View source for Sa'ar 4-class fast attack craft

{{Short description|Israeli Navy ship class}}
{{more citations needed|date=October 2019}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin |sclass=2}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=US Navy 100315-N-4774B-200 The Chilean navy Sa'ar 4-class fast-attack craft Angamos and Casma perform tactical maneuvering exercises in the Strait Of Magellan.jpg
|Ship caption=[[Chilean Navy]] Sa'ar 4-class fast-attack craft ''Angamos'' and ''Casma'' perform tactical maneuvering exercises in the Strait of Magellan
}}
{{Infobox ship class overview
|Name=Sa'ar 4 class
|Builders= [[Israel Shipyards]]
|Operators=* {{navy|Israel}}
* {{navy|Chile}}
* {{navy|South Africa}}
* {{navy|Sri Lanka}}
* {{navy|Equatorial Guinea}}
|Class before= {{sclass2|Sa'ar 3|missile boat|4}}
|Class after= {{sclass2|Sa'ar 4.5|missile boat|4}}
|Subclasses=
|Cost=
|Built range=
|In service range=  
|In commission range= 
|Total ships building=
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship type=[[Fast attack craft]]
|Ship displacement=* 415 tons 
* 450 tons full loaded
|Ship length={{convert|58|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|7.62|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship height=
|Ship draught={{convert|2.4|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft=
|Ship power=
|Ship propulsion=* 4 [[MTU Friedrichshafen|MTU]] [[V16 engine|16V]] 538 [[diesel engines]],
* 4 shafts, total of {{Convert|12800|hp|kW|abbr=on}}
|Ship speed={{convert|34|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range=*{{Convert|4000|nmi|abbr=on|lk=in}} at {{Convert|17.5|kn|km/h}}
*{{Convert|1650|nmi|abbr=on}} at {{Convert|30|kn}}
|Ship endurance=
|Ship complement=45
|Ship sensors=* [[Elta Systems|Elta]] EL/M-2207/2208 air & surface search radar<ref>Norman Friedman, ''The Naval Institute Guide to World Naval Weapon Systems'' Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 1989, {{ISBN|1-55750-262-5}}, p. 241.</ref>
* [[Selenia (company)|Selenia]] Orion RTN-10X [[fire-control radar]]
|Ship EW=* 1 × 45-tube, 4-6 × 24-tubes and 4 single [[Chaff (radar countermeasure)|chaff rocket launchers]]
* [[Elisra]] NS-9003/9005 [[Radar warning receiver|RWR]]
|Ship armament=
* 2-4 × [[Boeing Harpoon|RGM-84 Harpoon]] [[Surface-to-surface missile|SSMs]]
*''and''
*4 × [[Gabriel (missile)|Gabriel II]] SSMs
*''OR''
*6 × Gabriel II SSMs
* 1 × 20 mm [[Phalanx CIWS]]
*''and''
*1 × [[Otobreda 76 mm|OTO Melara 76 mm]] [[naval gun]]
*''OR''
*2 × OTO Melara 76 mm naval gun
* 2 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon]]
|Ship armour=
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}}
|}
The '''Sa'ar 4''' or '''''Reshef'' class''' were a series of [[fast attack craft]] built based on [[Israeli Sea Corps|Israeli Navy]] designs grounded in accumulated experience derived in the operation of "Cherbourg" (Sa'ar&nbsp;1, Sa'ar&nbsp;2, and {{sclass2|Sa'ar 3|missile boat|5}}) classes. Thirteen were built at the [[Israel Shipyards]], ten for the Israeli Navy and three for the [[South African Navy]].  Another six were built for the South African Navy in [[South Africa]] with Israeli assistance.

Sa'ar 4 boats' first battle engagements occurred in the October 1973 [[Yom Kippur War]] when two Sa'ar 4 boats, INS ''Reshef'' and INS ''Keshet'',  engaged Egyptian and Syrian ships and coastal targets. Israel had sold most of its Sa'ar 4 boats to other navies, but INS ''Nitzachon'' and INS ''Atzmaut'' remained in active Israeli Navy service until 2014.

