Meet the Iranian Navy's C-14 Fast Attack Craft
2006-05-08
Posted by: badanov
In possible naval hostilities, this Cat class boat is one of the Iranian Navy's newest fast attack craft. According to Global Security, Iran has deployed about ten of these boats, beginning in 2003.
The Chinese-made littoral vessel displaces 20 tons, is 23 meters long with a top speed of 50 knots.
The C-14 fast attack craft carries a C701 guided anti-ship missile with a range of about five km. The missile is about 2.5 meters long and uses an on-board video guidance system similar to the US Maverick missile, which essentially means the missile guidance system is supposedly jammable.
The C-14 is outfitted with a radar system and a video camera on its mast.
The C-14 loads out with eight C701 missiles and one gun, likely a 30mm autocannon.
The main reason why the Iranian Navy would want boats of this class would be to engage unarmed shipping in the Persian Gulf. It is hard to imagine any modern navy being unable to counter such a vessel as the C-14 fast attack boat. The main advantage, therefore, to the Iranian Navy would be the small size and its speed.
The missiles it carries are the SACLOS type systems. This enables a gunner to adjust a weapon's trajectory while still in flight, but the gunner must keep the reticle on the target to effectively hit it. Since the speed of the C701 is roughly 500 knots, this give the boat an exposure from firing to flight terminus of less then one minute, clearly an advantage once the shooting starts.
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