Iran's Latest Naval Toy

Last August Iran announced that it had come into possession of a single Bladerunner 51 Bradstone Challenger, a British-built boat, originally designed to be a luxury tender for a yacht. The boat, which came to be thought of as the world’s fastest in 2005, is capable of circling all of Britain in just over 27 hours, averaging 63.5 miles per hour.
The Iranian regime managed to get it’s hands on the Bladerunner through back channels, bypassing sanctions.

Jeremy Watts, the CEO of the Surrey-based company,  Ice Marine which designed and manufactures the boat commented on Iran’s tactics in acquiring one of their products by saying:

“…Iran managed to acquire one through smoke-screen tactics. The boat was based in the Med and being used as a luxury tender for a yacht when it was acquired by a South African dealer a years ago who said it was going to a wealthy man in Mozambique.”

Now, more than a couple of years after getting their hands on the Bladerunner, they have been modified, replicated and mass produced by the Iranian regime. Iran’s modifications however mean that their boats are equipped with missiles and torpedo launchers, prepared for trolling the Persian Gulf, the Indian Ocean and Red Sea.

Iran is infamous for seizing and detaining people on the waters of the Persian Gulf, claiming that they have tread on Iranian waters. In 2007, fifteen British Seamen were detained by the Iranian regime and over the years many other incidents have occurred.