For some years now, the Iranian naval forces have had a number of unusual units at their disposal. The converted merchant ships are intended for the use of drones.

For over ten years, rumours have been circulating on social media that Iran was planning to acquire its own aircraft carriers. At the beginning of 2014, these rumours seemed to become reality when satellite images emerged showing a ship in a shipyard in the Persian Gulf that looked deceptively similar to an American NIMITZ-class carrier from above.

In April of that year, however, photos emerged which showed that the ship was merely a floating dummy with an estimated size of 70 per cent of a NIMITZ carrier. On deck, there were even F-5 Tiger II fighter planes and faithful models of the F/A-18 Hornet in the colours of the US Navy. Iranian social media channels reported that the fake aircraft carrier (fake aircraft carrier) - as it was called in the media at the time - was part of the set of an Iranian feature film.

In February 2015, the true purpose of the aircraft carrier mock-up was finally revealed when Iranian naval forces bombed the floating mock-up from the water and from the air, apparently causing severe damage. This was possibly intended as a sign of Iranian strength during ongoing negotiations on the country's nuclear programme. The dummy was subsequently repaired and had to serve as a target ship off the Iranian coast again in July 2020.

As Iran is almost completely isolated politically, the country is often reliant on innovative military solutions. For example, the Iranian navy acquired a 228-metre oil tanker called AL BUHAIRA, which was completed in 2010 by Sumitomo Heavy Industries in Japan, and converted it into a naval vessel in the course of 2020.

During the conversion phase at the Iran Shipbuilding & Offshore Industries Complex shipyard in Bandar Abbas, it was given an aircraft hangar on the upper deck and an extensive helicopter landing deck. According to Iranian state media, the ship, christened MAKRAN with the tactical identification 441, will be 42 metres wide and displace 121,000 tonnes. Visually, it resembles the US Navy's amphibious ships known as the Expeditionary Sea Base, which are themselves based on a commercial tanker design. However, its utility deck, on which amphibious vehicles and equipment can be stored, is missing.

Naval analysts assume that the MAKRAN will be used as a mother ship in asymmetric military operations to transport combat divers, speedboats or mines. According to Iranian information, there is space for a total of seven helicopters on the flight deck.

The MAKRAN was officially commissioned into the regular Iranian Navy on 12 January 2021 and made headlines in early 2023 when it crossed the Atlantic together with the frigate DENA and arrived in Rio de Janeiro for a port visit at the end of February. Following the commissioning of the MAKRAN, it was announced that two more ships of the same design are currently being refitted. The names are KHUZESTAN and KURDISTAN. Both are due to enter service in the next few years.

Equivalents

Interestingly, a ship similar to the MAKRAN is operating for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard of Iran, but at 150 metres long, 22 metres wide and with a displacement of 12,000 tonnes, it is significantly smaller. The ship, christened SHAHID ROUDAKI with the registration 110-1, is probably the Italian-built former Ro-ro cargo ship GALAXY F. Conceptually, the SSHAHID ROUDAKI is likely to perform similar tasks to the MAKRAN of the regular navy. The two ships are often referred to as aircraft carriers in the Iranian press. A term that was even adopted by the Chinese state news agency Xinhua when it referred to the SHAHID ROUDAKI as a „light fleet carrier“. Footage of the commissioning ceremony shown in the Iranian media featured a Sevom Khordad air defence system, several speedboats, a Bell 412 helicopter and six Ababil-2 drones manufactured by Hesa.

The SHAHID ROUDAKI was put into service with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard on 19 November 2020. She was followed in March 2023 by the SHAHID MAHDAVI, a ship three times as large as the SHAHID ROUDAKI with a length of 240 metres, a width of 27 metres and a displacement of 36,000 tonnes. It was developed from the container ship SARVIN, which was built in 2000, and is seen as an intermediate step towards the development of a possible Iranian aircraft carrier.

