The Sa'ar 4 or ''Reshef''-class missile boats were a series of

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 built based on

Israeli Navy The Israeli Navy ( he, חיל הים הישראלי, ''Ḥeil HaYam HaYisraeli'' (English: The Israeli Sea Corps); ar, البحرية الإسرائيلية) is the naval warfare service arm of the Israel Defense Forces, operating primarily in ...

designs grounded in accumulated experience derived in the operation of "Cherbourg" (Sa'ar 1, Sa'ar 2, and ) classes. Thirteen were built at the

Israel Shipyards Israel Shipyards is one of the largest shipbuilding and repair facilities in the eastern Mediterranean. The company also operates the first and only privately owned port in Israel. The company’s facilities are located at the Kishon Port (part ...

, ten for the Israeli Navy and three for the

South African Navy The South African Navy (SA Navy) is the naval warfare branch of the South African National Defence Force. The Navy is primarily engaged in maintaining a conventional military deterrent, participating in counter-piracy operations, fishery prot ...

. Another six were built for the South African Navy in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

with Israeli assistance. Sa'ar 4 boats' first battle engagements occurred in the October 1973

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egy ...

when two Sa'ar 4 boats, INS ''Reshef'' and INS ''Keshet'', engaged Egyptian and Syrian ships and coastal targets. Israel had sold most of its Sa'ar 4 boats to other navies, but INS ''Nitzachon'' and INS ''Atzmaut'' remained in active Israeli Navy service until 2014.

Variants

Israel

Ten Sa'ar 4-class boats were built for the Israeli Navy. only two remain in service. Three were disassembled, with systems taken for use in the construction of vessels. Three vessels and one hull stripped of systems were sold to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. Two vessels were sold to

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

South Africa

The (formerly designated Minister class) in service with the

are modified Sa'ar 4 (''Reshef''-class) fast attack craft. In 1974, a contract was signed with

Israeli Military Industries , former_name = Israel Military Industries , type = State-owned enterprise , industry = Arms industry , fate = Acquired by Elbit Systems , successor = Elbit Systems Land , founded = , founder = , defunct = , hq_location_city = Ramat ...

for the construction of three of the modified Reshef class vessels at the

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

facility of Israeli Shipyards. A further three were built immediately after at the

Sandock Austral Sandock-Austral was a South African defence company formed through the 1971 merger of the Austral armaments company and Sandock Ltd dockyards, as a subsidiary of the Gencor mining group. The company was absorbed into Land Systems OMC, part of BA ...

shipyard in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

, South Africa, with three more being built at the same facility several years later. The imposition of the international embargo on the sale of arms to South Africa on 4 November 1977 forced the project to be carried out under a cloak of security. The South African variants were fitted with

Gabriel missile Gabriel is a family of sea skimming anti-ship missiles manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). The initial variant of the missile was developed in the 1960s in response to the needs of the Israeli Navy which first deployed it in 1970. S ...

s, known in South Africa as 'Scorpion' missiles, and had two

OTO Melara 76 mm The OTO Melara 76 mm gun is a naval gun built and designed by the Italian defence company OTO Melara. It is based on the OTO Melara 76/62C and evolved toward 76/62 SR and 76/62 Strales. The system is compact enough to be installed on rel ...

guns instead of a single one with a

Phalanx CIWS The Phalanx CIWS (often spoken as "sea-wiz") is a gun-based close-in weapon system to defend military watercraft automatically against incoming threats such as aircraft, missiles, and small boats. It was designed and manufactured by the Gene ...

Chile

In 1979, the

Chilean Navy The Chilean Navy ( es, Armada de Chile) is the naval warfare service branch of the Chilean Armed Forces. It is under the Ministry of National Defense. Its headquarters are at Edificio Armada de Chile, Valparaiso. History Origins and the Wars ...

purchased its first Sa'ar 4, followed by a second in 1980 and a final two boats in 1997. ''Papudo'' (ex INS ''Tarshish)'' was purchased with several missing systems and due to budgetary constraints was retired in 1998, only a year after entering service. All Sa'ar 4s in service with the Chilean Navy are armed with two

guns, eight

launchers and two

Oerlikon 20 mm cannon The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models emplo ...

with the exception of ''Angamos'' which was modernized in 2013 replacing four of the Gabriel missile launchers with four

Exocet MM40 The Exocet () is a French-built anti-ship missile whose various versions can be launched from surface vessels, submarines, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Etymology The missile's name was given by M. Guillot, then the technical direct ...

launchers. Three Sa'ar 4s remain in service as of 2020.

Sri Lanka

In 2000, two of the Israeli boats were sold to the

Sri Lankan Navy ta, இலங்கை கடற்படை , image = Sri Lanka Naval Seal.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of Sri Lanka Navy , dates = , c ...

, forming the . It is not certain if these boats retain the

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 ...

missile capability, however, these boats retained their

capability.

References

External links

Israeli Weapons dealer

Project ''Japonica'': The secret building of South African Strike Craft in Israel, 1975-79
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sa'ar 4 Class Missile Boat Missile boat classes Missile boats of the Israeli Navy Missile boats of the Chilean Navy Missile boats of the South African Navy Missile boats of the Sri Lanka Navy Israel–South Africa relations