==Variants==

===Israel===
Ten Sa'ar 4-class boats were built for the Israeli Navy. {{As of|2013}} only two remain in service.  Three were disassembled, with systems taken for use in the construction of {{sclass2|Sa'ar 4.5|missile boat|0}} vessels.  Three vessels and one hull stripped of systems were sold to [[Chile]].  Two vessels were sold to [[Sri Lanka]].

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!width="15%"| Vessel name
!width="7%"| Meaning
!width="35%"| History
!width="36%"| Fate
!width="7%"| Status
|-align=center
|INS ''Reshef''
|<small>Spark</small>
|Launched in 1973.<br />Commissioned in February 1973.
|Sold to [[Chile]] in 1997 as LM-34 ''Angamos''.
|Active (Chile)
|-align=center
|INS ''Keshet''
|<small>Bow</small>
|Launched in 1973.<br />Commissioned on August 23, 1973.
|Sold to [[Chile]] in 1980 as LM-31 ''Chipana''.
|Active (Chile)
|-align=center
|INS ''Romach''
|<small>Lance</small>
|Launched<br />in 1974.
|Sold to [[Chile]] in 1979 as LM-30 ''Casma''.
|Active (Chile)
|-align=center
|INS ''Kidon''
|<small>Javelin</small>
|Launched in 1974.
|Disassembled. Various systems reassembled atop {{sclass2|Sa'ar 4.5|missile boat|5}} hull in 1994. The old hull sunk as an underwater memorial.
|Retired
|-align=center
|INS ''Tarshish''
|<small>[[Tarshish]]</small>
|Launched in 1975.
|Disassembled. Some systems reassembled atop {{sclass2|Sa'ar 4.5|missile boat|5}} hull in 1995. The old hull sold to [[Chile]] in 1997 as LM-35 ''Papudo''.
|In 1998 cannibalized for spares Chilean Navy    
|-align=center
|INS ''Yaffo''
|<small>[[Jaffa]]</small>
|Launched in 1975.
|Disassembled. Various systems reassembled atop new {{sclass2|Sa'ar 4.5|missile boat|5}} hull in 1998.
|Retired
|-align=center
|INS ''Nitzachon''
|<small>Victory</small>
|Launched on 10 July 1978.<br />Commissioned in September 1978.
|Redirected to [[anti-submarine warfare]].<br />Retired 15 January 2014
|Retired
|-align=center 
|INS ''Atzmaut''
|<small>Independence</small>
|Launched on 3 December 1978.<br />Commissioned in February 1979.
|Redirected to [[anti-submarine warfare]].<br />Retired 5 March 2014
|Sunk in July 2016, by 2 [[Harpoon (missile)]]s - launched by INS ''Hetz'' and INS ''Herev'', in missile test conducted by the 3rd Flotilla.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/71494/israeli-navy-successfully-tests-long-range-missiles/#KT6jC6EiKdLRPWWU.97|title = Israeli Navy Successfully Tests Long-Range Missiles|date = 10 July 2016}}</ref>
|-align=center
|INS ''Moledet''
|<small>Homeland</small>
|Launched in 1979.
|Redirected to [[anti-submarine warfare]].<br />Sold to [[Sri Lanka]] in 2000 as SLNS ''Suranimala''.
|Sold
|-align=center
|INS ''Komemiyut''
|<small>Sovereignty</small>
|Launched in 1980.
|Redirected to [[anti-submarine warfare]].<br />Sold to [[Sri Lanka]] in 2000 as SLNS ''Nandimitra''.
|Sold
|}

