Operation Telemonian: IRIN Alvand Class - Rudimentary Primer & DCS Analogues

AUTHOR’S NOTE: This write up was written for Operation Telemonian Day 1. It did not release on time, and was shelved as a result. It now being released in it’s original form.

In 1968, the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was rebuilding his navy. I have no interest in covering the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in this particular intel post, although it is worth covering later. If you stare at the Iranian entry in the 1978 copy of Jane’s Fighting Ships, you can join me in weeping for what could have been. Had Iran not experienced it’s revolution, they were on their way to becoming the most powerful regional Navy in the Middle East. A crucial part of these plans was the Saam class.

Yes I know we’re talking about the Alvand class. Shut up, I’m getting to it. Named after heroes of the Shah Nameh which was a national epic of Iran. the Saam class would consist of 4 ships: Saam (FF71), Zaal (FF72) Rostam(FF73) and Faramarz (FF74). Hulls 71 and 74 were to be built by Vosper Ltd while Hulls 72 and 73 would be built by Vickers and completed by Vosper

Following the revolution that saw the Shah overthrown and replaced with the ayatollah, foreign orders for new naval equipment died quickly. The Saam class was renamed to the Alvand class (Now taking the names Alvand (FF71) Alborz (FF72) Sabalan (FF73) and Sahand (FF74)), and those 4 frigates quickly became notoriously useful. During the Tanker war, they showed themselves to be extremely useful against ships in the gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. It is for this reason that Sabalan and Sahand were targeted during Operation Praying Mantis in 1988. Sahand would be sunk as a result of that action.

The Telemonian Campaign Day 1 will include a attack on Alborz and Alvand, which will mimic the attacks on the Sabalan and Sahand. One problem though. DCS does not contain a model for the Vosper mk5 or any of it’s analogs. However, I have settled on a ship that I think will meet a very close comparison to the Vosper Mk5: The Chinese Type 052

Now on a surface level, it looks like these 2 ships should have effectively nothing in common with each other. However, history can explain to us why this matchup is closer than one might think. In 1968, Iran was considered to have a extremely modern navy, meanwhile China was mostly made up of smaller gunboats. By the 90’s when the 052 entered service, China was beginning to catch up to the former Iranian level. Furthermore, in a side-by-side breakdown, the comparison becomes even more obvious.

The Alborz has a single Sea Cat Launcher for Air defense, while the 052B has a single Buk launcher. Now the range between these two missiles is admittedly very different, which is why we intend to modify the AI of our 052Bs to act very similarly to the Sea Cat. While the Seacat has a 1X5 Seakiller Missile battery in a ready to launch configuration, the 052B has a 2X4 YJ-83 anti ship missile Battery. The biggest break in similarities is the 052’s inclusion of two CIWS systems. even the silhouettes of the ships are extremely similar and I think you’d struggle to pick them apart if you stare at them through a Lantirn.

Ultimately the 052B will allow us to closely simulate the Iranian Frigates as best as possible to make Telemonian an absolutely insane flight.