Iran's Elite Forces Launch Fake American Supercarrier to Sea - Then Conduct Exercises Targeting It

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched a mockup of an American carrier, which was constructed several years ago under the Barak Obama administration, into the Strait of Hormuz where it was subsequently targeted. It remains uncertain whether the exercises by the IRGC were intended primarily as part of genuine preparations to face American carriers, as a means of intimidating U.S. forces, or as a source of propaganda footage with the operation filmed from multiple angles including by multiple aircraft. Since it emerged that a mock American carrier was being constructed in Iran, it has long been speculated that it could be intended to use in films themed around conflict with the United States. Known as “Great Prophet 14,” the exercises saw Iranian commandos fast-rope down from helicopters onto the carrier replica while anti-aircraft guns fired on target drones which were simulating the capabilities of American carrier based fighters. Rockets were also fired from fast boats, trucks, mobile launchers and a helicopter, and the IRGC reported that it also fired ballistic missiles - presumably with anti-ship capabilities - during the exercise. 

It is unclear if the weapons fired at the fake carrier were armed, and if the ship will be reusable. U.S. forces in the region were put on alert after the drills began, with the exercises coming at a time of high tensions between the two states. Relations notably deteriorated considerably after Washington withdrew from the JCPOA nuclear deal with Iran and other world powers in May 2018, vastly expanded its military presence near Iran in 2019 and carried out the illegal assassination of Iranian Lieutenant General Qasem Soleimani on Iraqi soil on January 3rd 2020. Iran for its part has endured considerable pressure from U.S. economic sanctions, and downed an American MQ-4 Global Hawk drone worth over $200 million which was allegedly operating in its airspace in the summer of 2019, before carrying out retaliatory missile strikes on American positions in Iraq in 2020 following the Soleimani assassination which caused over 100 U.S. casualties. The U.S. has more recently sought to exert pressure at the United Nations to extend an arms embargo on Iran which is set to expire in October, although its success has so far been limited.