Iran Commissions New ‘Carrier’ Warship For Overseas Helicopter and Drone Operations

Iran has commissioned the first of a new class of warship into active service - the IRINS Makran “Forward Base Ship” which appears to be a makeshift carrier built to deploy helicopters and drones to support overseas operations. Although large at around 250 meters long, the warship is based on the hull of an oil tanker and lacks the capabilities for combat operations that purpose built helicopter carriers such as the South Korean Dokdo Class have, lacking the weaponry, speed or armour needed for high or medium intensity combat. The Makran is nevertheless potentially ideal for the kind of missions the Iranian military has engaged in over the past the decades.- namely supporting ground troops against non-state insurgent forces such as Islamic State and Al Nusra Front forces in Syria and Iraq, or previously the Taliban in Afghanistan. The carrier also has applications against state adversaries, and can be used to launch reconnaissance aircraft in peacetime when the ship itself is unlikely to be threatened by enemy attacks. Although Iran’s defence sector is overall somewhat unremarkable, one area in which it had proven outstanding has been its drone program. Stealth drones such as the Shaheed 171 have been used for reconnaissance missions in the past and proven extremely difficult to neutralise when operating in Israeli airspace and a challenge to even detect for U.S. forces in Syria. 

Beyond reconnaissance, the IRINS Makran can potentially be used to launch drones for combat missions, with aircraft such as the Shahed 129 having been tested and proven capable in combat. Although Iran lacks advanced attack helicopter designs, it does deploy indigenous Shahed 285 and legacy American AH-1J platforms which can be used for combat missions. The new ship's ability to accommodate such aircraft remains questionable however, although lighter helicopters can potentially be used for other purposes such as search and rescue or reconnaissance. Other missions for the IRINS Makran was built to perform include deploying special forces, serving as a base for speedboats, providing logistical and medical support, and transporting and operating radar and missile systems. This last point is notable as it could mean the ship was designed to be able to deploy some of the country’s indigenous air defence systems such as the Bavar 373 or Khordad 15, which would make it a potential threat in combat despite its somewhat makeshifts design and lack of armour.