Israel's New Warship SAAR S-80

The SAAR S-80 is based on the Reshef-class from the Israeli Navy, which herself is an evolution of the S-72 corvette. For the record, Israeli shipyards has been awarded contract for the design and construction of new ships meant to replace the Israeli Navy’s in-service Sa’ar 4.5 missile crafts. The company signed a detailed design contract on August 26. 2021.

According to Israeli Shipyards the S-80 class features greater versatility, higher payload capacity, increased weapon suite capacity and wider spread of Electronic Warfare (EW) systems among other things.

Regarding technical specification the S-80 is a 80 meters long ship with a beam of 11 meters and a draught of 3.25 meters. Her displacement is about 1000 tonnes, and is powered by 4 diesel engines which allow a maximum speed of over 28 knots and a cruising speed of 14 knots. The vessel has a complement of 53 plus 20 passengers.

The SAAR S-80 can accommodate helicopter aboard on its flight deck, however there is no hangar. The helicopter type has not been specified. On the aft deck, two LARS are installed for two RHIBs. Once again, their dimensions were not disclosed.

The weapon suite is modular and can be adapted according to customers’ needs. Israeli shipyards confirms the ship is “capable of being equipped with the combat systems made by the Israeli defense industries or / and any equivalent systems according to the customer requirements.” SAAR S-80 can be fitted with surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, 76mm main gun, remote controlled stabilized guns up to 30mm, and electronic warfare systems.

With the modularity of her equipment, the S-80 can be configured as corvette or as an OPV version, depending on the operational requirements.