The La Combattante IIa fast attack craft is a

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differently ...

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 defens ...

originally built for the

German Navy The German Navy (, ) is the navy of Germany and part of the unified ''Bundeswehr'' (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Mari ...

as Type 148 . They were later transferred to 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 var ...

and the class was renamed Combattante IIa, as with similar French made ships. All the ships were under mid-life updates in 1980s. Two vessels in the class, P-74 and P-75, were fitted with

RGM-84 Harpoon The Harpoon is an all-weather, over-the-horizon, anti-ship missile manufactured by McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing Defense, Space & Security). The AGM-84E Standoff Land Attack Missile (SLAM) and later AGM-84H/K SLAM-ER (Standoff Land Attack ...

anti-ship missiles and a new ESM was fitted after transfer. A version called the ''Beir Grassa'' class, of which 10 were built and 8 were operational as of 1995, were used by the

Libyan Navy Libyan Navy ( ar, قوات البحرية الليبية) is the branch of the Libyan military responsible for naval warfare. Established in November 1962, Libyan Navy has been headed by Admiral Mansour Bader, Chief of Staff of the Libyan Naval ...

. One had been sunk and another disabled during a 1986

confrontation Confrontation is an element of conflict wherein parties confront one another, directly engaging one another in the course of a dispute between them. A confrontation can be at any scale, between any number of people, between entire nations or cult ...

with US forces. Iran ordered 12 ships of the same class (known in Iran as ''Kaman'' class), nine of which were delivered in 1977 and 1978, and three of which were delayed until 1981 as a result of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The was sunk during

Operation Morvarid Operation Morvarid ( fa, عملیات , lit=Pearl) was an operation launched by the Iranian Navy and Air Force against the Iraqi Air Defence sites on 28 November 1980 in response to Iraq positioning radar and monitoring equipment on the Mina A ...

in 1980, while was sunk by during

Operation Praying Mantis Operation Praying Mantis was an attack on 18 April 1988, by the United States Armed Forces within Iranian territorial waters in retaliation for the Iranian naval mining of the Persian Gulf during the Iran–Iraq War and the subsequent dam ...

in 1988. These ships are not to be confused with the new and , which were named in their memories. Iran built a heavily upgraded version of this class called the ''Sina'' class. As of 2012 Iran has built 4 ''Sina''-class vessels and is building 5 more of this class.

Ship list

''Perdana'' class

''Kaman''

Combattante IIa class

''Sina'' class

References

External links

Hellenic Navy official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:La Combattante IIa-class fast attack craft Missile boats of the Hellenic Navy Missile boat classes Ship classes of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy