Speaking at the CNE 2023 conference in Farnborough on 24 May, Commander Yonatan Kudish also revealed that the Reshef vessel will be assembled from hull modules built overseas by a US shipbuilder.
Intended to replace ageing Sa’ar 4.5 strike craft of the Israeli Navy, the Reshef design will be a heavily-armed 1,000-ton displacement patrol corvette equipped for combat operations as well as maritime security in Israel’s Exclusive Economic Zone and protection of critical infrastructure in territorial waters. Israel Shipyards, based in Haifa, was awarded a contract for the detailed design of the new class in August 2021.
According to Commander Kudish, detailed design work is continuing ahead of the start of the build phase in late 2023/early 2024.
“The ambition to have [the first-of-class] integrated and operational in early 2027. We are going to build the sections of the ship in the United States, combine them together, then integrate the combat system back in Israel. Israel Shipyards will be our main contractor, with the US shipyard as their subcontractor.”
Commander Yonatan Kudish, Head of Platform Development Branch, Israeli Navy
Naval News understands that the offshore build of the hull modules in a US yard will enable the Reshef programme to take advantage of US Foreign Military Financing grants, thereby reducing the overall cost of the programme to the Israeli Ministry of Defence.
Specific features of the Reshef design identified by Commander Kudish include a 76/62 gun forward, Rafael’s C-Dome point defence missile system, the IAI Elta ELM-2258 rotating AESA radar, space amidships for sea-skimming anti-ship missiles, twin Rafael Typhoon 30 mm remote weapon mountings, and soft-kill decoy launchers. Provisions in the design will also enable the future retrofit of a high energy laser weapon system.
The Israeli Navy is taking responsibility for the combat management system, and combat system integration activities. A shore integration site at Haifa naval base previously established for the Sa’ar 6 corvette will be repurposed to support the Reshef programme.
In addition, the Reshef design will incorporate a multi-purpose deck aft. This will allow for the embarkation of containerised payload modules suited to specific roles and missions, such as anti-submarine warfare, said Commander Kudish.
