The Israeli Ministry of Defense has contracted five new Reshef-class ships, also known as Sa'ar 72, which will partially replace the Sa'ar 4.5 class Hetz vessels that form the backbone of the fleet. The construction will be carried out in collaboration with the United States, where certain hull modules and some systems will be built, with Israel Shipyards designated as the main contractor.
The delivery of these five ships is expected to take up to six years, with the first one slated for completion by 2027. Although the publicly announced contract amount is only $780 million, this figure pertains solely to the American portion of the contract, as reported by Naval News. Additionally, all or part of this amount will be funded through American aid to Israel. Thus, the total cost of the contract remains a topic of discussion.
According to Defense Express, the Reshef is essentially a mini-corvette with a displacement of 1,000 tons and a length of up to 77 meters. Despite these dimensions, the ship is equipped with a full-fledged 76-mm OTO 76/62 SR universal artillery mount from the Italian company Leonardo and a combat module featuring a 30-mm cannon.
The primary anti-ship armament consists of eight Gabriel V anti-ship missiles, which have a flight range reported by various sources to be between 200 and 400 km. The air defense will be provided by the "Iron Dome," which effectively handles not only unguided rockets but also cruise and anti-ship missiles, aircraft, and drones.
The ship also features a helicopter landing pad that can be used to deploy additional equipment, such as launchers for loitering munitions (long-range kamikaze drones) like the Harop.
Furthermore, the Reshef is set to receive advanced sensor equipment, including an ELM-2258 radar with an active electronically scanned array (AESA), which is claimed to detect aerial targets up to 400 km away, as well as a suite of electro-optical systems. The ship will also be equipped with a powerful electronic warfare complex represented by the Digital Shark R-ECM system from Rafael, featuring AESA antennas.