Missile boat

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

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

A missile boat is a small warship armed with anti-ship missiles. Being a small craft, missile boats are popular with nations interested in forming an inexpensive navy. They are similar in idea to the torpedo boats of World War II; in fact, the first missile boats were modified torpedo boats replacing two or more torpedo tubes with missile tubes. The doctrine behind the use of missile boats is based on the principle of mobility over defence. The advent of proper missile and electronic counter measure technologies gave birth to the idea, that because a missile is far more accurate than a shell and can penetrate even the most heavily armored ship hulls, warships should now be designed to outmaneuver their enemies and get to a better position first.

Moreover, increasing the potency of shells requires employing larger projectiles, which necessities larger naval guns and consequently, larger platforms to carry these guns. This trend culminated in the giant battleships of WWII. The ability to deploy anti-ship missiles on small, maneuverable platforms seriously negates the advantages that were provided by larger ships in the era before the advent of guided missiles. A small missile boat, when equipped with sophisticated guided anti-ship missiles can pose a serious threat to even the largest of capital ships, and do so at much greater ranges than is possible with torpedoes.

History

The first use of missile boats was by the Egyptian Soviet-built Komar class craft fire of four Styx missiles on the Israeli destroyer Eilat on October 20 1967, shortly after the Six Day War, causing the latter's sinking with 47 dead.

The first naval missile battles between missile boats occurred between the Israel Navy (using indigenously-developed Gabriel missiles), and Syrian craft during the October 1973 Yom Kippur War. The first of these engagements became known as the Battle of Latakia. In these battles, some fifty Gabriels and a similar number of Styx missiles were fired, and seven Arab craft were sunk.

List of missile boat classes

China

• Houbei class (Type 022), the first combat vessel with a catamaran hull.
• Type 037-II class missile boat
• Type 037-IG class missile boat

Yugoslavia

• Kralj class fast attack craft
• Končar class fast attack craft

Egypt

• Ambassador MK III Missile Boat

Finland

• Tuima class missile boat -modified version of the Osa class
• Helsinki class missile boat
• Rauma class missile boat
• Hamina class missile boat

France

• FACM Class La Combattante IIa - built for export
• FACM Class La Combattante III - built for export

Germany

S79 Wiesel a modern Gepard class fast attack craft of the German Navy

• Tiger class fast attack craft - exported to Greece, Chile and Egypt
• Albatros class fast attack craft
• Gepard class fast attack craft

Greece

• Roussen Class (Super-Vita) - Used by the Hellenic Navy
• FACM Class La Combattante IIIb - Modified and upgraded version of the French La Combattante III Class.
• FACM Class La Combattante III
• FACM Class La Combattante IIa

Israel

• Sa'ar 3-class missile boat
• Sa'ar 4-class missile boat used by Israel, with variants also in service in South Africa, Mexico, Sri Lanka and a small number of other countries.
• Sa'ar 4.5-class missile boat

Italy

• Sparviero class patrol boat class seven now decommissioned Hydrofoils

Japan

• 1-go class missile boat - based on Sparviero class patrol boat
• Hayabusa class missile boat

Korea

• Gumdoksuri class patrol vessel

Norway

• Skjold - used by Norway, a stealthy surface effect catamaran

Russia/USSR

• Komar class missile boat - The world's first missile boat, widely exported
• Osa class missile boat - probably the worlds numerous missile boat, widely exported
• Matka class missile boat - hydrofoil missile boat
• Sarancha class missile boat - hydrofoil missile boat
• Tarantul class corvette - missile corvette

Sweden

• Visby class - used by Sweden, a stealthy patrol ship.
• Stockholm class
• Göteborg class

Taiwan (Republic of China)

• Kuang Hua VI class missile boat - Indigenously developed and currently in production for Taiwan's navy
• Hai Ou Class missile boat

Thailand

• Ratcharit - used by Thailand, a fast attack missile boat

Turkey

• Kılıç - used by Turkey, a fast attack missile boat
• Rüzgar class fast attack craft
• Doğan class fast attack craft
• Kartal class

USA

• Pegasus class, hydrofoils, all six now decommissioned

See also

• Fast attack craft
• Ballistic missile submarine (sometimes called a "missile boat")