Iran develops world's first air defence small boat

Iran’s second navy, under the IRGC, has developed the world’s first very small air-defence boat amid rising concerns about Tehran’s burgeoning military power that is seen as a threat by countries in the Persian Gulf and Israel.

The development of a small defence boat is unique in its own right.

This is the first-of-its-kind vessel Iran has likely produced for domestic use by the Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, Eurasian Times informs citing the report by Naval Analyst and OSINT expert HI Sutton.

Subsequently, a video surfaced on social media in which a Nawab surface-to-air missile is released from the Vertical Launch System of the boat. According to military observers, this air defense boat was modified and converted from the British Bladerunner. This is due to the hull’s shape, which resembles the Bladerunner.

The vessel is reportedly named the ‘Zulfiqar-class,’ which is confusing as a host of other equipment in the Iranian military go by that name. Sutton believes that this small air defence boat has short-range surface-to-air missiles (likely the Nawab) as its primary armament.

Last year, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy received three indigenously-developed vessels equipped with sophisticated air defence systems.

At the time, Commander of the IRGC Navy, Rear Admiral Ali Reza Tangsir, claimed that the nation’s new speed boats use cutting-edge technology produced by domestic firms to dodge hostile radar.

Unlike other vessels equipped with cutting-edge missile defence systems to identify hostile targets, the Iranian Zulfiqar air-defence boat is more like “a sea-mobile air defense system like the Tor air defense system,” according to Sutton. Further, military observers have noted that the boat has a multi-functional AESA radar.