Nahang Class Midget Submarine

The Nahang (Whale) is an Iranian built diesel-electric submarine. This single prototype was initiated to develope and validate Iran's ability to design and manufacture larger submarines than the Ghadir class. Its design and construction were said to have involved 220 researchers, and 1.2 million hours of scientific and industrial work. The Nahang submarine, Iran's second homemade submarine, is reportedly one of the country's "largest" defense projects, thought this claim is hard to square with the small number of people involved.

In 2006 the Iranian Navy displayed what it declared to be its first submarine designed and produced without the help of foreign assistance, part of its general goal of military self-sufficiency. "The submarine is fully adapted to the Gulf," Rear Admiral Sajjad Kouchaki said. Nahang is a midget submarine with mockups showing it carrying its armament (primarily mines) externally to save space. Iranian authorities also described the Nahang as having an anti-ship missile capability, though it was unclear at the time how such an arrangement would be achieved on the small craft.

With an estimated displacment of a few hundred tons, the Nahang class is a true mini-sub, carrying its weapons externally, being too small for internal torpedo tubes. By one report Iranian TV images of a computer generated simulation appear to show mines attached below the side bulges. The Nahong does have a surface search radar and communications masts which make well suited to clandestine mine laying, with possibly a limited capability to mount ambush torpedo attacks.

The "Whale" submarine is the second Iranian effort to design and build submarines and at the same time was one of the most costly defense projects in Iran. This submarine was designed entirely in accordance with the conditions of the Persian Gulf. OVer 220 researchers were involved in the design and construction of the plant, and more than 1.2 million hours of scientific work and production were invested. In the design and construction of this submarine, facilities and resources of more than 49 academic, research and industrial centers of the country have been used, as well as close to 200 industrial designs and 70 scientific papers. The main achievements of this plan are the construction of this submarine, two subsystems Major, television peryscope and advanced passive sonar have been built as an eye for this submarine float by the University of Malek Ashtar Electrical Complex and the Jihad-e-Agriculture Research.

Following the submarine of Ghadir, Nahang is the second largest Iranian submarine submarine, equipped with a surface survey radar system and a telecommunication tower that makes it suitable for harboring, as well as a good capability for secret hunting. The result is the efforts of naval experts, academics and researchers. It took a long time to design this submarine, but eventually Iran succeeded.

Majid Heidari Morkheh Kharati, a member of the construction of the submarine in a conversation with the Fars News Agency, said that the design and construction of this project was completely done by Iranian scientists and researchers without dependence abroad, Iranian researchers and researchers During the 10 years of research and study, they succeeded in gaining knowledge of the project. It is said to be a radar submarine. Iranian officials say the submarine is equipped with advanced Iranian electronic systems and is capable of firing torpedoes and missiles simultaneously. These officials have not given any explanation about the range of these weapons.

It is not bad to know that some Western experts consider the whale to be a mini-submarine with unknown abilities. From their point of view, Nahang is a miniature submarine, but they are disputed in terms of domestic facilities and capabilities. For example, some say that Iran has 4 small submarines from North Korea's unknown class (Ghadir), which they are only used for diver dilevery, while for some, these ideas are meaningless and they are submarines with the ability to operate in deep water and carry around 16 mines per mission. The Nahang is slightly larger in length and width than Ghadir, and its capacity is almost twice as large (350-400 tons). Whales also have more advanced electronic equipment than Ghadir.

However, when it comes to Nahang submarine, there are different assumptions. The only assumption is that submarine whales are essentially "an offensive submarine for attacking ships." The next assumption, which seems to be somewhat likely to be, is that whales have the ability to carry larger and more mines than Ghadir submarines. And the third hypothesis is that this submarine was designed to carry out special operations and smuggling.

In general, there is no information about the engine or the interior of this submarine, and only some of its specifications can be found from the available images, but in general it can be assumed that this submarine has more extensive operational capability than Ghadir. .

Some sources believe Nahang is in service with IRGC navy. But in newer images there are IRIN like uniforms and tags. It is widely belived that nahang is operated by IRGC and until early 2019 there was no proof that IRI navy was operating Nahang class.