New Iranian destroyer still months away from beginning operations
The latest addition to the Iranian Navy’s surface fleet, the indigenously produced missile destroyer Dena, will become operational in the coming months, according to Iran’s Defence Minister Brig Gen Amir Hatami.
Announcing the timeline for vessel’s introduction on 23 November, state news outlet IRNA said that the destroyer brought new capabilities to the Iranian Navy. The announcement came almost a year to the day that it was first revealed the vessel will be equipped with a vertical launch system (VLS).
Iran often releases statements promoting its indigenous design and manufacturing capabilities that are difficult to verify. Recently, it revealed its first ‘ocean-going aircraft carrier’, which turned out to be a repainted and slightly modified roll on/roll off merchant vessel.
One of seven Mowj-class destroyers planned to enter service with the IRIN, Dena and its sister ships are significantly smaller than modern destroyers at around 95m in length and displacing 1,500t. By way of comparison the class are only 5m longer than the UK’s River-class Batch 2 OPVs and displace 25% less tonnage.
The small size of the Mowj class would make the realisation of an effective VLS capability a difficult undertaking, and would likely be limited to aerial point defence purposes due to cell length requirements needed for maritime strike.
In comparison, the MK 41 VLS in service with a variety of Western or Western-aligned navies tops out at 7.6m in length and are typically deployed in frigate and destroyer-sized vessels. A smaller 5.2m version is considered to be suitable for smaller offshore patrol vessels and corvettes, but would be utilised for self-defence purposes only.
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