Missile boat

This article is about the type of warship. For the Star Wars craft, seeMissile Boat (Star Wars).

AnOsa I classmissile boat in 1983. The Osa class are probably the most numerous class of missile boats to have been built.

HSwMSYstadof theSwedish Navy2017.

Amissile boatormissile cutteris a small, fastwarshiparmed withanti-ship missiles.Being smaller than other warships such asdestroyersandfrigates,missile boats are popular with nations interested in forming anavyat lower cost. They are similar in concept to thetorpedo boatsofWorld War II;in fact, the first missile boats were modifiedtorpedoboats with thetorpedo tubesreplaced by missile tubes.

Thedoctrinebehind the use of missile boats is based on the principle of mobility over defence and firepower. The advent of properguided missileandelectronic countermeasuretechnologies gave birth to the idea that warships could now be designed to outmaneuver their enemies and conceal themselves while carrying powerful weapons.

Previously, increasing the potency ofnaval artilleryrequired larger projectiles, which required larger and heavierguns,which in turn called for larger ships to carry these guns and theirammunitionand absorb theirrecoil.This trend culminated in the giantbattleshipsofWorld War II.Even as World War II was taking place,submarinesand aircraft, particularly those launched fromaircraft carriers,had made it clear that large warships were little more than targets in a major war. Guided bombs and then anti-ship missiles further reduced the usefulness of large warships outside the carriers.

Missile boats, when equipped with sophisticated anti-ship missiles, and especially when used in aswarm,can pose a significant threat to even the largest ofcapital ships,and do so at much greater ranges than is possible with torpedoes.

Design and history

Missile boats were invented and first manufactured by theSoviet Unionin the 1950s, beginning with "Project 183R" which developed into theKomar-class missile boat,mounting twoP-15 Termit (Styx)anti-ship missiles in box launchers and a twin 25mmautocannonon a 25-metre (82 ft) woodenhulldisplacing66.5 tonnes (65.4 long tons; 73.3 short tons) Fourdiesel enginesgave the Komars 4,800bhp(3,600 kW) and a top speed of around 44knots(81 km/h; 51 mph). Endurance was limited to 1,000nautical miles(1,900 km; 1,200 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) and the vessels had fuel and supplies for only five days at sea. 112 Komar-class vessels were produced, while over 400 examples were built of the followingOsa-class missile boat,with a significant number of both types being sold to pro-Soviet nations.

Being relatively small and constructed of wood, the Komar-class boats had a very smallradar cross-section.Its sophisticatedradarenabled the missile boat, with its low radar reflectivity, to detect a larger enemy ship before the latter was aware of its presence, fire its missiles and speed away.

Soviet naval architects had designed them with these characteristics to give the small boats this advantage against much larger American naval ships should they attempt to attack the Russian coast. The boats were designed for coastal operations, with limitedendurance.

The first combat use of missile boats was by theEgyptian Navyoperating Komar-class craft, which fired four Styx missiles (hitting with three) at theIsraelidestroyerEilaton October 21, 1967, shortly after theSix-Day War,sinking theEilatwith 47 dead and over a hundred wounded out of a crew of 199.

AGepard-classvessel of theGerman Navy

The Soviet-built boats prompted aNATOresponse, which became more intense after the sinking ofEilat.The Germans and French worked together to produce their own missile boat, resulting in theLa Combattante class.These were built on a 47-or-49-metre (154 or 161 ft) hull with 12,000 bhp (8,900 kW) of MTU diesel engines driving four shafts; a common weapon loadout would have four MM-38Exocetmissiles in two sets of two box launchers, in line and offset to the right and left with a 76 mm gun forward and 40 mm twin guns aft. Built until 1974, a total of 68 Combattante IIs were launched. The design was immediately followed by the Combattante III (1975 - 1990) which added 9 metres (30 ft) to hull length but kept the same armament (plus two twin 30mm autocannon), 43 of this type were produced. Several other countries produced their own versions of theCombattante,notably Israel with theSa'ar3and theSa'ar4variants.

During theIndo-Pakistani War of 1971,the Indian Navy's 25th Missile Boat Squadron, operatingVidyut-class missile boats,played a crucial role in the devastating Indian attacks onKarachiin December 1971. The two key operations in which these vessels played an active role wereOperation TridentandOperation Python.Indian attacks destroyed half of thePakistani Navyand most of Pakistan's naval fuel reserves in the port's fuel storage tanks which cleared the way for the decisive victory of theIndian Armed Forces.

The world's first naval battles between missile-armed warships occurred between IsraeliSa'ar3-class andSa'ar4-class missile boats (using indigenously-developedGabriel missiles), and Syrian Komar- and Osa-class missile boats during the October 1973Yom Kippur War.The first of these engagements became known as theBattle of Latakia.During this and later battles, some fiftyGabrielsand a similar number ofStyxmissiles were fired; seven Syrian ships were sunk, with zero Israeli losses.

At theBattle of Bubiyanin 1991 Iraqi missile boats were destroyed by Britishair-to-surface missiles.

Later designs, such as the GermanGepardclassand FinnishHaminaclassare equipped withsurface-to-air missilesandcountermeasures.

The size of missile boats has increased, with some designs now atcorvettesize, 800 tonnes including ahelicopter,giving them extended modes of operation. In April 1996 during Israel'sOperation Grapes of Wrath,IDF naval forces used Sa'ar 4 andSa'ar 4.5boats to shell the Lebanese coast with 76 mm fire, in conjunction with artillery and air attacks.

Current operations

IranandNorth Koreahave some of the largest numbers of missile boats in operation today. North Korea alone operates more than 300,whileIranhas been developing "swarm boats" to be used as harassing vessels in the heavily contested littoral waters of thePersian Gulf.To counter the threat, theUS Navyhas been developing an ASUW Littoral Defensive Anti-Surface Warfare doctrine, along with vessels such as thelittoral combat ship.

ThePeople's Liberation Army Navyof China also has a large fleet of missile craft, which includeType 22 missile boats,Type 037IG Houxin-class missile boatsandType 037II Hou gian -class missile boats,with a total of 109 units.

Taiwan Navyhas also deployedKuang Hua VI-class missile boatto act as missile carriers in their fleet to counter big navies with naval version of "Shoot-and-scoot"technique along with their more than two hundred fishing ports. Originally, they plan to add so called to their fleet underAdmiralLee Hsi-ming,yet the plan was halted due to budgetary issues.

See also

• List of missile boat classes
• Fast attack craft
• Motor torpedo boat
• Motor gunboat
• Ballistic missile submarine(sometimes called a "missile boat" )

External links

Media related toMissile boatsat Wikimedia Commons