===South Africa===

The {{sclass2|Warrior|strike craft|1}} (formerly designated Minister class) in service with the [[South African Navy]] are modified Sa'ar 4 (''Reshef''-class) fast attack craft.<ref>{{cite web|title=Warrior class strike craft|url=http://www.victorlogistics.co.za/navy_strike.htm|date=May 26, 2005|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071103110730/http://www.victorlogistics.co.za/navy_strike.htm|archivedate=November 3, 2007}}</ref>  In 1974, a contract was signed with [[Israeli Military Industries]] for the construction of three of the modified Reshef class vessels at the [[Haifa]] facility of Israeli Shipyards.  A further three were built immediately after at the [[Sandock Austral]] shipyard in [[Durban]], South Africa, with three more being built at the same facility several years later.<ref name="Potgieter">{{cite web|url=http://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/132/170|title=The Secret South African Project Team: Building Strike Craft in Israel, 1975-79|date=November 26, 2004|accessdate=2014-03-22|publisher=[[University of Stellenbosch]]|author=Cdr Thean Potgieter|format=PDF}}</ref> The imposition of the [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 418|international embargo on the sale of arms to South Africa]] on 4 November 1977 forced the project to be carried out under a cloak of security.<ref name="Potgieter"/>  The South African variants were fitted with [[Gabriel missile]]s, known in South Africa as 'Scorpion' missiles, and had two [[OTO Melara 76 mm]] guns instead of a single one with a [[Phalanx CIWS]].

=== Chile ===
In 1979, the [[Chilean Navy]] purchased its first Sa'ar 4, followed by a second in 1980 and a final two boats in 1997.<ref>{{Cite web|title=LM-31|url=http://www.armada.cl/armada/site/artic/20140415/pags/20140415171104.html|access-date=2020-08-14|website=armada.cl|language=es}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=LM-30|url=http://www.armada.cl/armada/site/artic/20140415/pags/20140415165346.html|access-date=2020-08-14|website=armada.cl|language=es}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=LM-34|url=http://www.armada.cl/armada/site/artic/20140415/pags/20140415172923.html|access-date=2020-08-14|website=armada.cl|language=es}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Lancha Misilera|url=http://www.armada.cl/armada/site/artic/20140213/pags/20140213121243.html|access-date=2020-08-14|website=armada.cl|language=es}}</ref> ''Papudo'' (ex INS ''Tarshish)'' was purchased with several missing systems and due to budgetary constraints was retired in 1998, only a year after entering service.<ref name=":1" /> All Sa'ar 4s in service with the Chilean Navy are armed with two [[OTO Melara 76 mm]] guns, eight [[Gabriel (missile)|Gabriel missile]] launchers and two [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon]] with the exception of ''Angamos'' which was modernized in 2013 replacing four of the Gabriel missile launchers with four [[Exocet|Exocet MM40]] launchers.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Defensa.com|date=2013-07-18|title=La Armada de Chile recibió modernizada la lancha misilera LM-34 "Angamos" - Noticias Defensa defensa.com Chile|url=https://www.defensa.com/chile/armada-chile-recibio-modernizada-lancha-misilera-lm-34-angamos|access-date=2020-08-14|website=Defensa.com|language=es}}</ref> Three Sa'ar 4s remain in service as of 2020.

===Sri Lanka===
In 2000, two of the Israeli boats were sold to the [[Sri Lankan Navy]], forming the {{sclass|Nandimithra|missile boat|4}}. It is not certain if these boats retain the [[Boeing Harpoon|Harpoon]] missile capability, however, these boats retained their [[Gabriel missile]] capability.<ref>[http://www.sipri.org/contents/armstrad/REG_EXP_ISR_95-05.pdf/download]  {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060621042446/http://www.sipri.org/contents/armstrad/REG_EXP_ISR_95-05.pdf/download |date=June 21, 2006 }}</ref>

==See also==
* {{sclass2|Sa'ar 5|corvette|1}}
* [[Israeli Sea Corps]]
* [[Tunis Raid]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Sa'ar 4-class missile boat}}
* [http://www.newview-hs.com/naval-home Israeli Weapons dealer]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060718065055/http://www.israeli-weapons.com/weapons/naval/saar4/Saar4.html Israeli Weapons]
* [http://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/132/170 Project ''Japonica'': The secret building of South African Strike Craft in Israel, 1975-79]

{{Sa'ar 4-class missile boat}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sa'ar 4 Class Missile Boat}}
[[Category:Missile boat classes]]
[[Category:Missile boats of the Israeli Navy]]
[[Category:Missile boats of the Chilean Navy]]
[[Category:Missile boats of the South African Navy]]
[[Category:Missile boats of the Sri Lanka Navy]]
[[Category:Missile boats of Sri Lanka| ]]
[[Category:Israel–South Africa relations]]