TKMS press release
Due to the pandemic, today’s ceremony took place on a small scale. In his speech to the guests at the ceremony and to the crews of the new ships, Managing Director Dr Alexander Orellano emphasised the good professional und personal relationship with the Israel Navy.
“In the six years from the signing of the contract until today, we have developed a superior ship together. We have discussed a lot with each other, sometimes even argued. In the end, we, client and contractor, together built a better ship than originally planned.”
Managing Director Dr Alexander Orellano
The SA’AR 6-class ships will form the backbone of the Israeli Navy for the next 30 years. Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems is building the ships in a joint venture with German Naval Yards Kiel. Vice Admiral Eliyahu Sharvit arrived from Israel for the naming and handover ceremony. The Israeli navy commander-in-chief is pleased with his new ships, as he expressed in his speech: “I thank you for your tremendous effort invested in this combined project to ensure its extraordinary success.”
The contract for the delivery of four SA’AR 6 corvettes was signed in May 2015. After the design phase, the construction phase began with the ship’s steel cuting ceremony in February 2018. Just 15 months after the first steel was cut, the ship undocked. In May 2019, the “INS Magen” as first of class received her name in Kiel and was handed over in November 2020. The second ship, “INS Oz” followed in May 2021. Today, with “INS Atzmaut” and “INS Nitzachon” the order was completed.
The ships will be equipped with radar and weapon systems by the Israeli Navy after their arrival in their homeport.
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About the Sa’ar 6-class
The 1,900 tons, 90 meters-long ships have the stealthy design of a low-signature missile corvette with tailor-made solutions and numerous new technologies on board. The contract for the delivery of four Sa’ar 6 corvettes was signed in May 2015. After the design phase, the construction phase started with the steel cutting ceremony of the first-of-class in February 2018. Only 15 months after the first steel cut, the ship was undocked, fulfilling its very ambitious schedule. The other three ships will follow subsequently in intervals of a few months.
In terms of weapon systems, the Sa’ar 6 will be heavily armed given their small size and displacement:
- an Oto Melara 76 mm main gun,
- two Typhoon 25mm Weapon Stations,
- 32 vertical launch cells for Barak-8 surface-to-air missiles,
- two C-Dome point defense systems (with 20 Tamir missiles each),
- 16 anti-ship missiles (likely Gabriel V)
- two 324 mm torpedo launchers .
Each ship will also be outfitted with cyber and electronic warfare systems. The sensor suite includes the EL/M-2248 MF-STAR AESA radar. Magen-class corvettes have hangar space and a platform able to accommodate a medium class SH-60-type helicopter.
