Iran’s new drone carrier, ‘Shahid Bagheri’, was recently spotted offshore the Iranian naval port of Bandar Abbas in the Persian Gulf. Satellite images accessed by NDTV reveal the vessel, which was originally a container ship, looks similar to an aircraft carrier but meant for drones.
High-resolution satellite images collected by Maxar show the ship off Bandar Abbas port. ‘Shahid Bagheri’ has a ski jump similar to a ‘Short Takeoff Barrier Assisted Recovery’ (STOBAR) aircraft carrier, but the short runway suggests it’s meant only for drones and could be used for helicopter operations.
The military drone carrier is believed to be conducting its first sea trials since leaving the nearby Iran Shipyard and Offshore Industries (ISOICO) shipyard in late November. Iran has no aircraft carrier and has operated fighter jets and helicopters since the 1970s and 80s.
‘Shahid Bagheri’, ‘Shahid Roudaki’ and ‘Shahid Mahdavi’ are the three drone carrier vessels Iran has developed. The overview images taken yesterday by satellites show the three ships in the Persian Gulf.
‘Shahid Bagheri’ (left), ‘Shahid Roudaki’ (Top) and ‘Shahid Mahdavi’ (right) off Bandar Abbas port. High res here
The drone carriers will allow the Iranian navy to bring the unmanned aerial vehicles closer to the battlefield. Despite facing years of sanctions from the West, Iran has managed to produce its fleet of armed drones that have proliferated to different battlefields in the region and even to Europe where Russians have reportedly used the Iranian Shahed drones against Ukraine. The Shahed 129 drone, unveiled in 2012, is mass-produced and is based on Israeli drones. The Mohajer 6 is said to have been delivered to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) since 2018. The drones have been used by militant groups like Hezbollah, Houthi and Hamas against Israel, Iran’s arch-rival in the Middle East.
The satellite images also captured two additional Iranian naval vessels that were similarly modified from previously being commercial ships, the ‘Shahid Mahdavi’ and the ‘Shahid Roudaki’, which were anchored nearby.
The other two vessels do not have a ski-jump ramp, suggesting they can only be used for drones with the capability for vertical take-off and landing, unlike the Shahed and Mohajer drones which require a runway for takeoff.
Shahid Roudaki is a warship capable of carrying drones, helicopters and missile launchers. It was a merchant ship that was repurposed for military use, it’s the third vessel modified for such use after Bagheri and Mahdavi. The ‘X’ on the ship’s deck is the landing pad for a helicopter and the vessel can carry fast attack crafts.
‘Shahid Roudaki’ was seen off Bandar Abbas port on December 12, 2024. High res here
Meanwhile, the Iranian media reported that ‘Shahid Mahdavi’, which was commissioned in the IRGC Navy in March 2023, is “designed for long-range operations and is outfitted with missiles, air defence systems, and advanced radar technology.” It can carry various types of attack helicopters, combat drones and fast attack crafts.
The Maxar satellite images, taken over some time, show the historical imagery views of the construction and modifications to the ‘Shahid Bagheri’ in the shipyard of Iran Shipbuilding & Offshore Industries Complex (ISOIC).
The images taken by Maxar suggest that the construction and modification for the ‘Shahid Bagheri’ started at the beginning of 2023.
The first image taken on February 26, 2023, shows the vessel’s deck being scrapped off and in dry dock at ISOICO shipyard in Iran at Bandar Abbad port near the Persian Gulf.
The first image shows the vessel in the dry dock at the ISOICO shipyard on Feb 26, 2023. High res here
The second image, dated November 14, 2023, shows the angled flight deck and the ski jump ramp under construction at the dry dock.
The angled flight deck and the ski jump ramp are under modifications on November 14, 2023. High res here
The third image, taken two weeks later on November 30, 2023, shows Shahid Bagheri at the quay of the shipyard. Within 16 days, the ship was moved from the dry dock and anchored off the port. It is still in the early stages of construction.
Within 16 days, Shahid Bagheri was moved from the dry dock to the quay. High res here
The images show how the top of the ships were scraped off, suiting the needs of Iran, which is in direct conflict with Israel and a regional cold war with Saudi Arabia.
The New Jersey Sightings
The Maxar images come at a time when a US lawmaker claimed that Iran might be launching drones over New Jersey from a “mothership” off the East Coast. The Pentagon has debunked the claims saying “There is no truth to that.”
“There is no Iranian ship off the coast of the United States and there’s no so-called ‘mothership’ launching drones towards the United States,” Reuters reported, quoting Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh.
Republican Congressman Jeff Van Drew said he had uncovered what appeared to be an Iranian plot.
“What we’ve uncovered is alarming – drones flying in from the direction of the ocean, possibly linked to a missing Iranian mothership,” he said on X.
The Pentagon said an initial assessment had shown the drones were not from another country and that the US military had not shot them down because they did not pose a threat to any military installations.
“We have no evidence that these activities are coming from a foreign entity or the work of an adversary,” Ms Singh said.