Iran To Mass Produce Navy Assault Boats

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's military has opened production lines for two new types of assault boats, state television reported Monday.

The announcement came a day after Iran said it had developed an unmanned bomber aircraft that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the "ambassador of death" to Iran's enemies.

Both announcements drew a U.S. warning that Iran's weapons advancements were being met by increased military cooperation between Washington and its Arab allies in the region.

One of the vessels unveiled Monday, known as the Zolfaghar, is armed with missiles, state TV reported. The second is called the Seraj, or Light, and is a high-speed patrol boat with a fiberglass body.

Defense Minister Gen. Ahmad Vahidi said the new vessels "will add remarkable powers to Iran's navy."

Iran frequently announces advances in military technology, boasting of self-sufficiency in the face of international sanctions and efforts by the U.S. and other nations to isolate the country over its nuclear program.

U.S. State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowley warned the new weapons could reduce Iran's security as Washington partners with allies in the region to counter a potential Iranian threat.

"This is one of the reasons why we believe that if Iran continues on the path that it's on, that it actually might find itself less secure," he told reporters in Washington.

Iran launched an arms development program during its 1980-88 war with Iraq to compensate for a U.S. weapons embargo and now produces its own tanks, armored personnel carries, missiles and even a fighter plane.

On Sunday, Ahmadinejad inaugurated the country's first domestically built unmanned bomber aircraft.

The 13-foot-long (4-meter-long) drone can carry up to four missiles and has a range of 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) – not far enough to reach archenemy Israel.

Last week, Tehran test-fired a new liquid fuel surface-to-surface missile, the Qiam-1, with advanced guidance systems.

Comments

[thankgodimanatheist8]

09:45 PM on 08/28/2010

Just a tiny point about cost effectiveness:
In the early eighties the US air force had a simulated fight (real missiles were not fired) between one F-16 and six F105s. Of course the F-16 won. It had advanced air to air missiles which had fire and look away capability (they had active radar) but the F105s had passive radars with shorter range.

However when Northrop (makers of the F105) repeated the simulation with 20 F105s vs. 10 F16s the F105s won handily. The problem was that in a real dogfight situation you have to identify friend or foe and that takes time allowing the guy with more lower tech weapons to overwhelm the advanced systems.

The out cone was that the F105 program was canceled and we bought the F16s at a much much higher cost. We even did not support Northrop in it's quest to sell a "foreign" version to allies such as Saudi Arabia.

"The elephant laughs at a thousand ants at his own peril,"
Iranian saying.

[Guytar]

09:38 AM on 08/26/2010

Israel does not dare attack Iran because Russia and China will get very angry.

[Occam123]

05:54 PM on 08/24/2010

Based ion the picture it seems intrepid Iranian heroes are too macho for a chair. Or else Iranian treasury just ran out of funds

[liberty 11]

10:46 AM on 08/27/2010

That's a picture of Russian gun that Iran doesn't have installed on any of its vessels.

I would say, it's a file photo.

[Whinger]

04:55 PM on 08/24/2010

Who cares?

They're free to build as many as they want, the war they anticipate will never happen!

[Occam123]

04:41 PM on 08/24/2010

Supported by Islamic Heroes Surfboard Squadron Iranian Navy is invincible.

[dotmafia]

12:26 PM on 08/24/2010

so much for obama's iranian diplomacy, yet another broken promise...

[MarcEdward]

03:30 PM on 08/24/2010

I won't even pretend to understand what you are talking about.

[Dashboard Buddha]

03:59 PM on 08/24/2010

Yet another unintelligible response.

[omobob]

12:18 PM on 08/24/2010

The Iranians talk a lot about Israel but the fact is the oil refineries and oil fields of Saudi Arabia are a far more internationally damaging and closer target than Tel Aiv. The little boats are of course for oil tankers not navy vessels.

[G52]

02:01 PM on 08/24/2010

True!

If you threaten the bull however you can expect the horn!

[MarcEdward]

03:31 PM on 08/24/2010

The Saudis are bulls?
Why did they need us to save them from Saddam?

[thankgodimanatheist8]

09:34 PM on 08/28/2010

Remember Iran has not attacked any other nation for 250 years but has been attacked numerous times in the same time. Even now, USA and Israel continually talk about attacking Iran.

Iran is not a rich country being able to afford $600 hammers (like the USA) or given billions of dollars of military aid (like Israel).

Iran if attacked will close the straights of Hormuz if attacked. It is the cheapest way of defending itself against wars of aggression.

