Iranian container ship transformed into drone carrier ready to fire
The Splash website reported on an Iranian container ship that has been converted into a drone carrier ready to fire.
According to the Splash website, an Iranian container ship named "Shahid Bagheri" has been converted into a drone carrier ready to fire at ships in the Arabian Sea, located south of the Sea of Oman.
The tanker tracking group led by Samir Madani began an investigation that, based on satellite images recorded by Planet Labs over the past 10 days, obtained information about the change in use of this container ship, which is considered a cargo ship.
"We predict that the Bagheri drone carrier will eventually harm commercial ships in the Arabian Sea and on their way to India," said Samir Madani, who has been closely tracking Iranian ships for the past six years.
Iran took delivery of the ship in 2000 from Hyundai Heavy Industries, which was recently converted to a cargo ship at the ISOICO shipyard west of Bandar Abbas and placed under the control of the Revolutionary Guards. In addition, after converting the container ship Shahid Bagheri into a drone carrier, the Revolutionary Guards increased its deck, which has changed its width to 170 meters and turned it into a runway.
The width of this runway is such that it is capable of enabling the take-off and landing of very large ships carrying "long-range" drones. "Alireza Tangsiri," Commander of the IRGC Navy, also stated regarding this drone carrier that this vessel is equipped with helicopters, missiles, and drones.
Tangsiri also announced in mid-January: "The main mission of the IRGC Navy is to use these ships in the Persian Gulf, but outside the designated orbit for the Army Navy's missions in the Sea of Oman, it accompanies and coordinates with this force."
It should be noted that Houthi militia groups, supported by the Islamic Republic, launched missile and drone attacks on 35 commercial ships with the aim of supporting Palestine in the war between Israel and Hamas. Reports have also been published in recent days that the Islamic Republic provided hardware and intelligence assistance to the Houthis to attack commercial ships in the Red Sea.
Brad Cooper, commander of the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, also referred to recent attacks on commercial ships in the Middle East and the Red Sea, and openly emphasized the financing, training, and equipping of Houthi militia groups by the Islamic Republic, saying: "The Islamic Republic is very directly involved in the attacks by Yemen's Shiite Houthi militias on ships."
He called the recent attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea and the Middle East the worst attacks since the tanker war.
