Iran commissions two new catamaran missile boats PHOTO

A ceremony was held at the Iranian naval base in Bandar Abbas to honour the commissioning of two missile boats, Sayyad Shirazi and Hassan Baqeri, into the fleet of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The ceremony was attended by Chief of General Staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Tasnim reported.

The design is based on the Chinese Coast Guard's Type 22 catamaran, a 224-tonne displacement boat. It is capable of speeds of up to 67 kilometres per hour. China has 82 such boats.

However, the Iranian design is 60 metres long, not 40 metres.

The two new ocean-going catamarans are armed with various strike and surface-to-air missile systems, radar and the Navvab vertical launch system for firing Sayyad cruise missiles with a radius of 700 kilometres.

Each warship, weighing 600 tonnes, is equipped with four thrusters and can carry an attack helicopter and three light boats.

There are plans to build two more ships of this project.