IMDEX 2023: Israel Shipyards courts interest in OPV S-45 and S-80 Corvette

During a three-week sailing, the ship was moved from Haifa, Israel, to Côte d'Ivoire, where the opportunity was also taken to further train Ivorian sailors, Israel Shipyards Marketing VP Oded Breier told Shephard ahead of IMDEX in Singapore.

Breier said the company was 'very happy' with the vessel's design, adding that the delivery voyage also revealed the ship was more economical than thought, delivering range beyond its projected 3,000nmi.

Israel Shipyards is building two of the OPVs for the Ivorian Navy, with the second vessel to leave Israel bound for the West African nation later this year.

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While not revealing details, Breier said the cruise of the first ship had revealed some improvements that could be made to the vessel, which will be incorporated into the second ship before it departs Israel.

Around eight countries have expressed interest in the vessel for both military and constabulary use, according to the Haifa shipbuilder. Breier did not divulge which navies were in talks, but regionally they stem from Africa, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific.

The company is exploring the integration of longer-range weapons such as Spike missiles for some customers and looking at lower-end versions of the platform equipped with only light weapons for law enforcement use.

The OPV 45 design was launched at 2019's edition of IMDEX in Singapore in May 2019, sitting between the company's Shaldag patrol vessels and Sa'ar corvettes.

The first OPV S-45 was launched in September 2022. It can mount a stabilised 23-30 mm marine gun system, 2 stabilised 50 calibre guns and non-lethal weapons. Navigation is performed by an X/S band search/navigation radars and an electro-optical director.

Regarding modifications, Israel Shipyards is also exploring customer requirements for different crewing levels than the base design's requirement of up to 24 sailors.

A rendering of Israel Shipyards S-80 corvette design. (Photo: Israel Shipyards)

At IMDEX, the shipbuilder is also showcasing its S-80 corvette design, first revealed at the Euronaval show in Paris last year.

The vessel is a version of the Reshef-class the company is producing for the Israeli Navy.

Israel shipyards previously told Shephard that it could produce the first corvette in 13 months, which would be reduced to eight months for series production.

Work on the Reshef class for the Israeli Navy is progressing, and Breier said he expected an order for the export-oriented S-80 could come soon.

Israel Shipyards is understood to be in talks with two African, one Asia-Pacific and one European country for the potential supply of the corvette.

Based on Shephard's understanding of national budgets and requirements, Bulgaria, Romania or Portugal could be the European nation in question.

According to the manufacturer, the vessel can perform various missions: from EEZ protection and surveillance tasks to maritime interdiction and escort operations.

The S-80 design features some departures from Reshef, including a dedicated helicopter hangar which the Israeli Navy uses as container space.

The Saar S-80 features a steel hull with an aluminium superstructure. The vessel features a bow thruster and two propulsion lines utilising four MTU 4000-series marine engines.

Weapon configurations include SSMs, SAMs, a 76mm naval gun on the forward deck, remote-controlled guns up to 30mm and EW systems.

Related Equipment in Defence Insight

Saar S-80

OPV 45