The installation was done by IAI, together with the Defense Ministry’s Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure and the Israeli Navy.
One of the world’s most advanced radar systems, the MF-STAR active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar is capable of tracking both air and surface targets and will help to build an advanced and detailed maritime picture of the surveillance area.
It “will serve as the “brain,” integrated with all surveillance sensors on every one of the Israeli Navy’s new warships,” IAI said in a statement.
The MF-STAR radar includes four staring radar panels that provide 360-degree hemispherical coverage around the vessel.
The radar systems are based on advanced technology including the AESA, developed by IAI’s ELTA Systems Ltd. They reduce the target-acquisition response time and provide advanced ability to accurately and simultaneously track a wide range of targets.
Once a target is identified, the radar supplies all required data immediately to each control, defense and support system on deck (e.g., firing of anti-aircraft missiles), and enables decision-makers to respond to the threat in real-time.
The radars are an integral component of defending air, space and territorial waters, including Israel’s strategic assets such as the natural gas rigs, defending against rockets, enemy aircraft and more.
THE RADAR system is also an important component of the Barak MX Air Defense System (Ra’am Adir), and provides a layer of defense against advanced aerial and naval threats. The Barak system will be integrated on the new ships by the same three bodies that installed the MF-STAR.
“The combat and air defense systems installed on the Sa’ar corvettes represent the significant tier now being integrated on the rest of Israel’s air defense array, an integral aspect of IAI’s system-wide naval solutions,” said Boaz Levy, President and CEO of IAI.
“Deploying the world’s most advanced radar system of its kind, based on decades of ELTA’s radar production know-how, is the cornerstone for a wide range of systems with the ability to act as a force multiplier for the navy, for the IDF and for the State of Israel,” he added.
Built by Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems in Kiel, Germany, Israel is expected to receive the four Sa’ar 6 ships by the end of 2021. Two of the ships, the INS Magen and INS Oz have already docked in Haifa Port where they are being equipped with most of its weapons and radar systems.
The 90-meter-long 2,000-ton ships have a maximum speed of 24 knots with a range of 2,500 nautical miles. Though not much longer than the Sa’ar 5, they have been built to better handle rough seas and stay at sea longer.
They will be covered in close to 300 static radar arrays that will be able to detect incoming aerial threats, which can then be shot down by either the two Naval Dome missile interceptors for rockets (the maritime version of the land-based Iron Dome) or two Barak-8 batteries to shoot down cruise and ballistic missiles.
In addition to interception missile defense systems, the ships will also have 16 anti-ship missiles, one 76mm Oto Melara Super Rapid main gun, two Typhoon 25mm remote weapon stations and two 324mm torpedo launchers for MK54 Lightweight Torpedoes. Each state-of-the-art ship will also be outfitted with cyber and electronic warfare systems.
Should a war break out, at least two Sa’ar 6 ships will be deployed to protect Israel’s Exclusive Economic Zone and gas rigs while the rest of the fleet would assist ground forces by bombarding enemy troops and weapons systems that could target both the home front and gas rigs while simultaneously destroying any aerial targets fired towards maritime assets and naval vessels.