Iran commissions replacement Caspian frigate

Deylaman formally entered service on 27 November. (Islamic Republic News Agency)

The Northern Fleet of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy (IRIN) officially received its new frigate on 27 November, nearly six years after its previous one sank in an accident.

IRINS Deylaman (78) was formally inducted into service in Bandar-e Anzali on the Caspian, with photographs showing the event took place at one of the port's grain terminals, not at the IRIN base where it was built.

Deylaman replaces Damavand (77), the second of Iran's locally built Jamaran-class frigates, which sank after hitting the breakwater around Bandar-e Anzali during a storm in January 2018.

Satellite imagery shows the first section of the hull for a replacement had appeared in the dry dock at the base by October 2018. Until recently, IRIN officers referred to the new ship as Damavand, and it had the number 77 painted on top of its bridge and helicopter flight deck until October, when this was changed to 78, indicating it was recently renamed after a town close to Bandar-e Anzali.

Deylaman looks significantly different from its predecessor, as it has what looks like a four-sided multifunction phased-array radar integrated into an enlarged mast rather than a combination of two rotating radars for air search and tracking.

The Iranian media identified this as the Eagle Eye radar that was displayed as a model in an IRIN exhibition held in December 2018.

The new frigate also has the Komand close-in weapon system instead of the 40 mm Bofors-type gun fitted to the rear of Damavand