''Ghadir'' ( fa, غدیر, ; named after the

Ghadir Khumm The Ghadīr Khumm ( ar, غَدِير خُم) refers to a gathering of Muslims to attend a sermon delivered by the Islamic prophet Muhammad on 16 March 632 CE (18 Dhu al-Hijjah 10 AH). The gathering is said to have taken place at the Ghadir K ...

) is a

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

midget submarines A midget submarine (also called a mini submarine) is any submarine under 150 tons, typically operated by a crew of one or two but sometimes up to six or nine, with little or no on-board living accommodation. They normally work with mother ships, ...

built by

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 ...

specifically for cruising within the shallow waters of the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...

. The Islamic Republic of Iran Navy is the sole operator of this class, whose all submarines serve in the Southern Fleet. No submarine of this class is active at the

Northern Fleet Severnyy flot , image = Great emblem of the Northern Fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Northern Fleet's great emblem , start_date = June 1, 1733; Sov ...

, i.e. the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

History

Iran had shown interest in midget submarines in the 1980s. According to the ''Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships'', Iran assembled a midget in

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 Musand ...

that was completed in 1987 in an unsuccessful attempt. Iran reportedly purchased a second midget of another design from

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

, delivered in 1988. It is alleged that by 1993, nine midget submarines –able to displace 76 tons surfaced and 90 tons submerged, with a top speed between and – were imported from North Korea. Existence of ''Ghadir'' class was first known in February 2004. An unclassified 2017 report by the U.S.

Office of Naval Intelligence The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) is the military intelligence agency of the United States Navy. Established in 1882 primarily to advance the Navy's modernization efforts, it is the oldest member of the U.S. Intelligence Community and serve ...

stated that Iran purchased at least one submarine from North Korea in that year. In May 2005, Iran announced that it has started mass production of its own indigenous midget submarines, and aired footage of one cruising at sea level on television. Later that month, the submarine was tested during the third phase of military exercise Ettehad 84. In November 2007, commander of the IRIN Commodore

Habibollah Sayyari Habibollah Sayyari ( fa, حبیب‌الله سیاری, birth 1955) is the Coordinating Deputy of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army and the former Commander of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy (the "Regular Navy"). He is a former Marine Comma ...

said the second ship in the class has been completed after ten years of construction. Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei was quoted saying to Iran's navy commanders on the day the submarine was launched: "Today, you have been able to design and build many of the military requirements. We have become self-sufficient from other countries.", In May 2014, one of the ships in the class –''Ghadir'' 953– cruised in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

to make a port call to

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

along with a naval group consisting of , , and , participating in a joint drill with Pakistan Navy vessels.

Design

Sources are inconsistent about the class which ''Ghadir'' submarines are derived from. When it was first unveiled, some experts pointed that it is similar in appearance to submarines, while those who maintained a contradicting view said that they are about 1.5 times larger than the latter and more similar to . Other sources say they are based on . ''Ghadir'' submarines displace when at the surface and while submerged. The class design is long, would have a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of and a

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

of . The submarines have a maximum surface speed of and a maximum submerged speed of . They have a secondary retractable propeller and are powered by diesel–electric machinery, and fitted with two

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s. Submarines in the class are equipped with

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on o ...

s of an unknown type. ''Ghadirs crew totals 7 officers and men.

Operational capabilities

''Ghadir'' submarines are alleged to have launched different types of torpedoes, namely Valfajr and

Hoot Hoot may refer to: Publications * ''Hoot'' (novel), a young adult novel by Carl Hiaasen * ''Hoot'', a 1996 children's novel by Jane Hissey * ''Hoot'' (comics), a British magazine published from 1985 to 1986 * ''The Brandeis Hoot'', a student n ...

. Anti-ship cruise missiles Nasr-1 and

Jask-2 The Jask-2 missile is an Iranian submarine-launched cruise missile developed from the Iranian Nasr-1 Anti-ship missile. It is designed to be fired from the Ghadir-class midget submarines and it can also be launched by the Fateh-class submarin ...

are both reportedly launched successfully, the latter being developed specifically for launch from submarines. The ships in the class are also capable of laying

naval mines A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any v ...

in addition to retrieving

frogmen A frogman is someone who is trained in scuba diving or swimming underwater in a tactical capacity that includes military, and in some European countries, police work. Such personnel are also known by the more formal names of combat diver, comb ...

for

special operations Special operations (S.O.) are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment". Special operations may include ...

