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Iran’s Giant Mock Aircraft Carrier Capsizes Returning To Port

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New satellite photos shared on social media appear to show that a giant mockup of a U.S. Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier built by Iran has capsized just outside the port of Bandar Abbas after being used for target practice in naval wargames a few days earlier.

The images, posted by open source intelligence researchers Aurora Intel and Chris Biggers, appear to show the vessel listing steeply to one side, with nearly half of the flight deck submerged.

Satellite photos first showed construction of the carrier mockup in 2013-2014, when it was initially claimed to be a movie prop. But then in February 2015, it was used for target practice in the Great Prophet IX wargames of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN). The event culminated with the detonation of explosive charges that severely damaged the mockup.

In 2019, satellite imagery revealed new work to repair the mockup. The mockup was finally towed out to the Straits of Hormuz on July 25. On Tuesday, the IRGCN released new footage of the mockup carrier being assailed by a range of weaponry including truck- and silo-launched anti-ship ballistic missiles, sea-skimming anti-ship cruise missiles fired by boats and JetRanger helicopters, unguided rockets fired by fast motor boats, and limpet mines planted by frogmen.

Iranian media also claims the exercise was observed by its new Nour satellite launched in April, and that drones performed targeted attacks on the carrier’s bridge and command center.

The war games culminated with Iranian commandoes rappelling onto the carrier’s deck by helicopter.

However, the video showed only one sea-skimming anti-ship missiles impacting the hull. Subsequent satellite imagery revealed less severe damage to the mockup than had occurred in the 2015 exercise, with mockup jets on the deck sustaining some damage.

Though U.S. assets in the Middle East detected the launch of ballistic missiles during the exercise, the satellite photo didn’t appear to show the impact damage on the flight deck such weapons would have produced.

This leaves the impression that the IRGCN wanted to keep the mock carrier in better condition so it could be reused more easily in future exercises.

The new satellite images appear to show that the mock carrier inadvertently capsized after the exercise, presumably while being towed back to the naval base at Bandar Abbas. This may have been due to a mishap in towing the bulky vessel, a result of damage sustained during the exercise, or a combination of the two.

The IRGCN relies on a combination of fast boats, land-based anti-ship missiles, mines and small Iranian Navy submarines to threaten access to the narrow and shallow waters of the Persian Gulf to large warships like U.S. Navy aircraft carriers and oil tankers.

The war games using the mock carrier thus both serve a propaganda purpose for Tehran as well as give the IRGCN’s untested forces a rare chance to practice setting that strategy in motion in a combined air/sea/land operation.

Whether Iran will again attempt to recover the mock carrier remains to be seen, though it could pose a navigation hazard situated so close to the entrance of Bandar Abbas.

A follow-up article by H.I. Sutton looks at new satellite imagery of the now largely submerged carrier an discusses the navigational hazards it poses.

Update: The date of the mock carrier’s departure in July 2020 has been corrected.

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