Saba mine warfare vessel

Apart from the Dena, which was annexed 13 June 2021, on the same day the Shahin minesweeper was commissioned. It is just as important as the Dena, though it did not receive much attention. This ship is well named, as a Shahin / Shaneen [Falcon] is is a Persian name that in the Dehkhoda dictionary is attributed to a kind of bird of prey. The art of falconry, or hunting with the aid of trained falcons, has been practiced in many parts of Asia from a prehistoric period. When at a proper elevation, the Hawk, being freed from his head-gear, was cast off from the sportsman's fist, with a loud whoop to encourage her. When thus cast off, the Hawk flew in the direction of the game, and endeavored to surmount it, or get above it in its flight. When the Hawk reached a proper elevation above the game, she shot down upon it with all her force and velocity, and this descent was techically called “the stoop,” or “the swoop.” When the Hawk closed or grappled with its prey (which was called binding, in falconry,) they generally tumbled down from the sky together, and the object of the sportsman was, either by running on foot or galloping his horse, to get to the spot as soon as they should touch the earth, in order to assist the Hawk in her struggle with her prey.

The name shaheen in Persian literature referred to Falco peregrinus babylonicus. Old Persian writers extolled the shahin in prose and verse. They describe how this swift-winged, sharp-taloned falcon, in stooping to earth is swifter than the rays of the sun, and in mounting to heaven is quicker than the sight of man's eye. It nests, they say, on the crest of a mountain so lofty, that the celestial eagle cannot wing its way thither, whilst the constellation Aquila, in terror of its talons, crouches close in the green nest of the sky.

The Saba surface effect ship, which was gradually unveiled in 2019 and 2020, presents a bit of a puzzle. Official Iranian sources are pretty consistent in claiming the vessel is a minesweeper. A minesweeper is a type of small military vessel that is responsible for identifying, collecting or destroying offshore mines. This action, which clears the waterways for military and commercial ships, is called mine sweeping. But there is little in the literature to suggest that marine mines would be a problem for Iran. There is, however, ample literature about the threat that Iranian mines would pose to the shipping of other countries. Typically, the hulls of minesweepers are made of fiberglass and other non-conductive materials to be more secure against magnetic mines, but the Saba has a steel hull.

HISutton noted that "The configuration bears a superficial resemblance to the Royal Norweigen Navy's Oksøy-class (and related Alta-class) mine warfare vessels. Unlike the plastic-hulled Oksøy-class, Saba appears to be steel-hulled, which is less common in minesweepers. It is also much smaller, closer to 30 meters (100ft) long compared to 55.2 m (181 ft) for the Norwegian boats."

According to the defense group of Tasnim news agency, Amir Sartip Hatami, Minister of Defense and Support of the Armed Forces, traveled to Hormozgan province within the framework of a provincial trip on 17 February 2019. Attending the Shahid Darvish Industries of the Marine Industries Organization of the Ministry of Defense in Bandar Abbas, he visited all the projects of this industry, especially the floating project of the wave class, and closely evaluated the progress.

The Minister of Defense and Armed Forces Support considered the role of the Fateh submarine important in improving the deterrent power of the Navy and said: "The plans of the Ministry of Defense to develop and equip the Navy, the IRGC, and the NAJA Border Fleet will be strongly pursued".

According to Fars News Agency's Defense Group, Amir Hatami, Minister of Defense and Armed Forces Support, on 29 May 2020 visited the Ministry of Defense Marine Industries in Bandar Abbas and was briefed on the construction and production of the latest achievements in the field of naval warfare. In this presence, Amir Hatami visited the final stages of construction and equipping of Dena destroyer and Saba minesweeper.

The Minister of Defense and Support of the Armed Forces stressed the need to complete the defense projects of the Dena destroyer and the Saba mine and its readiness to be handed over to the Armed Forces: The Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Support is determined in the face of harsh sanctions And the jihadist determination of committed and revolutionary experts in the defense industry to take great steps in realizing the slogan of the year and promoting the defense deterrent power of Islamic Iran by producing and manufacturing the most advanced defense equipment and achievements required by the Armed Forces.

The Minister of Defense and Armed Forces Support called the construction and production of Saba minesweeper by the Marine Industries Organization one of the honors of the Ministry of Defense and said: "Saba minesweeper is responsible for identifying and destroying various types of naval mines in regional waters." God willing, in the near future, it will be handed over to the strategic navy of the army to carry out serious missions.

