Ghadir-class submarine

Ghadir (Persian: غدیر‎, pronounced [ɣædiːɾ]; named after the Ghadir Khumm)[1] is a class of midget submarines built by Iran specifically for cruising within the shallow waters of the Persian Gulf. The Islamic Republic of Iran Navy is the sole operator of this class, whose all submarines serve in the Southern Fleet. No submarine of this class is active at the Northern Fleet, i.e. the Caspian Sea.

For the anti-ship cruise missile, see Ghadir (missile).
For the radar system, see Phased array radar Ghadir.
Class overview
Name: Ghadir
Builders: Marine Industries Organization
Operators: Islamic Republic of Iran Navy
Preceded by: Nahang class
In service: 2007–present
General characteristics
Type: Midget submarine
Displacement:
  • 117 tonnes surfaced
  • 125 tonnes submerged
Length: 29 m (95 ft)
Beam: 9 m (30 ft)
Draught: 8.2 m (27 ft)
Propulsion: Diesel-electric propulsion
Speed:
  • 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced
  • 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) submerged
Crew: 7
Armament: 2 × 533mm torpedo tubes

History

Iran had shown interest in midget submarines in the 1980s.[2] According to the Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships, Iran assembled a midget in Bandar Abbas that was completed in 1987 in an unsuccessful attempt.[2] Iran reportedly purchased a second midget of another design from North Korea, delivered in 1988.[2] It is alleged that by 1993, nine midget submarines –able to displace 76 tons surfaced and 90 tons submerged, with a top speed between 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) and 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)– were imported from North Korea.[2]

Existence of Ghadir class was first known in February 2004.[3] An unclassified 2017 report by the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence stated that Iran purchased at least one Yono class submarine from North Korea in that year.[4]

In May 2005, Iran announced that it has started mass production of its own indigenous midget submarines, and aired footage of one cruising at sea level on television.[1] Later that month, the submarine was tested during the third phase of military exercise Ettehad 84.[5] In November 2007, commander of the IRIN Commodore Habibollah Sayyari said the second ship in the class has been completed after ten years of construction.[6] Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei was quoted saying to Iran's navy commanders on the day the submarine was launched: "Today, you have been able to design and build many of the military requirements. We have become self-sufficient from other countries."[6]

In May 2014, one of the ships in the class –Ghadir 953– cruised in the Indian Ocean to make a port call to Karachi, Pakistan along with a naval group consisting of Falakhon (P226), Khanjar (P230), Hendijan (1401) and Deylam (424), participating in a joint drill with Pakistan Navy vessels.[7][8]

Design

Sources are inconsistent about the class which Ghadir submarines are derived from. When it was first unveiled, some experts pointed that it is similar in appearance to Yugo class submarines, while those who maintained a contradicting view said that they are about 1.5 times larger than the latter and more similar to Sang-O class.[9] Other sources say they are based on Yono class.[3][10]

Ghadir submarines displace 117 tonnes (115 long tons) when at the surface and 125 tonnes (123 long tons) while submerged.[3] The class design is 29 m (95 ft) long, would have a beam of 9 m (30 ft) and a draft of 8.2 m (27 ft).[3] The submarines have a maximum surface speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) and a maximum submerged speed of 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph).[3]

They have a secondary retractable propeller and are powered by diesel–electric machinery,[3] and fitted with two 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes.[3][11]

Submarines in the class are equipped with sonars of an unknown type.[3]

Ghadir's crew totals 7 officers and men.[3]

Operational capabilities

Ghadir submarines are alleged to have launched different types of torpedoes, namely Valfajr[11] and Hoot.[12] Anti-ship cruise missiles Nasr-1[12] and Jask-2[13] are both reportedly launched successfully, the latter being developed specifically for launch from submarines. The ships in the class are also capable of laying naval mines in addition to retrieving frogmen for special operations.[14] They are assumed to have "an extremely limited endurance",[15] while described as "very maneuverable", as well as being able to "sit silently submerged while waiting for its prey".[12] Considering that Ghadir submarines could possess only two torpedoes or missiles, Joseph Trevithick writes that Iranians may plan to use them "en masse to launch barrages of the missiles".[16]