. They are assumed to have "an extremely limited

endurance Endurance (also related to sufferance, resilience, constitution, fortitude, and hardiness) is the ability of an organism to exert itself and remain active for a long period of time, as well as its ability to resist, withstand, recover from an ...

", while described as "very maneuverable", as well as being able to "sit silently submerged while waiting for its prey". Considering that ''Ghadir'' submarines could possess only two torpedoes or missiles, Joseph Trevithick writes that Iranians may plan to use them "en masse to launch barrages of the missiles". Vijay Sakhuja, director of the National Maritime Foundation, comments that the class is " hemost difficult to detect particularly when resting on the

seabed The seabed (also known as the seafloor, sea floor, ocean floor, and ocean bottom) is the bottom of the ocean. All floors of the ocean are known as 'seabeds'. The structure of the seabed of the global ocean is governed by plate tectonics. Most of ...

and this could be the possible tactics that the Iranian Navy could employ during hostilities. Further, given their numbers, these could overwhelm enemy's technological superiority". According to U.S. Navy Captain Tracy A. Vincent, ''Ghadir'' submarines can provide additional surveillance capability and create a new layer of defense for Iranian naval forces. Commander Daniel Dolan maintains that the submarines are well-designed for the purpose of guerrilla warfare,

ambush An ambush is a long-established military tactic in which a combatant uses an advantage of concealment or the element of surprise to attack unsuspecting enemy combatants from concealed positions, such as among dense underbrush or behind mo ...

and

anti-access/area denial Anti-Access/Area Denial (or A2/AD) is a military strategy to control access to and within an operating environment. In an early definition, anti-access refers to those actions and capabilities, usually long-range, designed to prevent an opposing ...

(A2/AD), describing them as potentially more expendable in comparison to attack submarines. He argues that American fleet is prone to a high threat environment created by sheer number of these "small but lethal threats". Royal Navy Commander Ryan Ramsey, who captained nuclear submarine in the Persian Gulf has stated that the submarines are a threat to western forces operating in the region, adding that " e ''Ghadir''-class are tiny submarines but have enough torpedoes to sink a couple of ships". Mark Episkopos opines that ''Ghadir'' submarines maintain "strong offensive capabilities" that contribute to the "dangerous" subsurface fleet of Iran. IRIN commander

Hossein Khanzadi Hossein Khanzadi ( fa, حسین خانزادی) is an Iranian hovercraft pilot in the regular military (''Artesh'') who served as the Commander of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy from November 2017 to August 2021. On 17 August 2021, Rear Admir ...

has said the class "can do what the

U-boats U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare rol ...

did during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Number built

Iran does not disclose the number of its submarines. Sources differ in determining the number of ''Ghadir'' submarines built and operated, with estimates ranging between 10 and 21 units, as of 2019. According to 2020 edition of the ''Military Balance'' published by the

International Institute of Strategic Studies The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) is a British research institute or think tank in the area of international affairs. Since 1997, its headquarters have been Arundel House in London, England. The 2017 Global Go To Think ...

(IISS), Iran operates 14 submarines in this class. Farzin Nadimi of The Washington Institute estimated that about 20 are in service as of 2020. On the report of ''

Jane's Fighting Ships ''Jane's Fighting Ships'' by Janes Information Services is an annual reference book of information on all the world's warships arranged by nation, including information on ships' names, dimensions, armaments, silhouettes and photographs, etc. Ea ...

'', one was lost in April 2014 during an exercise, while American military intelligence says she was reportedly sank on patrol, possibly due to collision with rocks.

Anthony Cordesman Anthony H. Cordesman (born August 1, 1939) holds the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and is a national security analyst on a number of global conflicts. Career He earned his B.A. ...

wrote in 2016 that Iran has up to 17 ''Ghadir'' submarines.

Known commissionings

:''This list may be incomplete''. Velayat 94 Military exercise 27 by Mbazri

* May 2005: 1 (at least, more possible), * 28 November 2007: 1 * 27 November 2008: 1 * 1 June 2009: 3 * 28 November 2009: 2 * 8 August 2010: 4 * 26 November 2011: 3 * 10 February 2012: 2 * 28 November 2012: 2 * 28 November 2018: 1 (pennant number 955) * 5 September 2022: 1

Recommissionings after overhaul

* 28 November 2018: 1 (pennant number 942) * 8 April 2020: 1,

References

External links

Yono Class / Ghadir Class Midget Submarine at GlobalSecurity.orgGhadir (IS-120) at cmano-db.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghadir Class Submarine Submarine classes of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy Midget submarines Ships built by Marine Industries Organization