Iranian Navy recommissions Moudge-class frigate Sahand after 2024 capsizing.

Iran has recommissioned the Sahand frigate, along with the Kurdistan forward base ship, during a Navy Day ceremony in Bandar Abbas after completing repairs from the vessel’s 2024 capsizing incident.

As reported by Mehr News on November 29, 2025, the Sahand frigate, which capsized during repairs in 2024, has been restored and recommissioned into the Iranian Navy during a ceremony in Bandar Abbas, together with the floating base Kurdistan. The event marked the formal return to service of the third Moudge-class vessel and the addition of a new long-range support platform that Iranian authorities link to an effort to strengthen naval combat capability, expand strategic reach, and improve access to international waters.
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The recommissioning followed extensive technical work after the ship’s capsizing and sinking at the Bandar Abbas shipyard in July 2024, which was attributed to water ingress during maintenance and subsequent loss of balance in shallow waters. (Picture source: Mehr News)

The ceremony in Bandar Abbas took place in the presence of Major General Amir Hatami as army commander in chief, Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari as deputy chief of the army for coordination, Rear Admiral Shahram Irani as navy commander, and other senior officers, alongside governors of Sistan and Baluchestan, Hormozgan, and Kurdistan, religious leaders, members of parliament, and families of navy personnel. Three families of navy servicemen killed on duty were formally honored, as the event coincided with Navy Day commemorations. Alongside the Sahand and Kurdistan, officials unveiled a missile-armed fast attack craft, multipurpose unmanned aerial units, uncrewed underwater vehicles, and new coastal and sea-based electronic warfare, missile, and intelligence systems. Commanders linked these additions to goals such as reinforcing naval combat readiness, developing weapon projects in line with evolving threats, promoting innovation in naval design, and deepening strategic reach into international waters. They also reiterated a position that security in the Strait of Hormuz and adjacent sea lanes should be ensured by regional states rather than external forces and linked naval expansion to the concept of sea-based economic development and an economy centered on maritime activity.

The Kurdistan, although not the primary focus of the event, plays an important role in framing the Sahand’s future employment, as this Makran-class forward base ship and port-city-type floating base is designed to support extended deployments. It was converted from a 33-year-old crude oil tanker operating under the Iranian flag since 2019 and fitted with a helipad intended for helicopter and unmanned aerial vehicle operations, with a role similar to the earlier Makran forward base ship. According to Navy descriptions, the Kurdistan can provide rescue and relief, medical services, communications, underwater and diving support, rapid emergency response, and the delivery of food, fuel, and medicine at sea. It is said to be able to accommodate the heaviest helicopters and to support three destroyers on a three-year, around-the-world mission without refueling in port. It is also presented as capable of supporting both naval and non-naval units and of acting as a port-city platform in the Makran coastal area. In the same naming policy, floating bases are to carry the names of Iranian provinces, with future units planned under names such as Khuzestan, while destroyers are named after mountain peaks, missile boats after figures from the Shahnameh, and support vessels after ports, linking the fleet to national geography and identity.

The Sahand itself, classified by the Iranians as a destroyer and as a frigate by foreign experts, is a Moudge-class vessel built at NEDAJA factories in Bandar Abbas, launched on September 18, 2012, and commissioned on December 1, 2018, under pennant number 74 with homeport at Bandar Abbas. The ship has a length of about 93.88 to 95 meters, a beam close to 11.09 meters, and a draught of around 3.26 meters, with a displacement generally reported between 1,200 and 1,500 tons and some sources citing approximately 1,300 tons. Propulsion is provided by four diesel engines, each around 10,000 horsepower, and four diesel generators, giving a maximum speed of about 30 knots and the ability, when accompanied by a support vessel, to remain at sea for up to 150 days. The standard complement is around 140 personnel. The combat system includes the Asr three-dimensional PESA long-range radar, electronic warfare suites, and at least two eight-tube chaff launchers to deploy decoys. The design seeks to reduce radar cross-section through the use of radar-absorbing materials, minimized external protrusions, and integration of the exhaust funnel into the superstructure. A stern helicopter deck and aviation facilities allow the operation of a Bell 212 or Bell 214 helicopter and potentially other assets.

