Military Knowledge: Sa’ar 6-Class Corvette

In 2015, the Israeli army ordered four Sa’ar-6 warships to Germany. Although this ship is generally known in the world as an Israeli warship, the Saar-6 class was built in Germany by the German company ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems based on the design of the German Braunschweig class warship. However, to adapt Israeli systems and missiles such as Barak-8 and the Iron Dome defense system (marine version), changes have been made on this corvette, and this part was done by Israel. It is said that the Israeli company Elbit Systems has been awarded the contract to design and build the electronic warfare suites for the ships.

In 2020, the first Saar 6 class warship named Magen was delivered to the Israeli Navy. Three more corvettes, OZ, Atzmaut and Nitzachon, were delivered during 2021 but were not operational. These four warships entered the service of the Israeli navy until 2023 and after the completion of various parts. Currently, these corvettes are the largest and most equipped warships in the service of the Israeli navy.

It should be noted that the Sa’ar 6 corvettes will complement the old Sa’ar 5-class corvettes. Sa’ar 5 corvettes have also been built in the United States of America in the past years on the order of the Israeli regime. Sa’ar 6 corvettes are larger than Sa’ar 5 corvettes and carry more missiles. Also, the radar cross section of Sa’ar 6 has been reduced.

Saar-6 corvette is 90 meters long, 13.2 meters wide (beam) and 21.5 meters high. Also, the displacement of this corvette is about 2000 tons and it has between 70 and 80 crew members.

Sa’ar 6 corvettes are armed with one Italian Oto Melara 76 mm cannon and two Typhoon 25 mm remote-controlled cannons. The Oto Melara cannon can engage surface targets, warships, air targets, and even missiles approaching the ship.

Sa’ar 6 is equipped with 16 Barak-8 air defense missiles LRAD version with a range of 70 km, 40 Iron Dome air defense missiles (C-Dome), 16 Israeli Gabriel Mark 6 anti-ship missiles with a range of 400 km or American Harpoon Block 2 with a range of 124 km. Also, a dual Spike-ER missile launcher and two 324 mm torpedo launchers are available in this vessel.

According to the missile systems installed in this warship, it can be seen that Sa’ar 6 is a defensive warship and is mostly used to protect other naval platforms or land installations against missile and air threats. Therefore, this warship will be used to perform maritime patrol duties to protect gas platforms, shipping lines and other strategic assets of the Israeli regime in the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.

The hangar and helicopter deck at the stern can be used to accommodate a medium multi-mission maritime helicopter such as SH-60 Seahawk.

In terms of propulsion, Saar 6 light frigates use two MTU 20V 1163 TB93 diesel engines with a power of 9924 horsepower and a total of 19848 horsepower. With the help of these engines, Sa’ar 6 reaches a speed of 27 knots (50 km/h) and can travel up to 4,000 nautical miles (7,400 km).

In terms of radar, the ELM-2248 Multi-Function Surveillance, Track And Guidance Radar (MF-STAR) multi-function active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar on board the Saar-6-class corvettes will track enemy targets under severe environmental / jamming conditions with a 360° coverage. The maximum range of this radar is up to 450 km.

Sa’ar 6-class corvette specifications:
Type: Corvette
Manufacturer: Germany (ordered by Israel)
Commissioned: 11 November 2020
Crew: 70-80
Length: 90 meters
Beam: 13.2 meters
Height: 21.5 meters
Draft: ~ 4 meters
Displacement: 2000 tons
Engine: 2 x MTU 20V 1163 TB93 diesel engine with a power of 9924 hp (total 19848 hp)
Range: 4000 nautical miles (7400 km)
Speed: 27 knots (50 km/h)
Missile arsenal:
16 x Barak-8 surface-to-air missiles
40 x C-Dome air defense missiles
16 x Gabriel or Harpoon anti-ship missiles
1 x Dual Spike-ER missile launcher
6 x 324 mm torpedoes
Guns:
1 x Oto Melara 76 mm main gun
2 x Typhoon 25mm gun
Aircraft carried: 1 x SH-60 Seahawk
Boats carried: 3 x speedboats or drone boats

Infographics of Sa’ar 6-class corvette in Russian and Farsi:

Sources:
Sa’ar 6-class corvette
Sa’ar 6 class
EL/M-2248 MF-STAR
Sa’ar 6 corvette of Israeli Navy
Sa’ar 6 Class Corvettes
MTU 20V-1163-TB93 9924 HP