During the Reagan backed Iran-Iraq war by our good buddy Saddam Hussein the Iranian ingenuity showed itself by having small boats loaded with sharp metal waste. This was reverse of the stealth technology. These boats were towed behind wooden boats.

The French supplied Exocet missiles would lock onto the unnamed reverse stealth boats (seeing their radar signatures as those of super tankers).

We should not minimize Iranian small boat technology.

[omobob]

11:08 PM on 08/28/2010

Agreed. Hubris is the surest way to lose a war. We should not minimize Iranian small boat technology is correct. Hitting us in the pocket book ( Incresed oil prices in the US.) rather than the US Navy is the smarter play for Iran.

[New Yorker]

10:42 AM on 08/24/2010

A bunch of fiberglass "Cigarette Boats" with machine guns may make for great drug smuggler runners but attacking an actual warship with them is what is called a suicide attack. America spends us into oblivion on weapons systems that defy belief, the Iranians are doing little more than throwing rocks in the face of such weapons. This is probably meant to make the Iranian population feel good, far more than pose any kind of plausible threat to the US warships offshore.

[omobob]

11:55 AM on 08/24/2010

The history of Gulf wars tells us it is civilian oil tankers that will be the target not the US Navy.

[liberty 11]

03:48 PM on 08/24/2010

US Navy will be the target. The 80s Tanker war started by Iraqis too and it was about targeting enemy's economic resources. It wasn't a blockade per se. History of Iran/Iraq war is a little more complicated than is told in the west. Iraq was losing from 1983 on, he hid his planes in Saudi Arabia, moved his oil using kuwaiti tankers, and was provided and green lighted to use chemical weapons against not only military but civilian targets in Iran. By 1988, US got directly involved and gave Iran 2 opportunities to draw US into the war. That's when the ceasefire was signed.

[Paulo1]

10:33 AM on 08/24/2010

Hmmm light attack craft. They must be subcontracting to the Somali's.

You know what we call light attack craft in gaming? Fodder.

Not a military threat, just a reason to shoot them up.

[Wozzeck]

09:45 AM on 08/24/2010

It would be interesting to correlate the release of these scare stories with the timing of oil speculation trades. No doubt those speculators whose trading spiked immediately prior to 9-11 (and whose names have never been released!} are involved.

[jabidi]

04:33 PM on 08/24/2010

Not to mention huge surges in purchases of put options on stock of some of the Airlines and Call options on stock of weapons manufacturer, etc...

[GonzoBrawler]

08:47 AM on 08/24/2010

For what reason would they "mass produce" navy assault boats, unless they were planning on going to war in the very near future. Lets hope the people that claimed Iraq has WMD's, arent the same people that are claiming this.

[Taghi]

09:15 AM on 08/24/2010

Iran cannot project power like US does by using huge aircraft carriers.

What Iran tries to do is to keep these carriers away from her coasts in a war situation.

This method of fighting will result in thousands of death on Iranians' side. Can they take high number of casualties and continue this method for years? It looks that they do not have any other choice and they have done this in the past during 8 years of Iran/Iraq war at land.

This is the first time in history that US navy faces an asymmetric naval warfare and nobody knows for sure the outcome.

It is an asymmetrical warfare because on one side there are thousands of small boats each potentially can cause small fires and holes on a big navy ship that can obliterate one of these boats each minute but not all of them at once.

[omobob]

11:53 AM on 08/24/2010

BTW: those Huge Carrier Groups have not won a single Naval War Game. Subs rule, Carriers drool. Subs will trade themselves for a carrier any day. Carriers are large floating targets.

[Dosadi]

10:41 PM on 08/24/2010

Get real. We have war games where we practice fighting various countries. The last two times we simulated attacking Iran in war games we lost. The commander portraying the Iranians kicked our butts but good. We have wonderful weapons but do not know how to take over a country for our weakness is our lack of unity on all policies.

[Caru]

08:05 AM on 08/24/2010

Iraq has WMD

Iran will have WMD

Hm...

[Hambali]

06:06 AM on 08/24/2010

Despite this "insignificant" technological breakthrough, Iran is now a regional superpower and nothing short of a full military invasion of the country would change this fact.

[rougebaisers]

05:57 AM on 08/24/2010

So sad that the people of Iran, who want nothing to do with this militaristic brutal leadership, will be forced to live through the hell they are going to bring to their country. Their arrogance will be their downfall, and Ahminijob will meet his end at the hands of a woman.

