According to reports, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy received two new Soleimani-class ** missile frigates in the Persian Gulf.
The two catamarans are armed with 16 anti-aircraft missiles, 6 anti-ship cruise missiles and 6 ground attack missiles.
Each warship weighs 600 tons, is powered by four propulsion engines, and can carry one combat *** and three missile boats.
The Soleimani-class frigates are the first missile frigates of the same name in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, named after the former commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani. He was killed in a U.S. drone strike on January 3, 2020, and is considered a martyr by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps.
This frigate has a two-hull design with sharp angles, which gives it more ** characteristics. Its design bears a certain resemblance to China's Type 022 missile boats and Taiwan's Tuojiang-class missile boats. According to Iran**, the ship's hull is made of aluminum, not steel, which reduces weight and is a new innovation in Iranian shipbuilding.
Such frigates are also equipped with missiles of different ranges, including 200 km, 300 km and 750 km missiles, as well as a cruise missile with a range of 2000 km called "GHADR-474". It is also Iran's first warship to be equipped with a vertical launch system (VLS), which includes six larger units for launching surface-to-surface cruise missiles and 16 smaller units for launching surface-to-air missiles.
The appearance of such frigates may reflect a strategic shift in Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, from the past emphasis on low-tech solutions and asymmetric warfare to the possession of more traditional naval capabilities. Such frigates allow the IRGC Navy to operate in farther seas, even up to 9,000 kilometers away.