Vijay Sakhuja, director of the National Maritime Foundation, comments that the class is "[the] most difficult to detect particularly when resting on the seabed and this could be the possible tactics that the Iranian Navy could employ during hostilities. Further, given their numbers, these could overwhelm enemy's technological superiority".[17]

According to U.S. Navy Captain Tracy A. Vincent, Ghadir submarines can provide additional surveillance capability and create a new layer of defense for Iranian naval forces.[18] Commander Daniel Dolan maintains that the submarines are well-designed for the purpose of guerrilla warfare, ambush and anti-access/area denial (A2/AD), describing them as potentially more expendable in comparison to Kilo class attack submarines. He argues that American fleet is prone to a high threat environment created by sheer number of these "small but lethal threats".[19] Royal Navy Commander Ryan Ramsey, who captained nuclear submarine HMS Turbulent (S87) in the Persian Gulf has stated that the submarines are a threat to western forces operating in the region, adding that "[t]he Ghadir-class are tiny submarines but have enough torpedoes to sink a couple of ships".[20]

Mark Episkopos opines that Ghadir submarines maintain "strong offensive capabilities" that contribute to the "dangerous" subsurface fleet of Iran.[21]

IRIN commander Hossein Khanzadi has said the class "can do what the U-boats did during World War II".[22]

Number built

Iran does not disclose the number of its submarines.[23] Sources differ in determining the number of Ghadir submarines built and operated, with estimates ranging between 10 and 21 units, as of 2019.[24]

According to 2020 edition of the Military Balance published by the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS), Iran operates 14 submarines in this class.[11] Farzin Nadimi of The Washington Institute estimated that about 20 are in service as of 2020.[12]

On the report of Jane's Fighting Ships, one was lost in April 2014 during an exercise,[3] while American military intelligence says she was reportedly sank on patrol, possibly due to collision with rocks.[4]

Anthony Cordesman wrote in 2016 that Iran has up to 17 Ghadir submarines.[25]

Known commissionings
This list may be incomplete.
Eight Ghadir-class submarines moored in 2016
  • May 2005: 1 (at least, more possible)[1][26]
  • 28 November 2007: 1[3][27]
  • 27 November 2008: 1[3]
  • 1 June 2009: 3[28]
  • 28 November 2009: 2[29]
  • 8 August 2010: 4[3][30]
  • 26 November 2011: 3[3][31]
  • 10 February 2012: 2[3][32]
  • 28 November 2012: 2[33]
  • 28 November 2018: 1 (pennant number 955)[34]

Recommissionings after overhaul
  • 28 November 2018: 1 (pennant number 942)[34]
  • 8 April 2020: 1[35]