[MolliBlum]

08:31 AM on 08/24/2010

rougebaisers: "Their arrogance will be their downfall". Spoken like Ahmadenijad himself!

[MarcEdward]

11:52 AM on 08/24/2010

Iran isn't trying to start a war with anybody, they are obviously trying to defend themselves.

[greeneyes51654m]

01:46 PM on 08/24/2010

That's a good laugh...

[G52]

09:00 PM on 08/24/2010

You are incredibly ill informed!

Iran is seeking regional dominance and we set them up to do it!

Defend themselves? Not if they attack tanker traffic!

That would be an act of aggression if not an act of war!

[Hambali]

05:37 AM on 08/24/2010

The rich Arab gulf countries are nothing but laughing stocks. Despite the $billions in annual military spending, they can not defend their borders without the US. Their $billions arsenals are trophies meant to protect their ruling class against their ruling subjects. Their forces are wimps who wouldn't last a day on a battlefield, even if they posses half of US arsenals.

Iran is a different ball game. Iranians are proud people willing to fight to defend their honor at all cost, and I respect that. Those people dismissing technological developments in Iran as mere bluffs, ought to know that Iran has already proven itself to be a regional superpower after its proxy war with Israel in 2006. It is the only reason why Israel and/or US would not dare attack it.

Many Arabs despise the Iranians, but they despise their leaders, the US and its allies even more. Iran's technological advancements, no matter how small compared to US, should not be overlooked. Besides threatening US-Israeli military dominance, it fosters a "yes we can" hope for indigenous technological development and self reliance. With oil already in their possession, such an accomplishment could put the Western world at their mercy. The more Iran progresses, the more the Arabs feel inclined to follow suit. Hence, It is no surprise the MSM reacts to every "insignificant" technological breakthrough in Iran as if the world is about to come to an end.

[norcalcool]

06:22 AM on 08/24/2010

I totally agree...Persian's have historically been a world power at one time or another. I would not underestimate the resolve of the Iranian government. Although they are religious zealots and extremely xenophobic (remind you of any radical republicans you know?) they are quite resourceful.

There are two problems we are facing as a nation regarding this issue, first can we keep the Israeli government from unilaterally bombing Iran, which would most likely launch an all out war...again. Two, can we convince the Arab nations that we've had it too and will work together to end this before all out war breaks out, forcing Israel to sit at the table and negotiate a peace with its neighbor, exposing the true past to all nations on how the Israel state was really created, by use of the same terrorist tactics used against Israel now. And make sure everything is fair and enforceable!

But that is if the US has the political fortitude in case something like this happens...right now, Israel believes that they are the puppet masters for our puppet government, look at how deep their government sleeps with our government both figuratively and literally....

Iran is only doing this because it sees Israel as out of control, not being sanctioned for the mistreatment of Arabs and getting away with murder. Study Israel's true history, you'll understand EXACTLY why Arabs are pissed off and when forced will run to Iran's aid.

[liberty 11]

12:52 PM on 08/24/2010

Israelis can't even bomb Iran with US help. Natanz straight line is 1600km, with turn around 3200km. Maximum combat range for highly modified Israeli F-16s and 15s is about 1000 knots or 1800km. Israel has not stealth technology, nor does it have intelligence regarding Iranian AD locations. To top it off, US controls Iraqi airspace, operates Saudi E-3 and even mans the large x-band radar in Israel.

[LanceThruster]

03:19 AM on 08/27/2010

"Persian's have historically been a world power at one time or another."

----

Though this is considered a fake, promoted by the Shah of Iran of all people (not a big human rights guy), the sentiment is praiseworthy.

In the Bill of Human Rights of Cyrus the Great, we read:

Freedom and tolerance of thought, speech, religion; choice of place of residence, coming and going, jobs and professions, will be on equal terms and conditions for everyone.

No injury, injustice or harassment is allowed to be done to anyone.

In this way Cyrus says that I have sown the seed of amity, friendship and affection among nations and have granted the people peace of mind, security, tranquility and comfort.

From Cyrus the Great, King of Iran, sixth century B.C.

fake details found here: http://www.livius.org/ct-cz/cyrus_I/cyrus_cylinder.html

[Craig]

01:16 AM on 09/07/2010

One "likely scenario" I've read lately would start with an extended naval engagement to destroy Iran's ability to block the Straights of Hormuz. Likely because the US and/or Israel would not risk the economic chaos (cutting off oil supplies) with land-based attack only. Every country would be against a land attack without securing the seas first.