Iran navy launches domestically made destroyer

Agence France Presse (AFP) ^ | 02/19/2010

[dps.inspect]

Oh Crap... Did ya see that gun... we’re dead, we’re soo dead!

[RightOnline]

Doesn’t it have to turn and face east five times a day?

[DarthVader]

Soon to be reduced to scrap metal on the bottom of the Persian Gulf.

[Thermalseeker]

Nothing but a little patrol craft. Or a target.

It'll make a fine artificial reef, though.....

[sukhoi-30mki]

I think AFP goofed-up on the displacement. Reuters puts it at 1,500tonnes which is corvette size and also makes sense given its small length. Well, smaller than most modern corvettes also!!!

[east1234]

It gonna look pretty with flames shooting out of all openings.

[sukhoi-30mki]

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iran/kaman-specs.htm

They got 76mm guns during the Shah’s era.

[Rebelbase]

You have hand it to the Iranians for being ecologically conscious to provide this contribution to the future Persian Gulf Artificial Reef Program (PGARP).

[Little Ray]

Makes more sense.
I don’t think its impossible for them to build their own domestic cruisers, though.
It would be kind of cool to build a cross between an old Armored Cruiser (CA) and the arsenal ship the navy was proposing (a medium warship with massive VLS missile batteries...).

[massgopguy]

C’mon, give the Iranians some credit. This battlewagon might give the Monitor or the Merrimack a run for their money.

[dps.inspect]

Oh Crap... who do ya think’s gunna get that one life ring when the ship goes down... it ain’t gunna you boatswain, yer goin down with the ship... crappy huh?

[jmcenanly]

can carry 120-140 personnel on board
I almost feel sorry for them
Are they rowing?

[nuconvert]

another photo

[Oztrich Boy]

. I'll bet the article slipped a zero somewhere and they're actually 1,400 tons.

You win. It's a 94m long corvette/light frigate

Real destroyers haven't been that small since the 1930s

[panaxanax]

“...that one life ring...”

I just noticed that. Funny.

[EternalVigilance]

Hey, at least they have a lifeboat on that thing.

[GitmoSailor]

Where do I sign up????

[GonzoGOP]

surface-to-air missiles with a top speed of up to 30 knots

If they are shooting at anything faster than a hot air balloon I'm thinking they are going to have a bit of trouble.

Besides 14,000 tons. Darn thing is bigger than a Pocket Battleship. If the weapons load-out described is all it has the thing is a wretched waste of displacement. Given their tactical situation they would have been better off building a bunch of general purpose frigates, like the O.H Perry class. Instead they built one big high value target. I wonder if in Farsi it's name translates to Harpoon Bait.

[peeps36]

They are going to outfit the ship with a special burka and claim it's stealth.

[Kenny Bunk]

OTO-Melara 76mm

Early model, or funk-o-rama copy. BTW, the Eyeties have been selling ships to the Iraians for years and years, so the automatic blaster is no surprise. Cool piece of hardware, when working.