See also

References
  1. "Iran building submarine", The Associated Press, Daily Press, p. B8, 11 May 2005, ProQuest 349435067
  2. Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen; Budzbon, Przemysaw, eds. (1996), "Iran", Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1947–1995, Conway Maritime Press, p. 185, ISBN 978-1557501325
  3. Saunders, Stephen; Philpott, Tom, eds. (2015), "Iran", IHS Jane's Fighting Ships 2015–2016, Jane's Fighting Ships (116th Revised ed.), Coulsdon: IHS Jane's, p. 384, ISBN 9780710631435, OCLC 919022075
  4. Iranian Naval Forces: A Tale of Two Navies (PDF), Office of Naval Intelligence, February 2017, p. 31, ISBN 978-0160939686
  5. "Iranian TV reports "successful" naval exercises in Sea of Oman", BBC Monitoring Middle East, 13 May 2005, ProQuest 458687894
  6. Dareini, Ali Akbar (29 November 2007), "Iranian state TV claims new submarine launched", The Associated Press, Oakland Tribune, ProQuest 352207721
  7. "Iranian Navy's submarine returns home from Indian Ocean mission", BBC Monitoring Middle East, 14 May 2014, ProQuest 1524224130
  8. "Iranian naval ships visit Pakistan", Pakistan Press International, 1 May 2014, ProQuest 1520570604
  9. Kim, Duk-Ki (Winter 2013), "The Republic of Korea's Counter-asymmetric Strategy: Lessons from ROKS Cheonan and Yeonpyeong Island", Naval War College Review, United States Navy's Naval War College, 65 (1): 76, ISSN 0028-1484
  10. Rezaei, Farhad (Fall 2019), "Iran's Military Capability: The Structure and Strength of Forces", Insight Turkey, 21 (4): 209, JSTOR 26842784
  11. The International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) (2020). "Middle East and North Africa". The Military Balance 2020. 120. Routledge. pp. 348–352. doi:10.1080/04597222.2020.1707968. ISBN 9780367466398.
  12. Nadimi, Farzin (April 2020), "Iran's Evolving Approach to Asymmetric Naval Warfare: Strategy and Capabilities in the Persian Gulf" (PDF), The Washington Institute for Near East Policy (Policy Focus) (164), p. 23; Appendix A: Iran's Main Naval Weapons Systems, p. 53; Appendix B: IRIN’s Major Operational Naval Vessels, p. 57, retrieved 15 July 2020
  13. Binnie, Jeremy (16 September 2020), "Iran claims longer range submarine missile", Janes.com
  14. "Dossier, Part I: From the Navies", Naval Forces, Aldershot, Germany, 27 (4): 138, 2006, ISSN 0722-8880
  15. Binnie, Jeremy (10 April 2013), "Iran to unveil new submarine in August", Jane's Defence Weekly, 50 (19)
  16. Trevithick, Joseph (25 February 2019), "Iran Claims It Tested A Submarine Launched Anti-Ship Missile Capable Of Standoff Strikes", The Drive
  17. Sakhuja, Vijay (January 2015), The Indian Ocean in 2015, PCS Special Report, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, p. 8, JSTOR resrep09399
  18. Vincent, Tracy A. (May 2013), "A New Era: The Iranian Navy, Operational Expansion, and Soft Power", St Antony's International Review, 9 (1), JSTOR 26229106
  19. Dolan, Daniel (17 June 2012), "The North Korean Connection", USNI News
  20. Cotterill, Tom (7 January 2020), "Deadly Iranian submarines could launch torpedo attacks on ships in the Gulf, Royal Navy submarine commander warns", The News
  21. Episkopos, Mark (26 May 2019), "Behold: Iran's Mini-Submarine Force Is Dangerous", The National Interest
  22. "Iran says Ghadir submarine works 'like U-boats'", BBC Monitoring Middle East, 6 February 2019, ProQuest 2176156047
  23. "Iran airs animation showing its submarine sinking a US aircraft carrier", The Times of Israel, 6 February 2019
  24. "Iran Submarine Capabilities", Nuclear Threat Initiative, 17 October 2019
  25. Cordesman, Anthony (2016), "The Gulf: How Dangerous is Iran to International Maritime Security?", in Krause, Joachim; Bruns, Sebastian (eds.), Routledge Handbook of Naval Strategy and Security, Routledge, p. 107, ISBN 9781138840935
  26. "UPI Intelligence Watch", United Press International, 12 May 2005, ProQuest 467559145
  27. "Iran launches second domestically-built submarine", BBC Monitoring Middle East, 28 November 2007, ProQuest 459085863
  28. "Office of Naval Intelligence", Iran's Naval Forces, From Guerilla Warfare to a Modern Naval Strategy (PDF), 2009, p. 18 – via Federation Of American Scientists
  29. "Iran admiral on naval, submarine craft, capabilities", BBC Monitoring Middle East, 15 December 2009, ProQuest 458627870
  30. "Iranian press highlights 9 Aug 10", BBC Monitoring Middle East, 9 August 2010, ProQuest 740339520
  31. "Iranian navy to increase its international presence - commander", BBC Monitoring Middle East, 28 November 2011, ProQuest 906187856
  32. "Headlines from Iranian news channel IRINN at 0500 gmt on 10 Feb 12", BBC Monitoring Middle East, 10 February 2012, ProQuest 920713972
  33. "Sanctions led to increased 'indigenous' naval capability - Iran daily", BBC Monitoring Middle East, 4 December 2012, ProQuest 1221283574
  34. Karimi, Nasser (29 November 2018), "Iran says it has added 2 mini submarines to its naval fleet", The Associated Press
  35. "Iran submarine rejoins fleet after 'overhaul'", BBC Monitoring Middle East, 8 April 2020, ProQuest 2387223917
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