U.S. Navy sinks Iranian drone carrier IRIS Shahid Bagheri in Epic Fury naval campaign.

US CENTCOM announced the launch of a sustained naval campaign against the Iranian Navy under Operation Epic Fury, which started by the destruction of Iran's first dedicated drone carrier, the IRIS Shahid Bagheri

The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced the launch of a sustained naval campaign against the Iranian Navy under Operation Epic Fury, targeting key fleet assets across the Gulf of Oman and surrounding waters. Among the primary objectives was the destruction of Iran's first dedicated drone carrier, the IRIS Shahid Bagheri, a vessel designed to expand Tehran's naval drone warfare and long-range strike operations. US officials described the strikes as part of a coordinated effort with Israel to dismantle Iranian maritime power, including missile platforms, forward base ships, and command nodes.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link

The IRIS Shahid Bagheri, pennant number C110-4, measures 240.79 meters in length, 32.2 meters in beam, and 11.7 meters in draft, with a displacement of 41,978 tons. (Picture source: Iranian MoD)

On March 2, 2026, U.S. Central Command confirmed that U.S. forces struck and disabled the Iranian drone carrier IRIS Shahid Bagheri within hours of launching Operation Epic Fury against Iran. The strike formed part of a broader campaign that began on February 28, 2026, targeting Iranian naval units, missile infrastructure, and command facilities across multiple domains. U.S. officials indicated that 11 Iranian naval vessels operating in the Gulf of Oman were destroyed or rendered inoperable during the initial phase of the operation, including the Shahid Bagheri and other major surface assets. The action followed escalating exchanges between Iran and a U.S. and Israeli coalition, as Tehran threatened maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint through which close to 20 percent of global oil shipments transit daily.

The IRIS Shahid Bagheri, pennant number C110-4, was a drone carrier developed to provide the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy with a mobile sea base capable of extending unmanned reconnaissance, strike coordination, and fast-attack craft operations beyond Iran’s coastline into the Gulf of Oman and adjacent waters. Converted from the commercial container ship Perarin between 2022 and 2024, the vessel was intended to reduce reliance on fixed shore infrastructure while enabling sustained maritime presence and distributed operations at sea. Its design centered on the integration of unmanned aerial systems, helicopters, missile armament, and small surface combatants within a single large displacement hull, allowing it to function as a forward node for intelligence, surveillance, targeting support, and asymmetric naval warfare.

To fulfill this role, the vessel embarked a diverse mix of unmanned aerial vehicles and rotary-wing aircraft, including JAS-313 unmanned jets, Mohajer-6 armed UAVs, Ababil-3 and Ababil-3N reconnaissance drones, Homa vertical takeoff drones, Shahed-136 loitering munitions, and helicopters such as the Mi-17, Mi-171, Bell 412, and Bell 206. Iranian sources indicated a capacity of up to 60 UAVs and internal storage for approximately 30 fast-attack craft deployable through side openings, aligning with swarm and hit-and-run maritime tactics. Armament included eight Noor or Qader anti-ship cruise missiles, eight Kowsar-222 short-range air defense launchers, at least one 30 mm autocannon, and additional 20 mm Gatling-type systems. The ship also incorporated electronic warfare equipment, signals intelligence systems, and command-and-control facilities intended to coordinate drone sorties, missile launches, and surface maneuver elements during extended deployments.

The Shahid Bagheri was intended to function as a mobile sea base extending Iran’s unmanned reconnaissance and strike reach beyond its coastline into the Gulf of Oman, Arabian Sea, and potentially the Indian Ocean. By combining UAV launch capacity, helicopter operations, missile armament, and fast-attack craft deployment in a single hull, the vessel provided the IRGC Navy with a means of conducting distributed maritime surveillance and coordinated anti-ship operations without reliance on fixed shore installations. Its endurance profile and 22,000 nautical mile range were designed to support persistent presence missions, reduce predictability in deployment patterns, and complicate adversary targeting. The integration of electronic warfare systems and signal intelligence capabilities further positioned the ship as a node for maritime ISR and targeting support for coastal missile forces.

The removal of the Shahid Bagheri from the IRGC Navy order of battle reduces Iran’s capacity to conduct sustained sea-based UAV operations and limits its ability to maintain extended maritime domain awareness beyond littoral waters. While Iran retains a significant inventory of shore-based UAV launch sites, coastal anti-ship cruise missile batteries such as Noor and Qader, and thousands of small fast-attack craft, those assets are inherently tied to coastal geography and lack the mobility and endurance of an aviation-support vessel. The loss of a large displacement drone carrier constrains Iran’s ability to deploy reconnaissance drones at extended distances over open sea lanes, affecting long-range targeting chains against naval or commercial vessels operating outside immediate coastal missile envelopes.

At the theater level, the destruction or disabling of 11 Iranian naval vessels in the Gulf of Oman alters the local surface force balance and reduces Tehran’s ability to contest control of approaches to the Strait of Hormuz using larger hulls capable of sustained operations. The elimination of sea-based aviation and forward support ships narrows Iran’s maritime options toward asymmetric tactics centered on speedboats, mines, and land-based missiles, consistent with longstanding IRGC doctrine emphasizing swarm tactics and coastal defense. However, without a mobile sea base such as the Shahid Bagheri, coordination of wide-area drone swarms and integration of ISR with offshore maneuver elements becomes more complex and geographically constrained.

Strategically, the strike underscores the vulnerability of converted commercial vessels employed as military assets when operating within reach of precision-guided munitions and long-range strike systems. The loss of a ship commissioned just over one year earlier represents a setback to Iran’s efforts to expand maritime operational depth through cost-effective conversion projects modeled on previous vessels such as Shahid Roudaki and Shahid Mahdavi. In the context of Operation Epic Fury, the neutralization of the Shahid Bagheri and associated naval units contributes to a reduction in Iran’s sea-based power projection capability, while leaving intact its substantial land-based missile and UAV inventory, thereby shifting the center of gravity of Iranian military responses from offshore maneuver to shore-based strike and deterrence systems.

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.