Posted on 10/21/2013 10:08:41 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
The Navy wants four missile corvettes to defend Israel's exclusive economic zone.
The Israel Navy is preparing a plan to procure four missile corvettes to protect the gas rigs in Israel's exclusive economic zone in the Mediterranean. The ships cost an estimated $400 million and systems that will be installed on them cost an additional $200 million. A senior Navy officer says that the plan is due to be presented to the government for approval in a few weeks. The corvettes were priced after a long process in which the Navy obtained quotes from several foreign shipyards, including in Germany, South Korea, and the US. Because of the high cost of the Saar 5-class missile corvettes, four of which are in service with the Navy, the IDF decided to procure ship platforms designed for civilian use. This process should substantially lower the ships' cost, since a Saar 5-class missile corvette reportedly costs $400 million.
A senior IDF officer says that for the cost of one missile corvette, it will be possible to procure four large civilian ships and then train the Navy to respond to security challenges in the Mediterranean. The plan calls for converting the civilian ships to warships, which will carry a wide range of offensive, defensive, communications, and warning systems developed by Israeli defense companies. The Navy estimates that 4.5 years are needed from the signing of a contract to bringing the ships to operational use, with the first ship delivered within three years.
"The new ships are a fantastic answer to our needs to meet the new challenges in the maritime space," says the officer. "They can be used for routine protection of Israel's economic interests in Mediterranean, and when needed, to use them in combat operations. We've examined how other countries are protecting their maritime interests, and found that they all use this method."
A Navy expert familiar with the complexities of protecting offshore rigs says, "For the IDF, this is a reasonable demand to respond to a need in a huge region, where interest has grown greatly in recent years."
Is this (in the picture) what the Israelis call the “Sa’ar 5”?
Aren’t they looking for FACs like their “Super Devora”?
They’re going to need as much firepower as they can get in order to protect those rigs with the f____ed up neighbors they have there.
Yes.
I’d say they are looking for OPVs. Smaller than the Saar-5, but much bigger than a Dvora.
looks pretty good to these (non-expert) eyes
(and let’s not worry if Isr can put enough fire power on them, there’s no question whatsoever she can)
What is an “OPV”?
I read recently that the Israeli Navy will be getting “Super Devoras”.
I think they are larger that the “Devora”, no? This means creating a new, larger branch to the current, tiny, Israeli Navy, no?
More money, more budgets for the Ministry of Defense, more ships, more threats, more Obama scorn...
Offshore patrol vessel. Usually meant for coast guard-type duties, but can also be armed for conventional navy roles.
The Super Dvoras are still fast and small patrol craft. Your average OPV or corvette would be about thrice the length and 10 times the displacement of a Super Dvora.
Don’t the Israelis use the Devora and Super Devora as OPVs?
Aren’t these models basically the grandkids of the old WWII PT boats and similar to the ones used in Vietnam?
Thanks for the information.
You can’t use the Dvoras in an OPV role. It doesn’t have the legs.
As far as I am concerned, the Israelis deserve a friggin’ aircraft carrier based on the multiple threats they face.
On the other hand, their tactical strengths are in their quick response and mobile forces.
Very little is known about her Navy but she is very advanced, especialy in EW.
Most folks don’t even know that Israel has an Alpine Unit as well. Funny, one thinks of the desert and never considers the Golan Heights’ mountains on the Syrian and Lebanese borders...
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