For the first time in history, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard missiles sank a Nimitz-class US aircraft carrier. Obviously we are talking about an exercise that started this morning in the Persian Gulf and in the Strait of Hormuz.
The American aircraft carrier was attacked with cruise missiles, rockets, dozens of naval units and two ballistic missiles.
Speaking with reporters on the sidelines of the first day of exercises, Admiral Ali Fadavi, Commander of the Iranian Navy, announced that the "Ghadir" cruise missile, with a range of 300 km, was delivered just hours before the start of the wargame. Our missiles - said Fadavi - can hit moving targets throughout the Persian Gulf.
The exercise "Payambar-e Azam 9" (The Great Prophet 9), started this morning in the Persian Gulf and in the Strait of Hormuz.
The Americans - added Fadavi - fear our ability to flood the sea of mines and our carriers have such power that the Pentagon does not even imagine.
The power of our Navy - Fadavi explained - was also recognized by the enemies.
Fadavi cited a report dated 11 September 2008 by the Washington Institute for the Near East Policy which highlighted the progress of the Iranian Navy over the past two decades.
It is also true that Fadavi then added, referring to the Iranian Navy, some periods not included in the American report as "exalted naval capacities capable of leading an asymmetric war against a powerful naval force".
The US aircraft carrier sank
Should a war break out, Iran will direct its military power against American aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf.
That sunk this morning was a simple replica of the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier, built in a shipyard in the southern port of Bandar Abbas.
"We have shown that the immense dimensions of American aircraft carriers make them an easy target. The destruction of American carriers is a priority for the Republican Guard naval forces, as aircraft carriers are the symbol of US military power in the world."
According to the Republican Guard, in order to sink a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, 24 swarm-launched missiles (similar only conceptually to the far more deadly 'Kirov' attack technique with its twenty SS-N-19 Shipwreck armored missiles' from the weight of seven tons per carrier).
The naval forces of the Revolutionary Guard, small boats armed with anti-ship missiles, are independent of the main Iranian Navy. They are deployed along the territorial waters of the Persian Gulf.
We are really impressed - commented by the Pentagon - they have sunk a replica of one of our aircraft carriers (photos of the authentic units on the left and at the bottom).
Of course - they add from the US Navy - it is one thing to launch missiles against a floating structure anchored to the seabed, while at the same time it is to attack a one hundred thousand ton warship, with maneuvering ability, speed of thirty knots, fifty fighters on board and escorted by four Ticonderoga-class missile cruisers, four Arleigh-Burke-class missile destroyers (pictured below), two Oliver-class frigates Hazard Perry and two nuclear-powered attack-class Los Angeles submarines.
A year ago, US intelligence analysts discovered that Iran built a giant fake carrier, very similar in shape to the US Navy's Nimitz class ships. Satellite images confirmed the construction that took place at the Gachin site near Bandar Abbas in the Persian Gulf. Work would begin in the summer of 2013.
The Iranian replica sunk this morning measured 333 meters, as did the Nimitz. It adopted the same color as the American super aircraft carriers. Even fighters, obviously fake, had been recreated on the bridge (v. article).
The one sunk by the Iranians was not a functioning aircraft carrier. It was an immense barge built to resemble an American aircraft carrier. And it has been sunk.
Franco Iacch
(photo: farsnews / US DoD)
