Iran seen building a fake Aircraft Carrier

[n2doc]

WASHINGTON — Iran is building a nonworking mock-up of an American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier that United States officials say may be intended to be blown up for propaganda value.

Intelligence analysts studying satellite photos of Iranian military installations first noticed the vessel rising from the Gachin shipyard, near Bandar Abbas on the Persian Gulf, last summer. The ship has the same distinctive shape and style of the Navy’s Nimitz-class carriers, as well as the Nimitz’s number 68 neatly painted in white near the bow. Mock aircraft can be seen on the flight deck.

The Iranian mock-up, which American officials described as more like a barge than a warship, has no nuclear propulsion system and is only about two-thirds the length of a typical 1,100-foot-long Navy carrier. Intelligence officials do not believe that Iran is capable of building an actual aircraft carrier.

“Based on our observations, this is not a functioning aircraft carrier; it’s a large barge built to look like an aircraft carrier,” said Cmdr. Jason Salata, a spokesman for the Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, across the Persian Gulf from Iran. “We’re not sure what Iran hopes to gain by building this. If it is a big propaganda piece, to what end?”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/21/world/middleeast/a-ship-being-built-in-iran-looks-awfully-familiar-to-the-us.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimes&_r=0

[Enrique]

1. equally likely to be American propaganda

I predict with 100% certainty the chest-pounding reaction from a lot of people here in the U.S. to this story. "Ha ha those primitive Iranians are trying to imitate our American might!" And I can see how that reaction might be being orchestrated.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

11. No, it isn't, don't be silly. N.T.

[Enrique]

12. ok, i'll be wise

and I'll assume that the information coming from military sources regarding Iran is to be taken at face value.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. I think I know how they're going to use it.

Sympathetic magic. They'll blow holes in it with rockets, sorta like sticking pins in a giant voodoo doll, thereby sinking the REAL Nimitz.

[jsr]

3. Sounds like their F-313 'stealth fighter' that couldn't fly

[Blue_Tires]

4. Maybe it's for a movie or something?

I don't quite get the point behind the story, since everyone is pretty sure this carrier is harmless and has no real practical military use...

I'm betting satellites can find a lot of curiously-weird-but-harmless oddities being built somewhere...

[Savannahmann]

5. Or it might be a training site for Iranian forces

The US Military regularly builds towns to practice siezing that resemble foreign towns. They call this MOUT. Or Military Operations in Urban Terrain. I remember reading about one at Fort Bragg that was built to assist the training of Delta Force when they were planning the rescue of civillians during the Iranian Hostage Crisis under President Carter. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_One
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOUT

The Special Forces built a copy of the Son Tay prison camp to practice raiding during Viet-Nam. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ivory_Coast

Imagine the usefullness of having a dummy carrier to practice approaching with submarines, airplanes, even suicide attacks. Iran has a few Kilo class submarines that were sold by the Russians. They might be planning on attacking a carrier with them, and using the mock up as a training tool. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilo_class_submarine

[stevenleser]

6. A couple of guesses

1. Target practice in war games meant to simulate an attack on an actual US carrier.

2. A helicopter carrier or primitive aircraft carrier.

WWII era aircraft carriers were pretty primitive by today's standards. I don't claim to be a ship designer and the ability to marry the operational requirements of today's combat jets with an appropriate platform takes a lot more expertise than I have but I am wondering how low tech you could get away with and still have something on which you could do some basic flight operations.

[pintobean]

9. It's really small with no power plant

and no arresting gear or catapult. It would have to be towed and could only be used for helos and/or jump jets.

[Sinistrous]

7. The Iranians could

sink it, or threaten to sink it, in the strait of Hormuz. Heaven knows they are strange enough to think there would be some propaganda benefit from using a mock-up of a US vessel.

[CFLDem]

8. ...

Xerxes must be rolling in his grave. Maybe they could power this thing by attaching magnets to him.

[Turbineguy]

10. Double fake

they didn't cover it up.

[NV Whino]

13. Let me guess...

These photos are taken by the same satellites that can't find a missing aircraft.

[VScott]

14. Building it for North Korea.