Iran Making First Locally Built Submarine

An interesting development — I have little doubt that this will end up costing lives … brave Iranian lives.

Iran on Tuesday officially launched production of its first locally built submarine, a craft that can fire missiles and torpedoes at the same time, state-run television reported.

Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammad Imani was quoted as saying “the enemy would not be able to detect the submarine.” He did not elaborate.

My guess is magic. Either that, or outdated technology acquired from bigger players on the world stage.

One submarine has apparently already been built and was shown on television Tuesday, cruising at sea level. The Defense Ministry has commissioned an unspecified number of the craft that’s been dubbed “Ghadir.” Ghadir is a site in the Arabian Peninsula holy to Shiite Muslims, the overwhelming majority of Iran’s 69 million people.

The submarine is capable of operating in the Persian Gulf and Oman sea waters, according to the report, which did not specify the range of its projectiles.

In December, Iran announced the production of a line of stealth torpedoes that could be launched from helicopters, ships or submarines.

Iranian officials have repeatedly said the Islamic Republic will defend itself should the United States or Israel initiate any aggression.

For Iran’s sake, I would suggest that they focus more on areas where they can actually make a difference. While both the air and sea are our domain, this effort is nothing more than a publicity stunt. The sea is not theirs, and they are only risking brave sailors by putting them into the honored Silent Service on a much-disadvantaged basis. When you don’t control the above or the surface and can only pretend to manage a part of the below, you have the makings of a very bad idea.

I hope that Chapomatic will take a look at this from his own applicable perspective.