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(Getty Images)
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Ghadir is a class of midget submarines built by Iran specifically for cruising within the shallow waters of the Persian Gulf. It has a surface displacement estimated at about 115 long tons (117 t).
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(Image via globalmilitaryreview.blogspot.com)
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The Ghadir class is based on the North Korean Yono-class submarine. Photographs indicate a pair of bow torpedo tubes around 21 inches (530 mm) diameter, allowing them to fire typical heavyweight torpedoes. It could thus serve as a launch platform for the VA-111 Shkval rocket torpedo. But the Ghadir was 50% longer than the Yono.
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(Image via monch.com)
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The Ghadir class is probably better described as a coastal or littoral submarine, similar in concept to the Italian Sauro class, though significantly smaller.
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(Image via topwar.ru)
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In 2005 Iran announced it would start production of its first indigenous submarine. Iran on 11 May 2005 officially launched the production of its first locally built submarine, a craft capable of operating stealthily, state-run television reported.
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(Image via blogs.plymouth.ac.uk)
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The hull was launched in 2006. In November 2007 Iran claimed to have built a small submarine equipped with sonar-evading technology, saying the craft had been launched in the Persian Gulf
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(Rahbar Emamdadi/Mehr News Agency via AP)
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New Ghadir submarines were delivered to the Iranian navy on June 2009, August 2010, August 2011, November 2011, February 2012, November 2012 and November 2018.
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(Image via globalmilitaryreview.blogspot.com)
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Iran described the Ghadir as a "light" submarine, meaning it is smaller than the attack subs used by the United States. Iran has provided very little information about the craft, including its dimensions or the size of its crew.
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(Image via radis.org)
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Iranian authorities asserted that the Qadir was an entirely Iranian design, and that the vessel could launch anti-ship missiles. Such a capability would have required the installation of more advanced systems into the submarine or the operation in concert with other vessels capable of guiding any such missiles. The Qadir does have provisions for mounting a Swimmer Delivery Vehicle (SDV), a type of craft that Iran has also developed.
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(Image via milpower.org)
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The submarine, which is capable of operating in the Persian Gulf and Oman seawaters, can launch both missiles and torpedoes at the same time, without specifying the range of the projectiles.
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(Image via 4chanarchives.com)
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Class overview
Name: Ghadir-class submarine
Builders: Marine Industries Organization
Operators: Islamic Republic of Iran Navy
In service: 28 November 2007
Active: 23 (2020)
General characteristics
Type: Midget submarine
Tonnage: 120 tonnes
Displacement: 115 tons surfaced
Length: 29 m (95 ft)
Beam: ~3 m
Draught: ~2.5 m
Propulsion: Diesel-electric propulsion
Speed: 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph)
Complement: 18
Armament: 2 × 533mm torpedoes (possibly VA-111 Shkval), mines, Jask-2 SLCM
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