Satellite Images Show Iran Planning for Mock Military Moves with Faux Aircraft Carrier

Just before COVID-19 brought much of the world to a screeching halt, there were some fairly legitimate fears that World War III was about to break out between Iran and the United States.

How a two-nation conflict was hyped so heavily as the preposition to “world war” was never explained to anyone’s satisfaction, but one can only imagine that this has to do with the general doom and gloom default setting that our species is running on these days.

Nevertheless, having Iran launch 15 ballistic missile in the general direction of American troops sleeping on-base in Iraq was enough to get the blood pumping, that’s for sure.

Now, half a year later, it looks like the regime from Tehran is again ramping up efforts to espouse their military might, and they are doing so with a fake aircraft carrier as the centerpiece. 

Iran has moved a mock aircraft carrier to the strategic Strait of Hormuz amid heightened tensions with the United States, satellite photographs released on Monday show, likely signalling the Islamic Republic soon plans to use it for live-fire drills.

An image from Maxar Technologies taken Sunday shows an Iranian fast boat speed toward the carrier, sending waves up in its wake, after a tugboat pulled her out into the strait from the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas.

Iranian state media and officials have yet to acknowledge bringing the replica out to the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s oil passes. However, its appearance there suggests Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard is preparing an encore of a similar mock-sinking it conducted in 2015.

The action was likely meant to intimidate US Naval forces in the area.  Predictably, that didn’t work.

The U.S. Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, which patrols Mideast waterways, remains “confident in our naval forces’ ability to defend themselves against any maritime threat,” said spokeswoman Cmdr. Rebecca Rebarich when asked about the faux carrier’s movements.

“We cannot speak to what Iran hopes to gain by building this mockup, or what tactical value they would hope to gain by using such a mock-up in a training or exercise scenario,” Rebarich told The Associated Press. “We do not seek conflict, but remain ready to defend U.S. forces and interests from maritime threats in the region.”

The fact that the mock carrier so closely resembled the American Nimitz-class vessels is an indication that Iran has specifically chosen this method of sending a heavy message to the United States.