Sa'ar 5-class corvette

Sa'ar 5 (Hebrew: "storm") is a class of Israeli Navy corvettes. They were Israeli designed using lessons learned from the Sa'ar 4.5-class missile boats. Three Sa'ar 5 ships were built by Huntington Ingalls Industries (formerly Litton-Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation of Pascagoula, Mississippi) for the Israeli Navy, based on Israeli designs.

The Sa'ar 5-class corvettes cruise off the shore of Israel during a training exercise
Class overview
NameSa'ar 5 class
BuildersNorthrop Grumman by Ingalls Shipbuilding
Operators Israeli Navy
Preceded bySa'ar 4.5 class
Succeeded bySa'ar 6 class
Cost$260 million each[1]
In serviceFrom 1 February 1993
Completed3
Active3
General characteristics
TypeCorvette
Displacement
Length85.64 m (280.97 ft)
Beam11.88 m (38.98 ft)
Draft3.45 m (11.32 ft)
Propulsion
Speed
Range3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km)
Complement
  • 64 officers and crewmen
  • 10 aircrew
ArmamentMissiles:

2 x quad launchers for Harpoon anti-ship missiles

1 x 32-cell vertical launching system for Barak surface-to-air missiles

Guns:

1 x 20mm (0.8 in) Phalanx CIWS

2 x 20mm (0.8 in) autocannon, later replaced by 2 x 25mm (0.98 in) 5-barrel Sea Vulcan 25 close-in weapon systems

Torpedoes: 2 x 324mm (12.75 in) Mark 32 torpedoes

Aircraft:

1 helicopter

They were the largest surface warships in Israel's naval fleet, although the Sa'ar 6-class corvette now being deployed are considerably larger. Although classified as "corvettes" due to their small size and crew of only 71, their weaponry and speed are almost comparable to that of a frigate. They are equipped with sonar, 2 triple torpedoes, 2 quadruple missile launchers, electronic warfare capabilities and decoys, a Close-in weapon system, 2 autocannon and a helipad and helicopter hangar.[2][3]

The first of class, INS Eilat, was launched in February 1993, followed by INS Lahav in August 1993 and INS Hanit in March 1994.

Combat history

During the 2006 Lebanon War, INS Hanit was attacked by a Hezbollah missile as it was enforcing a naval blockade off Beirut. The resulting explosion caused the landing pad to cave in and be engulfed in flames that threatened the aviation fuel storage below, and the flames were not fully extinguished until several hours later. Four sailors were killed and the ship suffered some damage, but she stayed afloat, got out of the line of fire, and returned unassisted to Ashdod for repairs. The ship was repaired and resumed its combat role three weeks later.[4]

IAF Eurocopter AS565, the type of helicopter used on the Sa'ar 5 class

An investigation into the attack by the Israeli Navy concluded that the missile was an Iranian version of the Chinese C-802, which hit a crane in the rear of the ship. The ship's radar system was not fully functional at the time, and both the ECM and the Barak anti-missile systems were in a two-minute stand-by mode. An officer ordered that the anti-missile defenses be switched off about an hour prior to the attack without notifying the captain. The decision took into account intelligence assessments that Hezbollah did not have the capability to hit Israeli warships. The partial sensor shutdowns were known by the officer responsible, but the captain was not informed.[5][6]

In August 2009 INS Eilat and INS Hanit passed through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea, along with a Dolphin-class submarine. The move was seen as a possible warning to Iran.[7]

On 31 May 2010 INS Lahav and INS Hanit participated in the Gaza flotilla raid, meant to stop a convoy of ships from breaching the blockade of the Gaza Strip, along with the missile boat INS Nitzachon.

Ships

Three ships of the Sa'ar 5 class have been built:

The ships' missile systems include: (i) anti-air capability with 1 x 32-cell vertical launch system (although it is possible to carry another), with Barak-1 and/or Barak-8 missiles of IAI and Rafael, and two four-cell Boeing Harpoon missile launchers.

Ship's guns are a Raytheon / General Dynamics MK15 Phalanx 20mm close-in weapon system (CIWS). Secondary guns included a pair of 20mm autocannon, although these were later replaced with 5-barrel 25mm Sea Vulcan 25 guns.

Sensors are composed of an Advanced Lightweight Phased Array (ALPHA) ELM-2258, AESA S-band radar, with automatic track initiation at +120 km (for fighters) and +25 km (for missiles), and a 796 hull-mounted search-and-attack sonar. Electronic warfare includes an AN/SLQ-25 Nixie towed torpedo decoy system, a radar warning receiver Elisra NS-9003/9005, and three Elbit Deseaver chaff decoys.

See also

References
  1. "Sons of Saar? Israels Next Generation Frigates".
  2. "21st Century Frigates Today". G2mil.com. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  3. . navypedia.org http://navypedia.org/ships/israel/isr_es_eilat.htm. Retrieved 15 October 2021. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. "Strike on Israeli Navy Ship". NAVSEA. 2006-07-19. Archived from the original on 22 July 2009.
  5. Greenberg, Hanan (11 July 2006). "Report: Ship crew didn't realize missile threat". Ynetnews. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  6. Harel, Amos (8 November 2006). "Missile attack on INS Spear: IDF probe faults navy, ship's crew". Haaretz. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  7. Katz, Yaakov (14 July 2009). "2 IDF warships cross Suez to Red Sea". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
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