Amir Hatami, stating that we will do our best to secure the Persian Gulf, especially the Strait of Hormuz, said: "If the Persian Gulf region is safe, all countries in the region will benefit from this security; But if the Persian Gulf becomes insecure, it will be insecure for all countries in the region. "The security of the Persian Gulf region is in the common interest of the Gulf states," he said.

In this regard, the Minister of Defense added: "Nearly a century of experience shows that foreigners have always been the cause of insecurity and crisis in this region under the pretext of providing security in the Persian Gulf;" They seek to sell billions of dollars in weapons and maintain their bases in the region by creating Iranophobia and creating a crisis in the Persian Gulf region and then creating a security dependency for the Gulf countries.

The Minister of Defense, quoting the orders of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Imam Khamenei, stated that the Navy is at the forefront of defending Iran and covers important areas such as Makran, the Sea of ??Oman and open waters. The Navy of the Islamic Republic of Iran will support the greater and more authoritative presence of the Navy in the high seas. He said that the Iranian Navy has established its strong position in the field of protection of Iranian waters and participates in the conduct of naval missions in international waters with authority.

Iran could restrict access or even attempt to fully close the Strait of Hormuz. Mine warfare has been an integral part of Iran’s naval strategy since the Tanker War. Iran has an estimated inventory of more than 5,000 naval mines, which include contact and influence mines. Both navies have devised strategies to rapidly deploy mines while improving force survivability. Iran has a variety of vessels that can lay mines, but the IRGCN has integrated its doctrine of using smaller, faster vessels into its mine-laying strategy. Iran has equipped many of its Ashoora small boats with mine rails capable of holding at least one mine.

Iran’s antiaccess/area denial (A2/AD) strategy seeks to prevent an adversary from entering or operating in areas that it considers essential to its security and sovereignty. Iranian A2/AD relies primarily on Iran’s naval forces and geostrategic position along the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz. The full range of Iran’s A2/AD capabilities include ship- and shore-launched antiship cruise missiles (ASCMs), fast attack craft (FAC) and fast inshore attack craft (FIAC), submarines, UAVs, antiship ballistic missiles (ASBMs), air defense systems and naval mines. Iran has developed a maritime guerrilla-warfare strategy intended to exploit the perceived weaknesses of traditional naval forces that rely on large vessels. On 14 April 1988, the USS Samuel B. Roberts was struck by an Iranian naval mine. In response 4 days later, the United States launched Operation PRAYING MANTIS against Iranian naval forces.

Iran maintains an estimated inventory of more than 5,000 naval mines, including contact and influence mines, which it can rapidly deploy in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz using high-speed small boats equipped as minelayers.

Mine warfare has always been an effective tool for protecting friendly harbors or neutralizing enemy harbors. In the American Revolutionary War a colonist named Bushnell fitted some powder kegs with a gun lock and hammer exploders and used them as contact mines to destroy British river traffic. By the time of World War I mines had become quite sophisticated and became essential in many military operations. During that war the allies bottled up the German U-boats in the North Sea by laying an enormous barrage of mines between Norway and Scotland so that the allies could use their Atlantic shipping routes with reasonable safety. By WWII many varied systems of mines were utilized and numerous mine laying vessels were involved in laying extensive fields of controlled and uncontrolled mines. One noteworthy use of mines was in the mining of Haiphong Harbor. This operation demonstrated that mine warfare is still an excellent weapon system and one of the most cost effective in existence.

Sea mines are typically large, weighing several hundreds of kilograms. They may contain large amounts of high explosives, typically in the range of several tens of kilograms to a hundred kilograms or even more. Since they are both heavy and dangerous, their handling requires care throughout the supply and loading chain, and on the mining vessel itself.

A typical arrangement for handling mines on mine-laying vessels include tracks and sleds, on which mines are placed. The sleds allow movement along the tracks, and typically are constructed so that the sleds cannot move perpendicularly to the tracks, i.e. removing the possibility of the sled and mine falling off a track during heavy seas. When a mine is laid, it is rolled on it sled off the tracks past the stem of the vessel and into the sea. The sled is typically allowed to fall as well. The sled may be used as a part of the mine system, for example as an anchor. The sled may also be a sacrificial component that is not used for any further purpose nor recovered.

Mine laying ships are often dedicated ships built only for this purpose. The tracks and the space required for the tracks make it difficult to use a mine laying ship for other purposes, and conversely, ships built for other purposes do not typically have tracks for mines. Maintaining the ability to lay minefields therefore practically requires that a navy dedicates a number of ships to mine laying functions.