The destroyer’s armament before its latest announced upgrades included a 76 mm Fajr-27 naval gun on the foredeck, a 40 mm Fath-40 anti-aircraft gun or a 30 mm Kamand close-in weapon system, two 20 mm Oerlikon cannons, two 12.7 mm heavy machine guns, eight Qader or Noor anti-ship cruise missiles and four Mehrab surface-to-air missiles, the latter being the naval version of the Sayyad-2 missile. Two triple 324 mm torpedo launchers provide anti-submarine capability, intended to work in conjunction with the ship’s helicopter. The Kamand point-defense system is described as firing between 4,000 and 7,000 rounds per minute to engage incoming threats at ranges of about 2 to 4 kilometers. Navy commanders have stated that Sahand has higher defensive and offensive capacity than the earlier Jamaran-class ships, with updated torpedo tubes, a broader set of anti-air and anti-surface weapons, and greater maneuverability and range. In May 2025, the Iranian Navy confirmed plans to equip the Sahand with the Sayyad-3 and Navvab air defense systems, increasing its total missile loadout from eight to twelve missiles and providing three different missile types on board, alongside earlier statements about future integration of the Abu Mahdi naval cruise missile on destroyers.

The Sayyad-3 is part of Iran’s third generation of solid-fuel surface-to-air missiles, with a reported range of around 120 kilometers and a maximum engagement altitude between 27 and 30 kilometers, and supports active radar, semi-active radar, and infrared guidance modes. It has been associated with land-based systems such as Khordad-15, Talaash-3, and Bavar-373 and is intended to intercept unmanned aerial vehicles, cruise missiles, and fighter aircraft using either vertical or canister-based launchers. The Navvab, for its part, is the naval variant of the Zoubin short-range air defense system and combines radar, command system, and vertical launch cells on a single platform. The Zoubin radar is described as having a detection range of about 30 kilometers, the ability to track up to 100 targets, and to engage eight simultaneously within a current engagement range of 15 to 20 kilometers that development programs aim to extend to about 25 kilometers. The Navvab has been integrated on naval platforms such as the Shahid Soleimani and Zolfaghar corvettes and on high-speed boats of the Ashura and Tariq classes, including installations on 16-meter platforms capable of speeds up to 90 knots with four missiles per vessel. The system provides 360-degree coverage against cruise missiles, drones, and low-altitude aircraft and is intended to operate within a wider air defense network that also includes systems like Majid, Mersad, and Third Khordad, with future plans to equip Moudge-class ships such as Sahand and Teftan with vertical-launch configurations of this family.

The Sahand’s operational record before the accident included both regional and long-distance missions that Iranian authorities highlight in the context of extended naval reach and protection of maritime trade. In August 2019, the Sahand and the supply ship Kharg were deployed to the Gulf of Aden to escort commercial vessels and address piracy and maritime security risks at a time of heightened tensions over tanker incidents. In 2021, the Sahand, accompanied by the forward base ship Makran carrying several fast attack craft, conducted a 133-day deployment covering approximately 144,000 kilometers, transiting multiple seas and straits to reach the Atlantic Ocean and Saint Petersburg to participate in Russian Navy Day activities, which Iranian accounts describe as the first time national naval vessels reached the Atlantic without docking in foreign ports. The July 2024 accident occurred while Sahand was undergoing repairs at a wharf in Bandar Abbas, when water leaked into its tanks and the ship lost balance and capsized in shallow water. Initial efforts to restore stability were complicated when the rope securing the hull reportedly broke, and the vessel sank again in slightly deeper water, leading to at least one officer’s death and injuries to several crew members, according to domestic coverage. Salvage operations, involving naval technical personnel and heavy lifting equipment from the Iran Shipbuilding and Offshore Industries Complex, lasted about fourteen days, with partial lifting reported around mid-July and final recovery with the hull entirely out of the water achieved on July 22, 2024, followed by towing to a dock for restoration and subsequent overhauls before its recommissioning in November 2025.

In recent decades, the Iranian Navy has pursued domestic construction of surface combatants, including the first locally produced destroyer in 2010 and subsequent Moudge-class ships such as Jamaran, Damaavand, and Sahand, framed as responses to sanctions and embargoes that limit arms imports. This period has also seen several naval accidents, including the friendly-fire loss of Konarak in 2020, the fire and sinking of Kharg near Jask in 2021, the capsizing of the intelligence-gathering ship Talaieh in Bandar Abbas in 2021, and the grounding and sinking of Damaavand in the Caspian Sea in 2018. Within that longer pattern, the recommissioning of Sahand with upgraded air defense systems and its pairing with the Kurdistan floating base are presented as part of an effort to maintain and extend blue-water operations, protect shipping, conduct joint exercises with partners including Russia, China, and Pakistan, and support an expanded naval presence linked to security and economic objectives in regional seas and beyond.

Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.