The hull of a second Saar 62-class offshore patrol vessel for the National Guard’s Naval Command has already been built by Israel Shipyards, and the ship is expected to be delivered by mid-2028 at the latest, Phileleftheros understands.
The purchase of the vessel, a sister ship of the offshore patrol vessel Andreas Ioannides, and the installation of new weapons systems will cost 150 million euros. The amount has been approved by parliament’s Defence Committee.
Phileleftheros previously reported that Cyprus and Israel were at an advanced stage of talks on a second patrol vessel, under plans drawn up a decade ago. Those plans envisaged buying four Saar 62-class vessels.
Having the hull already built is expected to cut the delivery time considerably. Under normal conditions, building the hull of such a ship would take at least one to two years.
Both the new vessel and the Andreas Ioannides are expected to have greater operational capabilities, with an advanced suite of weapons and equipment from the Israeli company Rafael. One possible system is the naval version of the SPIKE missile, a long-range precision system for naval platforms that can strike targets beyond line of sight, uses electro-optical and infrared guidance, and can be controlled by an operator in flight.
The second ship is expected to allow the navy to carry out more extensive patrols in Cyprus’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and the wider Eastern Mediterranean, and to take a greater part in international and multinational exercises.
Israeli report
The procurement was also reported by the Israeli financial newspaper Calcalist, whose report was published by philenews earlier on Tuesday. According to Calcalist, Israel Shipyards would supply the vessels, which would be fitted with Rafael weapons systems, under a government-to-government (G2G) agreement.
The report said Israel Shipyards had supplied Cyprus with a patrol vessel to protect its EEZ less than a decade ago, equipped with radar, command and control systems and two Typhoon naval weapon stations. Israel Shipyards and Rafael have also worked together on other defence programmes, including deals involving Azerbaijan and the Philippines, it said.
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