IRANIAN MILITARY: LESSONS LEARNED FROM OPERATION PRAYING MANTIS.

Operation Praying Mantis launched by US Military was an attack on 18 April 1988. This was in retaliation to the attack by Iranian Navy on US guided missile frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts in which an Iranian mine blew up a hole in US frigate hull.

The operation made US Navy to employ all of its power by destroying half of Iranian Navy. Two oil facilities, three Iranian speed boats, one Iranian frigate and one fast attack gun boat was lost in the operation. This was also the first time that the US Navy used its anti-ship missiles against any adversary after world war 2.

The lessons learned were simple, Iranian Navy could not match the technologically superior Naval force of the US military. To counter this Iran has developed a large fleet of small high-speed boats which can maneuver easily with large guns attached to each one of them. This Iranian strategy is to attack the US Navy in a swamp attack in case it is required to fight in a war. Still the Iranian navy is no match for the US Military power.

Iranian Frigate Sahand burning during attack by US Navy

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