(yet) of additional capabilities and armament. According to some analysts, in the future she could play a special forces support role quite similar to the US Ocean Trader. The most impressive Iranian naval converted vessel is however the massive Makran, formerly an oil tanker, now fitted with helicopter facilities and a large cargo deck. Both in terms of dimensions (230 m) and role, Makran closely resembles the US Expeditionary Sea Base. Makran can operate large helicopters, including the CH-53, drones, and carries a number of fast boats and Swimmer Delivery Vehicles with heavy-lifting cranes for launch and recover. During her maiden voyage, from Bandar Abbas to St Petersburg, there were as many as seven Peykaap-II highspeed missile boats on deck. Lately, in mid July 2022, the Iranian Navy showed that a number of its units, including auxiliary and landing vessels, could operate many UAS of different types, for reconnaissance, attack or for logistic resupply. An Iranian naval squadron ready to deploy in the Indian Ocean was said to have now unprecedented surveillance and attack capabilities, thanks to the large number of drones carried onboard, not requiring heavy logistic/ technical footprint. What is probably worth noting, is that in all the solutions described above, the navies found a sort of shortcut to deploy innovative military capabilities without having to pay hefty costs. Commercial standards were used, adapting existing hulls to new roles, sometimes even retaining the merchant vessel livery and legal status. In some scenario, not facing high-intensity conflicts, these platforms can provide interesting capabilities, freeing scarce and more expensive warships for other tasks. likely supporting the attacks against shipping in the area. MV Saviz was regularly resupplied by other Iranian-flagged vessels, and usually carried on deck three fast inshore attack boats (FIAC) and some containers. She was formally defined by Tehran as “a non-military ship, providing security along shipping lines and combatting piracy”. After a series of incidents involving both Iranian and Israeli-flagged vessels, on 6 April 2021 MV Aviz was damaged by an explosion (either a drifting mine or a limpet charge, nobody knows…). MV Saviz was almost immediately replaced by a similar vessel, MV Behshad. Yet, Iran continued with this approach, and modified some other merchant vessels. IRIS Shahid-Raudaki is a converted 150m ro-ro ferry, operated by the IRGC and fitted with some weaponry and a helicopter landing pad. Her tactical possibilities are yet to be defined, as the full weaponry shown at the commissioning ceremony in more resembling a floating weapon exhibition than a combat-capable vessel. The notional armament includes two 23mm guns and a number of machine guns, but interest was raised by the presence of six Ababil-2 UAS (mostly used for reconnaissance, though the Houtis effectively operate them as kamikaze drones), eight Qader anti-ship missiles (a variant of the Chinese C-802) and a mobile Khordad-3 anti-aircraft missile launcher (a derivative of the Russian BUK, credited with shooting down an US RQ-4A Global Hawk in 2019). Four speedboats were also carried on the somewhat crowded deck, while the hangar/garage could still hold other equipment. Shahid Mahdavi is larger, a 240m container ships being currently converted to her new military role. Despite the new haze-gray paint and the presence of a number of 23mm anti-aircraft guns, there is no indication 40 · MT 5/2022 From the Bridge The Iranian Navy Shahid Roudaki ro-ro ferry was converted to operate as a multipurpose support/combat vessel. The pictures demonstrated a wide range of different weapons. While some are a credible solution, other look just like a temporary add-on with likely operational limitations. (Photo: IRIN) The Iranian Navy’s Makran resemble quite closely the behemoth US Navy Expeditionary Sea Base, though maintaining large oil storage for different purposes. In her first deployment she carried one helicopter and five Peykaap-II fast missile boats on deck. (Photo: IRIN)
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