Tel Aviv: The fourth “SAAR 6” corvette of the Israeli Navy arrived in Israel on August 30 from Germany after a two-week voyage. The “Nizahon” (Victory) will now be equipped with Israeli developed systems. The corvette has an overall length of 90m, a maximum beam of 13.2m and a height of 21.5m. The displacement of each corvette will be approximately 2,000t.
The Air Defence system of the SAAR 6 combines the capabilities of the BARAK-8 missile and C-DOME system. The SAAR 6 corvettes are mainly built to protect the Israeli Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which includes huge gas reservoirs in the Mediterranean.
The BARAK-8 is made by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and according to company, it is capable of protecting the ship 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 is manufactured by IAI subsidiary ELTA Systems and supports air defence missions, delivering 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 Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Radar System which incorporates new and advanced technologies.
A typical ship installation includes four vertical launchers each carrying eight missiles, which have an effective range of 70 km, while IAI is developing an extended range version that will have an add on booster giving the missile a 150 km range.
The C-DOME Naval defence system, made by Rafael, is based on the combat proven IRON DOME and is designed to effectively protect combat vessels against a large set of modern threats. C-DOME handles saturation attacks by engaging multiple targets simultaneously and the reaction time, according to Rafael, is very short and enables automatic and semi-automatic engagements.
C-DOME components include a multi-round launcher assembly loaded with vertically-launched canister interceptors, installed under the ship’s deck, while the system utilizes the ship’s own surveillance radar and does not require a dedicated Fire Control Radar, with Weapon System Command and Control seamlessly integrated with the ship’s Combat Management System, facilitating system operation.
The main task of the SAAR 6 is to protect the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in which Israeli gas pumping rigs are located.
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
