"Jamaran" ready for battle
How real is Iranian naval power?In February 2010, an important event took place in the development of the naval forces (Navy) of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI). The first destroyer of its own production with guided missile was launched. weaponswhich received the name "Jamaran". The displacement of the destroyer was 1420 tons, and its length - 94 m. The crew, capable of speeding up to 30 nodes, includes up to 140 people. The ship’s armament consists of the OTO Melara 76-mm automatic artillery, small-caliber assault rifles and two twin Noor anti-ship cruise missile launchers (Iranian version of the Chinese C-802 rocket). The warship has a helipad and a place for launching man-portable air defense systems, as well as, apparently, anti-submarine bombers.
According to the Iranian side, the Jamaran destroyer was developed exclusively by Iranian specialists and became a technological breakthrough in the Iranian military industry. In order to confirm this, it is noted that the destroyer is a multipurpose high-speed warship and can simultaneously combat submarines, aircraft and enemy ships in a radio electronic warfare environment.
An analysis of the available information allows us to conclude that in reality, Iranian specialists have built a multi-purpose guard ship of the near-sea zone (according to the western classification, a corvette). The Russian counterpart - the 20380 project ship (“Steregushchy”) has a helipad for the Ka-27 anti-submarine helicopter, a displacement of 2220 tons, a length of 105 m, a speed of 27 knots and a crew of 99 people. A warship of this type is really intended to combat enemy surface ships and submarines, as well as for artillery support of the amphibious assault forces and to patrol the area of responsibility for the purpose of blockade. However, its air defense capabilities are rather limited, and the cruising range is limited to 4 thousand nautical miles (the displacement of the Iranian counterpart is less by 36%, which significantly reduces the reduced value).
The Russian ship of the 20380 project has a steel smooth-decked hull and a superstructure made of multi-layer composite materials that are difficult to fire and significantly reduce its visibility in the radar and infrared ranges. In addition, special architectural decisions were made that made it possible to build rocket armament and antenna posts into the hull of the ship, as well as technical means that have a significant impact on visibility and increase vulnerability to air, surface and ground attack weapons. As a result, the probability of targeting anti-ship cruise missiles (CRP) on the ship is reduced five times. All this Iranian counterpart does not have, which is clearly visible in the published photos. Its hull and architecture largely repeat the dimensions and designs of the Alvand type ships built by the British firm Vosper for the Iranian Navy at the end of the 1960s.
The Russian ship of the 20380 project is equipped with various attack, anti-aircraft and anti-submarine weapons complexes (one 100 mm Universal A-190 artillery unit, two AK-630 artillery, six torpedo tubes, eight Uran ship-borne missile systems with an anti-ship cruise missile of type X -35 and two anti-aircraft missile and artillery complexes such as "Dirk"), combat control, detection, target designation, protection and communications. In particular, the ship is equipped with four PC-10 launchers of the Smelyy missile defense system for self-defense against enemy detection systems and anti-ship missiles, as well as two thunder 14,5-mm machine guns and two DP-64 grenade launchers from pirates and underwater saboteurs.
The electronic equipment of the Russian ship includes the Sigma combat information and control system, the Furke-2 general detection radar, the Monument-A guided missile weapon targeting radar, the Zarya-2 hydroacoustic complex, the Minotaur hydroacoustic station -M ”with a long towed antenna, lowered sonar station“ Anapa-M ”, automated communication complex“ Ruberoid ”, means of electronic warfare and navigation. The equipment and weapons of the combat ships under consideration are generally incomparable, since the Iranian Jamaran was created mainly on the basis of 1960 – 1970’s technologies.
The rocket armament installed on the Iranian ship deserves separate consideration. Thus, the ship “Jamaran” has already conducted a successful launch of the anti-ship missile Noor over a distance of 100 km. The use of anti-ship missiles of this type was not accidental, since as early as in 2002, a group of eight Chinese specialists were deployed at the ship repair yards of Bender-Abbas (Iran) with the task of adapting the C-802 anti-ship cruise missile (Chinese prototype) on 1000-ton corvettes type "Mouj" Navy Iran. Somewhat earlier, the adaptation of such missiles was carried out on Iranian anti-See Helicopters of the type.
The C-802 RCC (YJ-82) is designed to equip surface ships, submarines, coastal batteries and aircraft. It was developed by the China Electromechanical Technology Academy (China Electro-Mechanical Technology Academy - CHETA), located in Haidian, and first demonstrated in 1989 year. Chinese destroyers, frigates and rocket boats of various classes are equipped with missiles of this type. The possibility of submarine launch of C-802 missiles through torpedo tubes is provided by diesel-electric submarines of the 039 project (Song Class). In 2005, an upgraded version of the rocket was developed, designated C-802A.
