How did Iran become the owner of the world's fastest military fast boats?

According to Ashura TV, citing Mehr News Agency; March 29, 1403 was a unique day in the maritime domain for our country's armed forces. On this day, during the ceremony to join the Shahid Raees Ali Delvari ship and the new IRGC missile-launching vessels in Bandar Abbas, the IRGC Navy's Haidar 110 vessel, with a speed of 110 knots, was unveiled, which is capable of firing cruise missiles.

The Heydar 110 is a naval vessel of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran, designed and built as a fast and combat boat. Due to its high speed, this vessel is capable of carrying out various missions. Below are some of the features and specifications of this vessel:

Technical specifications

1. Speed: The Heydar 110 is capable of reaching a speed of 110 knots (about 203 km/h), which makes it one of the fastest military vessels.

2. Design: The aerodynamic design and lightweight hull of this vessel help it perform well in harsh sea conditions.

3. Weapons: This vessel is usually equipped with a variety of weapons, including anti-ship missiles, automatic cannons, and defense systems, making it suitable for offensive and defensive operations.

Capabilities

• Offensive operations: Given its speed and advanced weapons, the Heydar 110 can be used in offensive operations against enemy ships as well as in rapid attacks on coasts and ports.

• Special operations support: This vessel can act as a support for naval special forces and be used in infiltration and reconnaissance operations.

• Territorial water protection: With its high capabilities, this vessel can protect Iran's territorial waters as part of the IRGC Navy.

As a fast and combat boat, the Heydar 110 is a symbol of the capabilities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy. Its high speed and advanced weapons make this vessel suitable for carrying out various military and defense missions. Given recent developments in the military field, the importance of such vessels in maintaining national security and the country's interests is becoming more apparent.

Of course, this is not the first and only fast-moving vessel built by our country's experts, and Islamic Iran has created and used it by using the valuable experiences of the Holy Defense and, of course, sanctions on the one hand, and the need to produce equipment to confront the Iraqi Baath regime's army and defend the country. Under the pretext of unveiling the latest IRGC missile-launching fast-moving vessel, we have a review of the country's actions and capacities in the field of fast-moving vessels.

Why did Iran move towards using fast-moving vessels?

In the mid-1960s and during the Holy Defense era, the Iraqi Baathist regime, with the support of the United States and other arrogant countries, launched a war on tankers. The goal of this war was to destroy the economy of the Islamic Republic of Iran by destroying commercial vessels and ships carrying needed items destined for Iran or items exported from Iran to other countries.

In the first year of the tanker war, only one attack was responded to for every six attacks on Iranian vessels, but with the increased use of fast vessels in 1987, a balance of power was created and every attack was responded to. However, in 1988, this equation changed slightly, and this time Iran had the upper hand, so that Iran responded to every attack with a counterattack.

With the balance of power in the Persian Gulf changing in favor of Iran using fast boats, the commanders concluded that the IRGC Navy strategy should be adjusted and developed based on fast boats because fast boats are both fast and agile and have great destructive power to carry out deadly strikes. Of course, the cheap price of fast boats is another influential factor for their use compared to large-scale and gigantic boats.

Considering the efficiency of fast boats, the commanders were determined to adjust the IRGC Navy strategy for expansion and development based on the use of fast boats. In this regard, and with the end of the Sacred Defense, the research and development process of fast boats was put on the agenda and defense experts were busy designing and building various types of fast boats.

Iran's fast boats are the thorn in the enemy's eye

The IRGC Navy was formed in 1985 by the decree of Imam Khomeini (RA), the great founder of the Islamic Revolution, along with the Air Force, and was added to the structure of the IRGC. This force has many components of power, one of which is fast vessels or fast boats.

Fast vessels were part of the military strategies of the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran during the Holy Defense, and at that time they were only equipped with machine guns, except for special occasions when they were also equipped with mini-Katyushas. Of course, the infantrymen on these vessels could also carry weapons such as RPG7 with them to use against the enemies if necessary.

The power of the IRGC Navy's fast boats at that time, which were only of one type, the Ashura type, was such that they defended our country's interests in the Persian Gulf with a relatively large number. Of course, the Americans did not stop attacking Iran's interests and were a nuisance until the end of the war, but these vessels robbed the Americans of sleep, especially in the tanker war.

Fast boats are one of the most important strengths and defensive tools of the IRGC

The country's progress in the field of fast boats has been such that today fast boats are considered one of the most important strengths and defensive tools of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for securing maritime areas (especially the Persian Gulf and the Sea of ​​Oman) and defending against aggressors. Iran is also known as the only owner of fast boats capable of launching missiles at high speeds in the world, which is of unique and strategic importance. In this regard, on May 1, 2019, the Sixth National Conference on Fast Boats was held at the Imam Khamenei University of Marine Sciences in Zibakanar, Anzali, and at this ceremony, Major General Hossein Salami, Commander-in-Chief of the IRGC, referred to an aspect of naval power and fast boats that had not been talked about much until now, and that was the construction of unmanned boats.

Major General Salami emphasized that we should move towards the production of unmanned vessels and said: “Achieving such an achievement is possible given the knowledge we have.”

The use of unmanned combat vessels, or USVs, is a relatively new and effective field in creating naval power that has been attracting attention around the world in recent years. In general, the use of unmanned equipment such as cars, airplanes, and unmanned boats that can perform defined operations without the need for an operator to be present inside them is increasing day by day, a clear example of which can be seen in the widespread use of remotely piloted aircraft, or drones.

Unmanned vessels are actually vessels that are controlled and executed from another point and remotely without the presence of sailors, and such technology has certainly attracted the attention of our country’s military forces for performing combat missions at sea.

Or Mehdi; Iran's First Step in the USV Field

But in our country, the IRGC's first step in the field of building unmanned vessels can be considered the "Ya Mahdi" high-speed vessel, which is equipped with three rocket launchers and can also be transformed into a mobile bomb at sea by carrying explosives and hitting the hulls of enemy ships.

Three rocket launchers on the front of the "Ya Mahdi" boat, which, given their dimensions, is probably a Falaq rocket launcher.

On the other hand, the composite hull and small volume of this boat, which is less than 12 meters long and 1.5 meters high, have caused its radar cross-section at sea to be low and the possibility of it being hit by enemy surface defense systems to be low.

The length of the unmanned vessel or Mehdi's water inlet is 65 centimeters, and its maximum speed reaches 50 knots (more than 90 kilometers per hour).

The guidance system of the unmanned boat "Or Mehdi" is also such that it can be guided from the shore or from other vessels, and this allows this high-speed boat to reach the closest distance to enemy ships without posing a danger to its pilot.

Fast boats become stealthy

But the second important issue raised by the Commander-in-Chief of the IRGC and the Commander of the IRGC Navy regarding the future of Iranian fast boats was the issue of stealthiness of fast boats. Major General Salami emphasized the importance of this issue and said: Our boats must have the ability to hide from radars and armed and unarmed eyes.

Admiral Tangsiri, Commander of the IRGC Navy, also emphasized this issue, saying that stealthiness and stealth are the next step in building boats, and said: We must go beyond the hull construction stage and, in the second step, consider stealthiness and making the boat intelligent.

Iran has the fastest military fast boats in the world. The speed of some types of Iranian boats has reached 110 knots, equivalent to 203 kilometers per hour. For comparison, we can use the new generation of US Army fast boats as an example, which have a maximum speed of 85 kilometers per hour. While most fast vessels in the world have a speed of between 60 and 120 kilometers per hour.

The high speed of Iranian fast vessels has led them to become known as "red wasps" in recent years; small, fast, and with a sting that is deadly to the enemy.