The Israeli army announced the deployment of the warship "Sa'ar 6" to the Red Sea in response to threats from the Houthis.
Years ago, Israel received the first of the new and most advanced attack ships, the German "Sa'ar 6," designed to protect coastlines and important strategic sites such as gas extraction platforms in the eastern Mediterranean. The ship arrived from Germany at the Haifa port, and three more ships of the same class are scheduled to arrive next year, increasing the number of missile ships deployed by the Israeli navy along its shores to 15. Despite being small, these warships can carry out significant missions in distant areas, with a range extending to the Red Sea and the Gulf.
#### What are "Sa'ar 6" Ships?
The Sa'ar 6 corvette is a German-made warship ordered by the Israeli navy in May 2015. Its design is based heavily on the German military corvette "Braunschweig," with some necessary engineering changes to accommodate Israeli sensors and missiles such as the Barak 8 system and the naval version of the Iron Dome. The Sa'ar 6 ships are being built in Germany in a joint project between a group of holding shipyards (GNYH) and the German company ThyssenKrupp (TKMS). The first vessel was delivered in December 2020, with the construction cost estimated at about 1.8 billion Israeli shekels or approximately 430 million euros ($480 million). Israel will pay two-thirds of the cost, with the German government funding one-third of the construction costs of the cruisers, similar to the Dolphin submarine.
#### Specifications of "Sa'ar 6" Ships
These ships are designed to counter asymmetric combat methods faced by the Israeli navy from both land and sea. The Sa'ar 6 attack ship is based on the German K-130 corvette hull. The new ships are equipped with fire-fighting systems, advanced radar, defensive missiles, and other means developed by Israeli security companies, with all combat systems installed in Israeli shipyards. The Sa'ar 6 is equipped with an AESA radar, model EL/M-2248 MF-STAR, for surveillance, tracking, and guidance, which can track enemy targets under severely jamming environmental conditions and with 360-degree coverage, utilizing four active arrays operating at the advanced S-Band frequency.
The design of the Sa'ar 6 ship includes a hangar and a suitable helipad for medium-class helicopters.
#### Armament of "Sa'ar 6" Ships
The Sa'ar 6 corvettes are armed with a wide range of weapons for defense and attack purposes, including anti-aircraft missiles, anti-ship missiles, and machine guns, such as:
- A primary gun model, Otto Melara 76 mm, which offers a high rate of fire against surface targets.
- Two automated weapon stations with Rafael Typhoon 30 mm guns.
- 16 vertical launch cells for Barak 8 surface-to-air missiles, designed to intercept and destroy all airborne threats such as anti-ship missiles, cruise missiles, fighter jets, helicopters, and unmanned aerial systems.
- 40 cells for the "Iron Dome" air defense system, the naval version C-Dome, to intercept short-range missiles and artillery shells.
- 16 anti-ship missiles such as Gabriel, RGM-84 Harpoon, or RBS-15 Mk 3, for attacking ships.
- Two lightweight torpedo launchers, MK54 324 mm.
#### Israel's Strategic Goals for Acquiring These Ships
One of the primary roles of these ships is to protect natural gas platforms in the Mediterranean Sea from potential maritime or missile threats from Iran, Hezbollah, and Palestinian resistance factions in the Gaza Strip. Hezbollah has previously threatened to target Israeli gas fields and platforms.
