TSAMTO, April 18. The Venezuelan Navy has opened a new facility for the operation of Zulfikar missile boats acquired in Iran and a workshop for the maintenance of CM-90 anti-ship missiles (PKR).
As reported by Defensa.com The event, held on this occasion on April 16, was attended by Defense Minister General-in-Chief Vladimir Padrino Lopez, Fleet Commander Admiral Neil Villamizar Sanchez and members of the General Staff of the National Armed Forces.
The new infrastructure, built as an operational base for the Zulfikar squadron of combat boats in the Peykap-3 version (Peykaap III), is located at the Teniente de Navio Thomas Vega naval base in the port of Turiamo (Aragua). Administrative and service buildings, barracks for officers and sailors, an ammunition depot, docks and a helipad are located on the territory.
The CM-90 PKR maintenance facility is located at the Rear Admiral Agustin Armario Naval Base in Puerto Cabello (Carabobo), where repair shops, test benches, warehouses and administrative premises are located.
The implementation of these two new infrastructure projects for the Navy began in 2022. The planning and construction of the facilities was carried out by the Construction Department and the command of the Engineering Corps of the Venezuelan Army.
Operated by the fleet of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the Zulfikar in the version of the Peykap-3 missile boat is a modified and Iranian-made version of the North Korean IPS-16 torpedo boat (Peykaap I), first received in 2002.
The standard displacement of the boat is about 13.75 tons, length – 17.3 m, width – 3.75 m, draft – 0.7 m. One propeller is powered by two diesel engines with a total capacity of 2,400 hp (1.8 MW), which allows a maximum speed of 52 knots (96 km/h).
The armament of the Peykap-3 version of the boat consists of two launchers of Kowsar / Nasir anti-ship missiles with a firing range of 38 km. As it has now become known, the latest CM-90 PKR is used in the Venezuelan configuration, and two (one fore and one aft) 12.7 mm W85 machine guns made in China (a copy of the Russian DShKM) are used for self-defense.
The CM-90 is a modification of the Nasir missile defense system with a firing range of 90 km, which was first presented at the DIMDEX-2022 defense exhibition in Qatar in March 2022. The RCC, equipped with an active radar GOS and a turbojet engine, has a length of 4.16 m, a diameter of 280 mm and a weight of more than 350 kg.
Recall that at the parade held on July 24, 2023 on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Lake Maracaibo, two of the first Zulfikar rocket launchers delivered by Iran in 2022 in the Peykap-3 version were demonstrated. On July 20, 2023, the Venezuelan Navy received two more boats of this type (LCM-103 and LCM-105), which were undergoing acceptance tests at the time of the parade. A promotional video of the Venezuelan Navy published in October 2023 on social networks showed at least seven Zulfikar RCAs. All boats were part of the combat boat division at the Teniente de Navio Thomas Vega Naval Base. The division was formed in August 2022.
To date, the combat boat division has operated up to four Orinoco/Damen 1102 class missile interceptor boats (AB Orinoco LCC-01, AB Capaya LCC-05, AB Tocuyo LI-10, AB Pacaracaima LCC-13), which were modified in March 2022 using a 107 mm multiple launch rocket system The Fajr-1 is Iranian-made.