will land in the futureThe relocation of the shipyard involves the complex problem of chimney diversion, which Iran may not have the technology to do, or in order to save costs, it does not intend to do so.
Although Iran's so-called aircraft carrier is quite different from the traditional aircraft carrier in our impression, it does have a sliding deck and can take on the functions of part of the aircraft carrier, which is enough, at least it is no problem to take off and land some UAVs. And for Iran, this is not the first time that an aircraft carrier has been built, and before the "Shahid Bagheri", it had two more "aircraft carriers".
First of all, the first is the "Shahid Rudaki", also known as the "Rudaki Martyr", which was commissioned on November 19, 2020, some people call it a cruiser, and some call it a quasi-aircraft carrier and an escort aircraft carrier, but it is actually a forward base ship. The prototype is a ro-ro ship, the specific data is 150 meters long, 22 meters wide, displacement 12,000 tons, has a *** deck, no hangar, can only carry 1 Bell 214*** 6 Ababil-2 small suicide UAVs, the rest are missiles and boats.
Interestingly, the "Shahid Rudaki" arranged the dinghye on the deck and entered the water through the slipway below the shipbuilding, which can be regarded as an alternative, although it has almost nothing to do with the aircraft carrier, Iran's alternative aircraft carrier road started from it, and the strange layout of the ship opened up the second vein of Iran's native aircraft carrier overnight. Separately, it is worth noting that the ship's service unit is the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, and not the Iranian Navy.
The second is the "Makran", which was commissioned on January 13, 2021, and has been the largest ship of the Iranian Navy so far, with a very large displacement of 80,000 tons and a full load displacement of more than 120,000 tons, converted from the former Emirati oil tanker "Persian Gulf". The size data is also very exaggerated, 228 meters long, 42 meters wide, and a large flight deck in the bow, which can carry 2 AB 212ASW and 2 ASH-3D "Sea King" anti-submarine *** and 1 RH-53D "Sea Stallion" heavy minelaying and minesweeping*** In addition, the "Pelican-2" vertical take-off and landing UAV used for reconnaissance can be put on board.
Because of this, although the US military calls it a forward base ship along with the "Shahid Rudaki", in fact, the "Makran" is more like an aircraft carrier. From February 26 to March 4 this year, it also visited Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, you know, the Brazilian Navy is equipped with the "Atlantic" amphibious assault ship, that is, the original British "Ocean" *** aircraft carrier, if the two conduct joint training, it will be more able to sit on the identity of the "Markran" *** aircraft carrier.
The third is our protagonist today, the Shahid Bagheri. To be precise, it should be a drone carrier, similar to the Turkish "Anadolu", as for who is the first, it is a matter of the two of them. And the "Shahid Bageri" also has a displacement of 40,000 tons, and the number and model of drones equipped with it in the future will far exceed the previous two, and it is even expected that Iran's innovation will allow flying wing drones to be on board. It is also worth mentioning that there is not only one Iranian drone of this type, in addition to the "Shahid Bagheri", there is also the "Shahid Mahd**i", and it is estimated that the second aircraft carrier will also be unveiled soon. However, do you think that if this continues, Iran will eventually build a real aircraft carrier?