Israel Shipyards to design replacement for Sa’ar 4.5 missile boats

The Israeli Ministry of Defense has selected local shipbuilder Israel Shipyards to design a new class of eight combat vessels to replace the Israeli Navy’s 1990s-built Sa’ar 4.5-class missile boats.

The new missile boat class will be named Reshef after the Hebrew translation of “flame.”

The Reshef-class vessels will be equipped with indigenously produced combat systems and will be used to assist in protecting Israel’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) as well as offshore oil and gas facilities within Israel’s territorial waters.