IRIS Shahid Roudaki

Shahid Roudaki was commissioned into service on 19 November 2020 in a ceremony attended by Major General Hossein Salami and Commander Alireza Tangsiri, commanders of the IRGC and its naval forces respectively.^[1] In line with the naming convention of the IRGC she is named after Vice-admiral Abdullah Roudaki, a martyr (Shahid) and commander of the IRGCN who was assassinated.^[2]

Jeremy Binnie of Jane's Defence Weekly stated that it is likely that she is the former Galaxy F, an Italian-built cargo ship launched in 1992.^[3] H. I. Sutton maintains that "we cannot say for certain, at this stage, that it is her. But Galaxy F is a strong candidate and even if not, the design is essentially identical".^[4]

Following such reports, the Italian MP Antonio Zennaro, a member of the Parliamentary Committee for the Security of the Republic, filed a formal interrogation addressing the Italian government, asking it to verify if Shahid Roudaki really was Galaxy F and—if that were the case—if the ship had been sold to the Iranians in contravention to international sanctions against dual-use technology.^[5][6]

Chinese news agency Xinhua has described Shahid Roudaki as a light fleet carrier.^[7] Thomas Newdick opines that she is a former roll-on/roll-off ship modified for military purposes, and compares her to the MV Ocean Trader or a much smaller version of the Expeditionary Mobile Base concept.^[2]

She displaces 12,000 tonnes and is 150 m (492 ft 2 in) long, with a beam of 22 m (72 ft 2 in), according to a statement released by public relations office of the IRGC.^[7]

She is equipped with one 23 mm (0.91 in) anti-aircraft gun and several heavy machine guns.^[8] The vessel is capable of carrying helicopters and multiple armament on her deck, including drones and missiles.^[9] She is equipped with 3D phased-array radar, anti-ship missiles and electronic warfare systems.^[7] The vessel functions as a mothership to smaller vessels, as well as a platform for launching unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).^[7]

In the footage of commissioning ceremony, a Bell 412 helicopter, four speedboats, six Ababil-2 drones, a Sevom Khordad TELAR and eight anti-ship cruise missiles in four twin container launchers (possibly of Ghader or Ghadir type) were spotted on her deck.^[2] According to H. I. Sutton, it would be unlikely for the IRGC to use the ship with such a formation of equipment in future operations because they were showcasing the asymmetrical roles and potential capability of Shahid Roudaki in the commissioning ceremony.^[8]

Shahid Roudaki along with the similar Shahid Mahdavi mothership are able to be armed with Fateh-class ballistic missile containers such as Dezful.^[10]