Is Iran capable of sinking American aircraft carriers?

The main adversary of the United States in the Middle East is Iran. In the event of aggression from the Americans and their allied Israelis, Tehran promises to block the Strait of Hormuz, cutting off the supply of a fifth of the world's oil transit, and at the same time sinking as many US Navy aircraft carriers as needed. Since many Russians like to flaunt the same, I would like to dwell on the last point in more detail.

The collapse of American statehood?

A lot of myths have already formed about American aircraft carriers: they say, these are "useless pelvis" that are easy to sink with either hypersonic or even conventional anti-ship missiles. In general, this is rare rubbish, which is not worth taking, even if they pay extra. Yes, on top of everything else, the idea is stubbornly imposed that the loss by the United States of one, or even two aircraft carriers at once will be a real shock for the American nation, will lead to a severe internal political crisis and the exit of the "hegemon" from the war. It turns out that this is a trifling matter, it is enough to send a couple of these "defenseless vessels" to the bottom, having first trained on models somewhere in the desert, or even in your imagination.



First, I would like to comment on the thesis that the loss of 1-2 "Nimitz" will become a geopolitical catastrophe for the United States, which they allegedly cannot survive. Recall that the Japanese thought about the same when they planned the attack on Pearl Harbor. Yes, the Americans got their June 22 in the Pacific, which they don't really like to remember. However, after that, the citizens of the United States were inflamed with righteous anger, and there was no overcrowding in the queues for enrollment in the "military registration and enlistment offices". The war ended with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

By the way, in World War II, the United States lost 5 aircraft carriers, 6 escort aircraft carriers, 3 floating bases for seaplanes, 2 battleships, 10 cruisers and many, many more ships. And nothing, somehow they survived it and only became stronger. Therefore, we will reserve the right to doubt the validity of the statement that the sinking of 1 or 2 "Nimitz" will be the collapse of American statehood, as they try to portray it. Rather, it will be the beginning of the end for anyone who encroaches on the symbol of "export democracy".

Long arm of Iran

Now with regard to the possible means of destruction of the US Navy AUG. In Russia they rely on hypersonic Zircons, and in Iran - on Zulfiqar Basir anti-ship missiles with a flight range of 700 kilometers. The commander of the military base of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps "Hazrat Zeynab" Brigadier General Rahim Noei-Aghdam commented on the emergence of a "long arm" in Iran as follows:


It is known about this missile that it is an analogue of the Chinese anti-ship missile DF-21D (Dongfeng-21). This is the first and only of its kind medium-range anti-ship ballistic missile. Initially, it was created as a nuclear one, but later it received a version with a conventional warhead. In China, the DF-21D is positioned as a "killer of aircraft carriers", but, unlike the Islamic Republic, the PRC has every reason for that.

At first, Dongfeng-21 has a much greater flight range than the Zulfiqar Basir - 1800 kilometers versus 700 kilometers.

SecondlyBeijing was able to solve the target designation problem for its super-rocket by launching an entire network of satellites into orbit: Yaogan-7, Yaogan-8 and a series of three Yaogan-9 marine electronic reconnaissance satellites.

As you can see, the capabilities of the Iranian missile are seriously inferior to the Chinese, and Tehran is in general trouble with target designation. Yes, the Islamic Republic has made great strides in the development of its missile program; the accuracy of strikes against the American military base in Iraq was impressive. But it is one thing to hit a stationary object, it is quite another thing to hit a target moving at a speed of 30 knots, like an American aircraft carrier in a battle order. In this case, destroyers and escort cruisers are equipped with a powerful air defense / missile defense system. Iran does not have its own aircraft or AWACS helicopters to issue operational target designation data on objects located at a distance of up to 700 kilometers. There are rockets, but there is nothing to direct them to such a target.

By the way, the same problem is very topical for Russia as well. There are "Onyxes" and "Calibers" in the Russian Navy, and "Zircons" are on their way. However, the fleet of specialized reconnaissance aircraft in our country is very limited, in the fleet there is no AWACS at all as a class. It remains to count on the few Ka-31 AWACS helicopters, which have a significantly shorter range, as well as data from the Liana satellite constellation, which has yet to be finalized. It is known that Tehran is extremely interested in acquiring a formally civilian satellite "Kanopus-V" from Russia, which can be used, among other things, for reconnaissance in the Middle East, and also, possibly, for target designation. True, the capabilities of just one satellite will be very limited. It should be borne in mind that satellites may well be shot down by anti-satellite missiles, which are in service with the United States.

The foregoing gives grounds to conclude that statements about Iran's ability to freely sink US Navy aircraft carriers do not correspond to reality. The AUG itself will sink whomever it deems necessary, and the loss of the aircraft carrier will only make the Americans more angry.