Iran has resurrected a Russian Frankenstein for what is to come
For decades, Russian shipyards have turned their diesel-electric submarines into one of the star products of their military industry: dozens of units of Project 877 and 636 (known in the West as the Kilo class) were exported to countries such as India, China, Algeria, Vietnam or Iran, offering a combination of relatively contained cost, affordable maintenance and coastal warfare capabilities that allowed navies without a great submarine tradition to take a strategic leap without developing their own technology. Iran has resurrected and modernized one of them. The shadow under the Strait. While Washington was approaching their carrier groups to the Gulf and first the USS Abraham Lincoln, and then the USS Gerald R. Ford, entered sensitive waters, the satellites captured a disturbing image at Iranian Base 1: one of the old Kilo class submarinesacquired from Russia in the nineties for around $600 million each, returned to its berth after months in dry dock. Amid American pressure for a new nuclear deal and Iranian warnings of all-out war, Tehran appeared to have resurrected a Frankenstein Russian for submarine warfare, returning to the scene a platform that for years dragged maintenance problems and availability, but it remains its most powerful asset underwater. The myth of the Russian “black hole”. The Kilo, designed in the Cold War as Project 877 and evolved into later variants, gained the nickname “black hole” for their low acoustic signal when sailing on batteries, a reputation that some experts consider exaggeratedagainst modern Western submarines with air-independent propulsion. However, their combination of relative stealth, heavy torpedoes, ability to mine shipping lanes, and anechoic coatings made them one of the star products Soviet and Russian naval export, sold to China, India or Iran, countries that were looking for an effective submarine force without developing their own industry. Today many of these navies are removing them due to obsolescence, but in the Persian Gulf they continue to be pieces with strategic value. A weapon designed to deny. The normal thing is that Iran does not aspire to defeat the United States Navy in the open field, but rather to defeat make more expensive and complicate its presence in the Strait of Hormuz through an area denial strategy supported by a set of mines, coastal missiles, fast boats and submarines. In this scenario, a Kilo operating on batteries can become a serious threat. for escort or logistics vessels that transit maritime corridors barely three kilometers wide, even if a supercarrier has layered defenses and anti-submarine coverage with MH-60R helicopters and airplanes P-8A. The key in this case is not so much to sink an aircraft carrier, but to sow enough uncertainty to raise the political and military cost of any attack. The dwarf fleet that completes the picture. There is no doubt, the modernization of the Kilo cannot be understood without the other half of the Iranian device: the more than twenty Ghadir class mini submarinesat least eleven recently visible on the same base, designed for shallow waters and intense traffic. With just 117-125 tons submerged and diesel-electric propulsion, these units are optimized for ambushes in coastal environments where civil noise, salinity and currents degrade sonar performance, making them difficult to detect, although limited in autonomy and firepower. Faced with American technological superiority, Iran accumulates quantity, dispersion and knowledge of the terrain. Geography, wear and calculation. Experts say as Jack Bubby that another equation must be taken into account. The conditions of the Gulf, a scenario with shallow depth, high salinity and complex currents, have historically punished the Iranian Kilos and reduced availabilityforcing long periods of maintenance and reconditioning. But precisely this restricted environment favors small and discreet platforms, and turns any concentration of naval forces into a calculated risk exercise. Thus, while the United States reinforces its presence to sustain diplomatic and military pressure, Tehran rebuilds its submarine force combining updated Soviet relics and modern coastal flotillas, betting that, in a conflict, the shadow underwater weighs as much as the steel visible on the surface. Image | rhk111X, Vitaliy Ankov In Xataka | From space something very dangerous can be seen in Iran: the US cannot do what it did in Caracas if it does not want a massacre In Xataka | If the US attacks Iran with drones, it will find a surprise: Russia has shielded its sky with an explosive weapon, Verba
