The La Combattante IIIA type

missile boat A missile boat or missile cutter is a small, fast warship armed with anti-ship missiles. Being smaller than other warships such as destroyers and frigates, missile boats are popular with nations interested in forming a navy at lower cost. They a ...

s of the

Hellenic Navy The Hellenic Navy (HN; el, Πολεμικό Ναυτικό, Polemikó Naftikó, War Navy, abbreviated ΠΝ) is the naval force of Greece, part of the Hellenic Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy historically hails from the naval forces of vari ...

are a class of four

fast attack craft A fast attack craft (FAC) is a small, fast, agile, offensive, often affordable warship armed with anti-ship missiles, gun or torpedoes. FACs are usually operated in close proximity to land as they lack both the seakeeping and all-round defensive ...

ordered by Greece in September 1974 from France. The vessels had no class name but are referred to by type. They are similar to the

La Combattante IIa-class fast attack craft The La Combattante IIa fast attack craft is a class of fast attack craft originally built for the German Navy as Type 148 . They were later transferred to the Hellenic Navy and the class was renamed Combattante IIa, as with similar French made shi ...

already in service, but are larger and armed with

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

es. A second group of six were ordered in 1978, to be built under license in Greece and use Penguin Mk 2 Mod 3

missile In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously unguided rocket i ...

s. Since 2019, all the ships of the class use

Harpoon A harpoon is a long spear-like instrument and tool used in fishing, whaling, seal hunting, sealing, and other marine hunting to catch and injure large fish or marine mammals such as seals and whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the t ...

anti-ship missiles.

Ships

La Combattante IIIA

The ships of this class have been named after officers of the Hellenic Navy killed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. They are:

Greek ships

Qatari ships

La Combattante IIIb

The La Combattante IIIb type

s of the

are a class of six

built in Greece to a French design. The vessels had no class name but are referred to by type.Conway p166 They are a similar but newer design than the Greek La Combattante III-class fast attack craft, with the main difference that they use Kongsberg Penguin Mk 2 Mod 3 missiles. The six ships were built at

Hellenic Shipyards Hellenic Shipyards S.A. is a large shipyard in Skaramagas, in West Athens regional unit, Greece. History Commonly known as Skaramaga Shipyards (Greek: Ναυπηγεία Σκαραμαγκά), from the area where they are located, its origin ...

(first launching in 1979). ''Kostakos'' (P 25) sank after collision with a ferry in November 1996. The ships of this class have been named after junior officers of the Hellenic Navy killed during

. They are:

Mid-life modernization

In 2003 the

decided to modernize the Fast Attack Craft Missile Class ''La Combattante III'' and ''La Combattante IIIb''. For the four ''Combattante III'' fast attack craft,

Thales Nederland Thales Nederland B.V. (formerly Hollandse Signaalapparaten B.V. or in short Signaal) is a subsidiary of the French multinational company Thales Group based in the Netherlands. The firm was founded as ''NV Hazemeyer's Fabriek van Signaalapparaten ...

delivered the ''TACTICOS'' combat management system which includes four multifunctional operator consoles, one surveillance radar, one fire control tracking system, one electro-optical tracking and fire control system, an integrated low probability of interception radar, two target designation sights and a tactical data link. The weapon suite of the ''Combattantes III'' remained unchanged. Thales was responsible for the integration of these existing guns, surface-to-surface missiles and torpedo system. The modernization project was completed in 2010. After the completion of the modernization program, Hellenic Navy substituted all the existing anti-ship missiles (Penguin Mk2 Mod 3 and Exocet) with Harpoon missiles (coming from stock from previously decommissioned ships).Hellenic Navy Fast boat command, article in Greek defence magazine defencereview.gr (26 August 2018)
(in Greek)

Gallery

File:Hellenic Navy fast attack craft Simaioforos Xenos, 1988.jpg, Aerial photo of ''Simaioforos Xenos'' (HS P-27) La Combattante IIIb class FAC, in 1988

Notes

References

* Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen '' Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995'' (1995) Naval Institute Press, Annapolis *https://web.archive.org/web/20060906041332/http://www.hellenicnavy.gr/facm_la_combattanteIII_en.asp *http://www.ellinikos-stratos.com/naytiko/combattanteIIIa.asp

Bibliography

* Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen '' Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995'' (1995) Naval Institute Press, Annapolis {{Ship classes of the Hellenic Navy Missile boats of the Hellenic Navy Missile boat classes