The C-802 missile differs from its prototype C-801A anti-ship missile (YJ-81) in that it uses a turbojet (TRD) engine instead of a solid-fuel one. Due to this, the maximum firing range of the rocket was increased by 50% and reached 120 km (in the C-802A version to 180 km). Rocket C-802 performed by the normal aerodynamic configuration with a folding cruciform triangular wing of small elongation. It has a solid-fuel accelerator, a launch mass of 715 kg and an armor-piercing high-explosive warhead weighing 165 kg. The rocket has an active monopulse radar homing head operating in the 10-20 GHz band and equipment for receiving correction commands that is used in the initial part of the trajectory before the target is hijacked by the homing head. It is possible to equip the rocket with the GLONASS / GPS satellite navigation subsystem.
According to Chinese data, the probability of hitting the target with the C-802 RCC, in the face of opposition from the enemy, is 75%. At the same time, the small effective area of missile dispersion, extremely low flight altitudes, as well as the interference suppression complex make it difficult to intercept. The altitude of this subsonic rocket on the marching segment of the trajectory is 50 – 120 m, on the final segment of the trajectory the rocket is reduced to a height of 5 – 7 m and performs anti-aircraft maneuver.
Iran planned to buy a large shipment of anti-ship missiles in China, the C-802 and the C-801. Partially, these purchases were made, which made it possible to obtain, for example, 80 C-802 missiles. But under American pressure, China was forced to abandon the continuation of further supplies of missile weapons to Iran in exchange for expanding military and economic ties with the United States. Nevertheless, in October 2000, Iran announced an eight-day naval exercise in the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman, during which a new version of the C-802 rocket was tested, developed in close cooperation with North Korean specialists. It is still difficult to assess the characteristics of this Iranian RCC, but one can only assume an increase in its firing range (according to Iranian data, to 170 km). However, to achieve a qualitative breakthrough, as the Chinese did when creating the supersonic YJ-83 RCC, most likely failed.
The Russian anti-ship missile type X-35 is designed to hit surface targets in conditions of intense interference and fire counteraction from the enemy. In terms of tactical and technical characteristics, it is in no way inferior to the Chinese C-802 rocket: with a firing range of the order of 130 km, all-round 4 – 8 m are provided with a circular deviation. In-flight control of the rocket in flight, its stabilization on a given trajectory control system. In the final segment of the flight path, a noise-free active radar homing head is used. The defeat of the target is provided by a penetrating high-explosive fragmentation warhead, sufficient for reliable destruction of surface targets with a displacement of up to 500 tons. The combat effectiveness of the rocket is enhanced by a complex flight trajectory at extremely low altitudes.
Considering the above, it becomes obvious that the Iranian ship Jamaran has quite modern missile weapons, but outdated combat control, detection, target designation and communications systems. The latter will significantly limit the real range of application of existing anti-ship cruise missiles. In addition, the Iranian ship does not have a serious anti-aircraft (anti-missile) defense, which, in conditions of significant visibility in the radar and infrared ranges, will make it a vulnerable target for a strong enemy. But such a task is most likely not set, given the presence in the Iranian Navy of only nine corvettes with a displacement of up to 1500 tons (some of them were built back in the 1960s) and three diesel submarines of the Russian production of the 877ECM project. More importantly - to demonstrate their seeming naval power and to confirm claims to regional leadership.
In reality, Iran is preparing for a completely different war - sabotage. For this purpose, high-speed military boats were purchased in Italy that can reach speeds up to 130 km / h. The construction of rocket boats continues, the total number of which is close to twenty. First of all, to equip them, the Chinese built a Nasr-1 ASM plant in Iran (the Iranian version of the C-704 rocket). The anti-ship cruise missile of this type has an active homing head and a firing range of up to 40 km. In addition, in South Korea, ultra-small Yono-type submarines with a displacement of about 100 tons (Iranian version “Nahang”) were purchased, and also three diesel mini-submarines of the “Gadir” type with a displacement of about 500 tons were built.
At the same time, under the leadership of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the necessary infrastructure for sabotage is being created on the Persian Gulf. The first such base was opened in October 2008 in the Strait of Hormuz in the port of Jask. Later, at least four more similar basing points were opened along the entire coast. At the same time, Tehran took into account the negative experience of the Iran-Iraq war, when hundreds of boats tried to attack the enemy at the same time and as a result became their easy prey aviation. Now the main calculation is made on the decentralization of control of many mobile units and the surprise factor when one or more boats attack such a large naval target as a tanker. To do this, it is supposed to carry out reconnaissance of the water situation on an ongoing basis, observe the radio silence regime and carry out operations to misinform the enemy.
Thus, the sea power of Iran has not yet become a reality. In fact, it is a screen behind which large-scale preparation is carried out for sabotage activities in the Persian Gulf and adjacent water areas in order to make it more difficult for the hydrocarbons to be transported from here
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