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| Rouhani in Bandar Abbas, February 2014; 16th Missile Group |
Although this group's garrison - located in the Hormozgan county of Minab - could not be located, this placard provided enough enough information to start searching for other missile groups.
One garrison that could be located belongs to the 26th 'Salman' Missile Group, which is based in Borazjan, the capital of the Dashtestan county in the Bushehr province. [1] This puts it in the IRGCN's 2nd Naval Zone, which is commanded by Brig. Gen. 2nd-Class Ali Razmjou. [2]
Located 40 km inshore, the garrison is butted up against the Zagros mountain range, just east of Borazjan itself. Google Earth offers imagery of the base from 09/2003, 06/2006, 06/2011, and 01/2012. Under construction in both the 2003 and 2006 imagery, the base is completed by 2011.
The most prominent feature is the presence of an underground facility (UGF) characteristic of IRGC missile bases those in Kermanshah, Khorromabad, and elsewhere.
Also present are a number of hardened shelters used for munition storage and large warehouses used in place of the traditional motor-pools.
The garrison itself is small - as one would expect - with only a handful of buildings.
Works Cited/Footnotes:
[1] Presence of the SL's Province Representative at a Gathering at the Salman Missile Group in Dashtestan. May 8, 2013 / Ordib. 18, 1392. Dashtestan Gov't Page.
[2] ‘IRGC Navy completely dominates PG waters’. Jan 22, 2014. IRIB.
Just out of curiosity, I also gave a quick glance at Minab and haven't spotted anything military looking.
ReplyDeleteNow at Bandar Abbas, there are quite a few military installations with a couple of bunker sites. Do you know if they are related to 26th Missile Group or do they belong to another organization?
http://maps.google.com/?ll=27.35499,56.35594&spn=0.019268,0.025513&t=h&z=16
http://maps.google.com/?ll=27.389725,56.265514&spn=0.009631,0.012757&t=h&z=17
This looks like more like an army site:
http://maps.google.com/?ll=27.379961,56.33538&spn=0.019263,0.025513&t=h&z=16
Short answer: no idea.
ReplyDeleteLonger answer: ... they certainly look like military facilities. In particular, I think that 2nd one might be more than just a hardened shelter complex. It actually looks like part of a bigger UGF facility. That being said, given the industrial activity in the area, I think we should entertain the possibility that the UGFs are actually mines. Most indicators seem to it being a military facility though:
- Hardened shelters; I cant think of a civilian use for them
- Lack of 'mine infrastructure' (ex: cranes, ore-transport) based on quick sampling of adjacent quarries and other industrial property.
- AAA pad, watchtowers, entry-control and additional hardened shelters (2) at primary garrison; buildings configured in military geometry.
Nonetheless, it's probably best to play it conservative with this one, if only because it would be a whopper of a hardened site if indeed this is what it is. Of course, it's not like the greater Bandar Abbas area is a backwater bereft of strategic value. If there's a hardened site anywhere,you'd expect to see it around the Strait.
Then there are the proximate, though not adjacent bases, which very well may be affiliated with it in one way or another. The third one looks like it might be a depot, and is undergoing pretty significant expansion. These also have hardened shelters; hard to explain with any non-military use.
I'll have to take another look at them again in the morning.