A high-aspect-ratio twin-hull vessel (acronymed HARTH) refers to a certain design of

catamaran A Formula 16 beachable catamaran Powered catamaran passenger ferry at Salem, Massachusetts, United States A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a multi-hulled watercraft featuring two parallel hulls of equal size. It is a geometry-stab ...

vessels with small waterplane area. These vessels are built and used by the

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC; fa, سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enghelāb-e Eslāmi, lit=Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution also Sepāh or Pasdaran for short) is a branch o ...

(IRGC) of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. Such design is considered relatively rare in military usage.

Design

The design of vessels is being described as looking "almost like a

pond skater The Gerridae are a family of insects in the order Hemiptera, commonly known as water striders, water skeeters, water scooters, water bugs, pond skaters, water skippers, or water skimmers. Consistent with the classification of the Gerridae as tr ...

" because of the superstructure sitting above tall legs. Due to the large length of the hulls in the water (also known as pontoons) and also the high height of the deck above the surface, it has a high length-to-width ratio (and is thus called high-aspect-ratio). This design enables small speedboats to move under the ship, which can technically make certain tactical scenarios possible. In comparison to a conventional catamaran, HARTH design allows decreasing the drag forces of the hull and thus breaking the seawater during sailing more easily, as well as more transverse stability in harsh sea states as a result of low heave, pitch and roll motion. The structure is made of aluminum.

Types

* -class (also known as 'HARTH 55' by the U.S. Navy), unveiled in 2016 * Shahid Soleimani-class, at least three were confirmed to be under construction through commercial satellite imagery as of April 2021, one under construction at the Shahid Mahallati Shipyard in

Bushehr Bushehr, Booshehr or Bushire ( fa, بوشهر ; also romanised as ''Būshehr'', ''Bouchehr'', ''Buschir'' and ''Busehr''), also known as Bandar Bushehr ( fa, ; also romanised as ''Bandar Būshehr'' and ''Bandar-e Būshehr''), previously Antioc ...

, one in Qeshm Island and the other at small boatyard near

Bandar Abbas Bandar Abbas or Bandar-e ‘Abbās ( fa, , , ), is a port city and capital of Hormozgān Province on the southern coast of Iran, on the Persian Gulf. The city occupies a strategic position on the narrow Strait of Hormuz (just across from Musan ...

. It is long, and its design has been compared to the Chinese

Type 22 missile boat The Type 22 ( NATO designation: ''Houbei'' class) missile boat is a ship class in the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy. The first boat was launched in April 2004 by the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard at Shanghai. The boats incorporate stealth fea ...

and the Taiwanese . The first ship entered service in September 2022. It is equipped with 16 Nayyab short range air defense missiles and 6 Sayyad mid range air defense missiles as well as with four types of cruise missiles having ranges of 90, 140, 300 and 750 kilometers.

References

{{Ship classes of the IRGC Navy Ship classes of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Small waterplane area twin hull vessels Military catamarans

Design

Types

See also

References