According to a report citing Rear Admiral Shahram by Iranian news agency Tasnim, the Iranian navy is designing a submarine that can carry cruise missiles.
The new submarine will be of a new class called Besat. It has been designed to launch cruise missiles. A statement from the Iranian navy does not shed light on the number of cruise missiles that the new submarine can carry. It has been confirmed that it will be able to carry six torpedoes and have mine laying capabilities.
The report states, Besat will weigh approximately 1,300 tons, be at least 60 meters long and operate at a depth of up to 300 meters.
According to sources, Besat can travel at speeds of up to 12 knots [22 km/h] on the surface and 20 knots [30 km/h] underwater.
Besat is an evolutionary model of the existing Qaaem class, which is currently in service in Iran.
Qaaem is a relatively new submarine-launched in August 2008; its operational capabilities are quite limited. The Qaaem class of submarines can launch several torpedoes.
According to the US Department of Defense, the Iranian navy has around 19 submarines, 3 of which are attack subs while the rest are Kilo class Russian submarines delivered by Russia in the 90s.
Iran has 14 small Yono class [SSM] submarines, which are manufactured in North Korea; 13 of them were manufactured by Iran after Tehran acquired a Yono-class submarine [SSM] in 2004; Iran later reached an agreement with Pyongyang to build more such subs in the country itself.
Yono-class submarine [SSM] has a displacement of only 120 tons and has only two torpedo tubes, firing 53 cm heavy torpedoes, mostly locally produced.
The last two submarines of the Iranian navy are Iranian-made and are of the Fateh [SSC] class. The Fateh class [SSC] submarines have a displacement of 600 tons, swim to a depth of 200 meters underwater, and have a range of 5,000 meters.
