Sa'ar 5-class corvette
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 Saar 5 Class INS Hanit |
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Saar 5 |
| Preceded by: | Saar 4.5 class missile boat |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Corvette |
| Displacement: | 1227 tons |
| Length: | 85.64 m (281.0 ft) |
| Beam: | 11.88 m (39.0 ft) |
| Draught: | 3.17 m (10.4 ft) |
| Speed: | 32 knots (59 km/h) |
| Range: | 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km) at 20 knots (37 km/h) |
| Electronic warfare and decoys: |
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| Armament: | 8 RGM-84 Harpoon missiles, 8 Gabriel SSN missiles, 2 Barak launchers, 20mm Phalanx CIWS Mk.15, 2 x Mk 32 torpedo launchers (6 tubes) |
| Aircraft carried: | Sa'ar 5 can carry two Eurocopter Panther helicopters , Kaman SH-2F, or Sikorsky S-76N helicopters - one on the landing pad and the other inside the hangar. |
Sa'ar 5 (Hebrew: סער 5) is a class of Israeli Navy corvette, designed based on lessons learnt from the Sa'ar 4.5 class ships. Three Sa'ar 5 ships were built by Northrop Grumman Ship Systems (formerly Litton-Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation of Pascagoula, Mississippi) for the Israeli Navy, based on Israeli designs. The Sa'ar 5 ships are considered the Israeli fleet's most advanced surface ships, costing US$260 million each.
The first of class, INS Eilat, was launched in February 1993, followed by INS Lahav in August 1993 and INS Hanit in March 1994.
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[edit] Combat history
On July 14, 2006, while enforcing a blockade off Beirut, the INS Hanit was attacked by Hezbollah, using a version of the Chinese YJ-82 missile. A large explosion caused the landing pad to cave in and be engulfed in flames that threatened the aviation fuel storage below, and the flames were not fully extinguished until several hours later. The ship suffered critical damage near the helicopter landing pad (or, according to the press conference, near the bridge), was on fire for several hours and temporarily lost its ability to steer. Four IDF personnel were killed, three of whom were found later in the ship.
An investigation into the incident by the Israeli Navy concluded that the missile was indeed a C-802 which hit a crane in the rear of the ship, that the ship's radar was not fully functional at the time, that both the ECM and the Barak anti-missile systems were in a two-minute stand-by mode and that the ship's captain was not aware of that fact.[1]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Amos Harel. "Missile attack on INS Spear: IDF probe faults navy, ship's crew", haaretz.com, November 9, 2006. Retrieved on 2008-02-16.
