The ''Abu Mahdi al Muhandis'' class is a class of Iranian missile corvette. It is a missile corvette which is third in the series of indigenous high-aspect-ratio twin-hull (HARTH) class of vessel, alongside ''Shahid Nazeri'' class commissioned in 2016 and the commissioned in 2022 respectively. The

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships that are all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very comple ...

of the class is named after

Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis Jamal Ja'far Muhammad Ali Al Ibrahim ( ', 16 November 1954 – 3 January 2020), better known by his ''kunya'' Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis (), was an Iraqi paramilitary leader and former chief of staff of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). At th ...

and was unveiled on 6 January 2024 in

Bandar Abbas Bandar Abbas (, ) is a city in the Central District of Bandar Abbas County, Hormozgan province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. Bandar Abbas is a port on the southern coast of the country, on the Persian ...

by Iran. Abu Mahdi al Muhandis was the former deputy head of Iraq's

Popular Mobilization Units The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF; ), also known as the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), is an Iran and state-sponsored terrorism, Iranian-backed paramilitary umbrella group that operates within Iraq. Although formally and legally part of t ...

, who was assassinated alongside

Qasem Soleimani Qasem Soleimani (; 11 March 1957 – 3 January 2020) was an Iranian military officer who served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). From 1998 until Assassination of Qasem Soleimani, his assassination by the United States in 2020, h ...

in a

drone strike Drone warfare is a form of warfare using Military drone, military drones or Military robot, military robots. The robots may be Telerobotics, remote controlled or have varying levels of Autonomous robot, autonomy during their mission. Types of ro ...

on 3 January 2020 by the United States. Like the other two classes of ships, this class is also in service with

IRGC The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), also known as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, is a multi-service primary branch of the Iranian Armed Forces. It was officially established by Ruhollah Khomeini as a military branch in May 1979 i ...

as principal combatant ships. As of now three more ships are planned.

Design

The corvette ''Abu Mahdi al Muhandis'', like the

''Shahid Soleimani''-class corvettes, profits from a

catamaran A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a watercraft with two parallel hull (watercraft), hulls of equal size. The wide distance between a catamaran's hulls imparts stability through resistance to rolling and overturning; no ballast is requi ...

design and features stealth capabilities, aimed at eluding enemy detection. The ''Abu Mahdi al Muhandis'' class of HARTH ships at 300 tons are a smaller variant of ''Shahid Soleimani''-class missile catamarans that displace 600 tons. The special design of the missile boat makes it difficult for enemy

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

and reconnaissance systems to detect its presence in the waters. The ship can cruise within a radius without being detected by enemy radars and reconnaissance systems. However, unlike other two HARTH classes, this ship lacks aviation facilities and can only handle

VTOL A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can takeoff and landing, take off and land vertically without relying on a runway. This classification can include a variety of types of aircraft including helicopters as well as thrust- ...

unmanned aerial vehicles An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Dron ...

(UAVs) like Meraj-313. The warship is designed to operate even in Sea State 6 conditions. The ship, unlike ''Shahid Soleimani''-class missile corvettes, cannot carry three interceptor boats in its belly.

Armament

The catamaran warship is equipped by various types of armaments including 30, 23, and 20 mm cannons, anti-ship guided missiles with a range of 300 km, long-range

cruise missiles A cruise missile is an unmanned self-propelled guided missile that sustains flight through aerodynamic lift for most of its flight path. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large payload over long distances with high precision. Modern cru ...

capable of targeting up to 750 km, and for

air defense Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface (Submarine#Armament, submarine-lau ...

is equipped with a close range anti-aircraft system called Kowsar. The ship among other things can carry lightweight

torpedoes A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

, 6 canisters for Iranian

anti-ship cruise missiles Beginning in the mid-2010s, significant discourse emerged within fan spaces such as Tumblr and Archive of Our Own (AO3) regarding the ethical implications of portraying taboo and abusive sexual content within shipping fanfiction. "Shipping"— ...

like the Noor missile, Qadir or Ghadir missile, a 30 mm 2A42 cannon, four 20 mm Gatling-type guns operating at 1,500 rpm, and 8 canisters housing Kowsar IR guided anti-ship missiles, or close-range

surface-to-air missiles A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-a ...

(SAMs), potentially enhancing its air defense. The Kowsar/SAMs launchers on the ship seem to have the capability to rotate, facilitating alignment and missile locking.

Ships

References

{{Reflist

External links

Iranian Navy Inducts Indigenous Stealth Missile Warship
The Defense Post Corvettes of Iran Ship classes of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Military catamarans