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Iran has continued its push to convert commercial oil tankers into helicopter and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) carriers. Recent photos show Tehran’s SHAHED BAGHERI carrier with new modifications and construction. The strategy of converting oil tankers into carriers began with the MAKRAN, an Aframax tanker formerly known as the PERSIAN GULF. The 750-ft (228-m) tanker had a large flat landing deck installed forward for RH-53D Sea Stallion, SH-3D Sea King, AS-61A Sea King or Bell AB 212 helicopters. The ship has a lift of 80,000 tons of fuel and 20,000 tons of water. MAKRAN can serve as a command center, logistics hub, intelligence platform, transportation vessel or carrier for UAVs, helicopters, troops and small craft. The ship, commissioned in 2021, embarked on the Iranian navy’s first circumnavigation of the globe in September 2022, with the corvette DENA, returning home on May 18, 2023. The converted tanker carrier, along with others like it, reflects a growing unconventional push to expand the Iranian navy’s reach into deeper, blue waters and theaters around the world.

Russia first deployed the KUB-UAV for its ongoing war in Ukraine.

The ZALA KUB, also known as KUB-BLA, is a high-precision Russian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by ZALA Aero Group, a subsidiary of Kalashnikov Concern. It operates as a loitering munition, designed primarily for military purposes, and can function as a suicide drone or kamikaze drone to neutralize small targets on land or sea. The drone delivers precise strikes, using manually set target coordinates or image-based guidance, which makes it effective in high-stakes combat situations.

Recently, it was reported that the drone received an upgraded warhead; the previously 6.6 lbs fragmentation warhead had been replaced with an OFBCh 2.5 warhead consisting of an HMX-based explosive with a yield 1.7 times that of TNT.

Iran has for years sought to develop its local defense industry, and electronics are no exception. The Islamic Republic proudly announced the development of the Asr, its first three-dimensional, passive electronically scanned array, phased array naval radar just a day before its National Day celebration in November 2013. Despite the fanfare that surrounded its expected 2014 delivery, this system has seemed conspicuously limited in its deployment. Supposedly capable of tracking up to 100 targets at a range of 110 nm (200.0 km), the Asr reflects a milestone for Iranian defense industry, though has only been confirmedly installed on the JAMARAN or MOUDGE class of corvettes, one of which, the SAHAND capsized on July 9, forcing ongoing repairs. While the Asr may be viewed as a developmental or test system or may be quietly installed or planned for installation on other vessels, it has so far been curiously out of sight in Tehran’s naval posturing.