Images of the 240-metre-long, 32-metre-wide and 41,978-tonne SHAHID BAGHERI first appeared at the end of 2022. The container ship, which once flew the Iranian flag and was built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea in 2000, was converted into a helicopter carrier and drone aircraft carrier at the Iran Shipbuilding & Offshore Industries Complex in Bandar Abbas. In the photos that appeared on Iranian social media channels at the end of 2022, it can be seen that the upper deck was removed before the flight deck was installed and the ship was painted grey. On the photos, parts of a sloping flight deck can already be seen on the port side of the ship, which unusually runs in front of the superstructure from port to starboard. As the bridge superstructures are located at the stern of the ship, it cannot be equipped with a traditional aircraft carrier layout. Photos from May 2023 showed the SHAHID BAGHERI with a ski-jump at the bow for the first time. On 21 August 2024, photos of the completed SHAHID BAGHERI were finally posted on the Iranian Telegram and Twitter channels. Satellite images from 23 November 2024 then revealed the beginning of the sea trials of the unusual ship.

Public presentation

On 6 February 2025, the SHAHID BAGHERI was officially presented to the public in Iranian news agencies and state media and put into the service of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard. Numerous images showed aircraft parked on the flight deck, including Bell 206, Bell 212 and Mil Mi-171 helicopters as well as various types of Iranian drones. Some of the drones on deck were striking, being scaled-down versions of the Qaher 313 manned fighter jet prototype from 2013. These drones bear the designation JAS-313 and were on board in versions 20 and 60 per cent the size of the manned Qaher 313. As far as is known, the rustic and mock-up-like Qaher 313 never took off.

In an Iranian television report, which found its way onto social media as a video file, it was possible to watch the take-off of a smaller version of the JAS-313 via the sloping flight deck and the ski-jump at the nose. The small drone, reminiscent of a remote-controlled RC model aircraft, was previously transported to the flight deck using an aircraft lift. However, a separate aircraft hangar was not shown. Another video showed an Iranian Ababil-3 reconnaissance drone, a type of drone that is also used by the terrorist organisations Hezbollah and Hamas, taking off over the 180-metre-long flight deck and landing, including braking with a safety cable, as is used on numerous „real“ aircraft carriers of other nations.

In addition to flight operations, the possibility of deploying a dinghy via davits on both sides of the hull was also demonstrated. According to reports published by Iranian state media, the ship is capable of serving as a mother ship for unmanned surface and underwater drones for reconnaissance and combat purposes. There are probably launch containers for missiles at the stern of the ship and an automatic cannon is installed at the bow. In the area behind the superstructure there is probably space for an independent helicopter landing deck or additional missile launchers. According to official Iranian information, the ship is to be equipped with short and medium-range anti-aircraft armament and electronic warfare equipment, but no such equipment could be sighted from the photo and video material. The Iranian media also presented images of the ship's hospital and the leisure facilities on board, including the football pitch and basketball court.

Conclusion

The fact that the SHAHID BAGHERI still has the bridge superstructures of the underlying container ship and that these extend across the entire width of the ship means that the ship can never operate as a traditional aircraft carrier with a continuous flight deck. As the bridge superstructures are directly adjacent to the sloping flight deck, the slightest error in the approach of the drones landing on the ship can lead to a collision - with potentially fatal consequences.

Many Western naval analysts are currently puzzling over the operational profile of the SHAHID BAGHERI, as the Iranian Navy does not have any significant frigates or destroyers that would be suitable for accompanying the drone carrier worldwide. According to Iranian media, the ship has a range of 22,000 kilometres and is to be deployed around the globe. In a conflict with a Western navy, the ship is unlikely to have much chance of survival. In asymmetric warfare, however, it can almost certainly disrupt civilian shipping in the Persian Gulf and the surrounding maritime regions. In addition, the ship has great propaganda value for its own population. According to official statements, at least one more ship of the same design is currently planned.

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This article originally appeared in Navy Ops No. 19.
Stefan Ulsamer is a freelance journalist specialising in marine technology.