Israeli Ministry of Defence Approves Budget for Development and Acquisition of Five Advanced ‘Reshef’ Missile Boats

Under the agreement, the Israeli ministry of defence will acquire five advanced “Reshef” missile ships from Israel Shipyards. These will replace the “Nirit” Sa’ar 4.5-class missile ship, which will be decommissioned after four decades of service.

The domestic production of these vessels will employ hundreds of workers in Israel.

The new Reshef missile ships will be equipped with an advanced radar made by Israel Aerospace Industries and with some very advanced weapon systems including the Rafael C–Dome and Barak – 8 made by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).

In recent weeks, the Hezbollah terror organisation has again threatened to attack Israel’s offshore gas pumping rigs. One of the systems that was deployed for this mission is the Rafael C-Dome interceptor. It has been deployed on the SAAR -6 corvettes.

The C-Dome Naval defence system is based on the Iron Dome and designed to effectively protect combat vessels against a large set of modern threats. C-Dome handles saturation attacks by engaging multiple targets simultaneously. According to Rafael, the reaction time is very short and enables automatic and semi-automatic engagements.

C-Dome components include a multi-round launcher assembly loaded with vertically-launched canistered interceptors. The launcher is installed under the ship’s deck. C-Dome utilises the ship’s own surveillance radar and does not require a dedicated Fire Control Radar. Weapon System Command and Control is seamlessly integrated with the ship’s combat management system, facilitating system operation.

Rafael emphasises that C-Dome uses the combat-proven Iron Dome interceptor that has already achieved more than 3000 successful intercepts.

As per Rafael, the Interceptors are maintenance-free, and are stored in a sea-proof canister. Up to 8 interceptors can be loaded into a modular vertical launcher unit.

The C-Dome interceptor is extremely agile and with a high rate-of-turn, enabling intercepting of even the most maneuverable targets, according to Rafael.

The C-Dome system is equipped with an active radar and that ensure a high kill rate like the one achieved by the Iron Dome. The C-Dome is an addition to the Barak – 8 air defence systems that is also deployed on the SAAR -6.

The Barak-8 is made by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). According to IAI, the Barak-8 provides the ultimate protection against a variety of aerial platforms and munitions including aircraft, helicopters, unmanned aircraft and sea-skimming missiles. It is based on a sophisticated missile (developed in collaboration with Rafael), state-of-the-art phased array multi mission radar, two-way data link, and flexible command and control system.

The system’s radar manufactured by ELTA Systems, an IAI group and subsidiary, is a multi-mission radar, supporting air defence missions. It delivers an accurate, high quality, real-time arena situation picture and extracts low Radar Cross Section (RCS) targets even in the toughest environmental conditions. It is a digital Active Electronic Steering Array (AESA) Radar System which incorporates new and advanced technologies.

Barak-8 can operate day and night, in all weather conditions, and successfully deals with simultaneous threats engagements, even in severe saturation scenarios. The system has a very short reaction time and a fast missile vertical launch capability with 360 degree coverage. The system optimises the coordination between the missile and batteries by using an advanced broadband communication network. The missile deals with short, medium, and long range threats, where its interconnectivity among the various ships in the naval task force enables it to be a multi-layer air and missile defence System of Systems.

A source said that a typical ship installation includes 4 vertical launchers each carrying 8 missiles.

The Barak-8 has an effective range of 70 km. IAI has developed an extended range version that has an add-on booster to give the missile a 150 km range.