However, acquiring such ships is expensive, as is the upkeep of such ships.

These current arrangements for handling mines also require a harbor to have corresponding systems for handling and loading mines, in order to be able to supply and load mines on mine laying vessels. This requirement of special mine handling systems also limit the possibilities of arranging mine supplying and loading operations in different locations, as a generic harbour without specific equipment cannot be used.

In all of these operations, however, it has been very difficult to plant these mines covertly, especially when the mines are planted as an offensive weapon in an enemy harbor or other designated area. The presence of a mine laying ship obviously gives away the presence of the mine laying operation. In recent history most of the mine laying ships have been scrapped and mine laying is now accomplished by aircraft. Mine laying from aircraft has the same problem as mine laying from surface ships, namely giving away the location of the operation.

Submarines have the capability of laying mines. However, in order to lay mines the submarine must sacrifice its complement of torpedoes. In addition, the newer class submarines are not safe in the shallow waters next to harbors where mines are most effective. These are two very important factors not desirable to submarine commanders. If mines are to be deployed clandestinely a system is needed that would not jeopardize the submarines' present weapon system and yet would provide a safe standoff position for effective, clandestine mine planting.

In modern naval warfare, the loss of shipping and warships to the enemy by marine mines is an ever present threat. A particularly effective type of marine mine is actuated magnetically by the passage of naval or other vessels. A typical sweep for this type of marine mine is to tow a device producing a large magnetic disturbance aft of a small minesweeping craft. The minesweeper passes over the mine undetected and unharmed because of its low magnetic field, and the magnetic device detonates the mines lying within a predetermined effective area safely astern the minesweeper. If a sweep over a large area is desired, additional minesweepers towing similar magnetic sweep devices follow the first minesweeper at a safe distance. Each of said additional following minesweepers follow at the outer edge of the area swept by the preceding minesweeper, making a V-formation, and only the first minesweeper navigates an unswept course.

Although a present state-of-the-art design minesweeper has a very low magnetic signature, magnetic detection methods as used in mine technology have advanced to the point where even a minesweeper may be detected. These advances in mine construction have made the use of sweep techniques hazardous, as well as expensive to utilize.

Early minesweepers had hulls and engines constructed almostentirely of non-magnetic material, to cause as little disturbance of the earths field as possible, and were arranged to tow an assembly of heavy cables that were energized to create a strong, random magnetic field far to the stern of the ship. The field thus created was effective in most instances to create a disturbance sufficient to detonate the mines. as the sensitivity of mines was increased still further, it was found that the minesweepers, by themselves, created a sufiicient magnetic field to detonate the mines. This field was primarily caused by the generating equipment required to energize the towed coil.

Although it was reduced to a great extent by applying conventional degaussing techniques, it was found that the variations in the ships induced magnetic field caused by changes in attitude of the ship were sufiicient to detonate the more sensitive mines. Therefore, it became essential to provide means to vary the degaussing coil currents automatically to maintain complete neutralization of the ships induced magnetic field despite any rolling, pitching, or yawing motions of the ship.

The Saba seems to be a surface effect ship of the catamaran type supported structure with two side hulls connected by a central box structure able to operate either as a displacement vehicle or as an air cushion lifted vehicle. Many catamaran type ships have been suggested, with two side walls connected by a central box structure, particularly for the yatching. Such multi-hull boats are attractive especially from a safety point of view as, due to the lack of ballast and dead weight, they are virtually unsinkable. On the other hand, by comparison to the mono-hull, the multi-hulls are very fast due to the lack of ballast and they are less listing and rolling due to a larger righting momentum. The multi-hull ships provide also much larger deck areas.

Surface effect ships have been suggested including a catamaran type structure with two side hulls connected by a central box structure aboe to operate as air cushion supported vehicle. Generally these catamaran type surface effect ships include a lifted structure with a central box structure connecting two side hulls which provide the side confinement of the lifting air cushion; on the other hand, this structure is equipped with stern and bow seals able to assist the side hulls for delimiting the lifting air cushion supplied by the pressure air generator.

The typical side hull geometry that has been employed by surface effect ships is a prismatic, hard-chine planing hull. These types of hulls are inefficient at developing lift and have very high wave making drag characteristics when the ship is off cushion in the displacement mode. Their primary advantages comes from their ease of production and their tendency to introduce a degree of dynamic stability at high speeds.