Supercavitation is the use of a cavitation bubble to reduce skin friction drag on a submerged object and enable high speeds. Applications include torpedoes and propellers, but in theory, the technique could be extended to an entire underwater vessel.
A missile boat or missile cutter is a small, fast warship armed with anti-ship missiles. Being smaller than other warships such as destroyers and frigates, missile boats are popular with nations interested in forming a navy at lower cost. They are similar in concept to the torpedo boats of World War II; in fact, the first missile boats were modified torpedo boats with the torpedo tubes replaced by missile tubes.
HMCS Bras d'Or was a hydrofoil that served in the Canadian Forces from 1968 to 1971. During sea trials in 1969, the vessel exceeded 63 knots, making her the fastest unarmed warship in the world at the time.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy is the naval warfare service of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps founded in 1985, and one of the two maritime forces of Iran, parallel to the conventional Islamic Republic of Iran Navy. The IRGC has been designated as a terrorist organization by the governments of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United States. IRGC's Navy has steadily improved its capabilities to support unconventional warfare and defend Iran's offshore facilities, coastlines, and islands in the Persian Gulf.
The Ultra Fast Attack Craft, commonly known as the UFAC or Colombo class, is a Sri Lankan ultra high-speed class of patrol boats meant for a variety of naval missions from off-shore coastal patrol missions to high-speed, high-maneuver littoral warfare. They are based on the Shaldag boats made by Israel.
The Super Dvora Mark III-class patrol boat is the latest generation of the Dvora family of fast patrol boats or fast attack craft (FPB/FAC). Manufactured by IAI Ramta in 2004 these vessels are capable of travelling up to 50 knots in littoral waters thanks to its state of the art thrust vectoring control Articulated Surface Drives (ASD) while holding various armaments, from automatic grenade launchers, AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, SPIKE NLOS missiles, and 30 mm cannons in its armory.
Ahmad Shah Cheraghi , better known as Ahmad Vahidi, is an Iranian military commander of the Revolutionary Guards and former Minister of Interior from 2021 to 2024. He is currently member of the Expediency Discernment Council.
The Tondar is a hovercraft designed and manufactured by Iran. The Islamic Republic of Iran Navy is equipped with two variants of this craft, one for combat and one for transport missions, of which the Tondar is the combat type. General Ahmad Vahidi unveiled it in a ceremony in November 2012. According to the Fars news agency, the Tondar can be used with different types of weapons, including rockets, guns and can also launch UAVs.
The HESA Bavar 2 is a ground effect vehicle unveiled in September 2010 by the IRGC Navy. It is designed to have a small radar signature, and therefore be difficult to track on radar, to be able to remain undetected while carrying out patrol missions. The vehicle can be equipped with different kinds of weapons including locally produced rockets and missiles. The design is based on the work of Alexander Lippisch and is similar in concept to the 1970s experimental RFB X-113.
Herz-9 is an Iranian, domestically built, mobile air defense system developed and unveiled in 2013. The system is developed from the HQ-7.
The HESA Hamaseh is an Iranian tactical and reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with high flight endurance built by Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company (HESA). The Hamaseh was unveiled in 2013 and entered service in 2016.
The Great Prophet IX was an Iranian war games exercise in the general area of the Strait of Hormuz on Larak Island, Persian Gulf. It started on February 25, 2015, and finished on February 27, 2015. The exercise was notable for using a full scale mock-up of an American aircraft carrier as a target.
On January 12, 2016, two United States Navy riverine command boats were seized by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy after they entered Iranian territorial waters near Iran's Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf. Initially, the U.S. military claimed the sailors inadvertently entered Iranian waters owing to mechanical failure, but it was later reported that they entered Iranian waters because of navigational errors.
Shahid Nazeri is a high-aspect-ratio twin-hull vessel operated by the Navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran.
The Ashura is a class of fast patrol boat used by naval forces of Iran. It is a Boston Whaler type vessel based on a Watercraft UK design, and is manufactured domestically with hulls made of glass-reinforced plastic.
Various series of rigid inflatable boat (RIB) are operated by naval forces of Iran. Based on a design by Italian Fabio Buzzi, they have been manufactured and modified in Iran.
A high-aspect-ratio twin-hull vessel refers to a certain design of catamaran vessels with small waterplane area. These vessels are built and used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran. Such design is considered relatively rare in military usage.
IRIS Shahid Soleimani is the lead ship of an Iranian class of missile corvettes with the same name. It was built by the Shahid Mahallati Shipyard and is operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy of Iran.
Zulfighar is an Iranian class of air-defense boats in service with Iran's IRGCN. It's considered to be the first ever air-defense speedboat and can carry four Nawab anti-air missiles in its VLS cells.
