Iran unveils new destroyer warship amid maritime tensions

Iran announced a new destroyer for its navy on Monday. Iranian Army commander Maj.-Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, Iranian Navy commander R.-Adm. Shahram Irani, and Iranian Armed Forces Chief-of-Staff Maj.-Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri were present at the ceremony, Iran’s Mehr News said. The destroyer will be part of Iran’s Caspian sea fleet. The ceremony for the new ship was held at the port of Bandar Anzali on the Caspian.

Iran announced the commissioning of the new Iranian warship, named the IRIS Deylaman (Dilman; IRIS stands for Islamic Republic of Iran Ship) which they said has modern equipment and will contribute to Iran’s navy. The destroyer is part of an Iranian class of similar ships called the Mowj or Moudge class. They weigh around 1,500 tons and are based on Iran’s IRIS Jamaran destroyer which was launched in 2010.

Where were these ships built?

These locally made ships have been produced since the early 2000s when Iran sought to bolster its navy. Tehran doesn’t have a very large navy or air force, in part due to sanctions. Often, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a separate military system in Iran, sponge up assets for defense needs, meaning that the actual Iranian army, navy and air force don’t receive key resources. 

The new destroyer joins its sister ships, the Dena, Sahand and Damavand, along with the Jamaran. H.I Sutton’s Covert Shores website has some information on other ships in this class. He wrote about the Dena in 2021, noting that it was “the first built at the Shahid Darvishi yard near Bandar Abbas."

"Despite being launched more recently, her superstructure is less modern than the preceding IRIS Sahand. That featured slightly canted sides to reduce the radar signature, and a new 30mm 'Kamand' AAA [anti-aircraft artillery], which is based on the Russian AK630 family. IRIS Dena has older weapons, such as the 40mm Bofors AA [anti-aircraft] gun." (According to TS2 Space, AAAs have more firepower, but AA systems are highly maneuverable and can engage aircraft at shorter ranges.)

"But the Dena does have a version of the Asr phased-array radar which may be a major step forward for the frigate program.” He also notes that these ships are based on British-built Iranian Alvand class frigates. 

The new ship will serve in the landlocked Caspian, projecting Iran’s influence in Central Asia and also along the shores of the sea. As such, it may not require some of the armaments of ships that serve in the Indian ocean or the Persian Gulf. Iran’s announcement about the vessel talked about search and rescue, training and other mundane operations.