Only two thirds the size? That’s still massive.......
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/i...tice-hr5f7xkb8
Iran builds a fake US aircraft carrier for target practice
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has built a fake American aircraft carrier and moored it at the entrance to the Gulf, according to satellite pictures. The presence and purpose of the carrier, which also has 16 fake fighter jets parked on its landing deck, have not been confirmed by officials.
It may be used as part of military exercises to shore up domestic morale that has been hit hard by sanctions, poverty and the Middle East’s worst outbreak of coronavirus. Five years ago a previous mocked-up carrier was attacked and sunk for the cameras by missiles after being used as a test target.......
The new “aircraft carrier” is in dock at Bandar Abbas, the large Iranian port by the Strait of Hormuz, the entrance to the Gulf. It is built to resemble a Nimitz-class US carrier, several of which patrol the Gulf region on rotation, although it is only about two thirds the size of the real thing.
The satellite pictures were taken by Maxar Technologies, a space technology company, and passed to a news agency.
Months after the similar carrier was sunk in live-fire drills in February 2015 the deal between Iran, the US and other major states was signed, limiting Iranian nuclear development in return for sanctions relief, and leading to a lessening of military tensions. Since President Trump pulled out of the deal two years ago the Gulf has once again become a playground for a US-Iranian test of wills, with Revolutionary Guard ships harassing American naval vessels.......
