Missile boat
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This is for the type of warship. For other uses of Missile Boat, see Missile Boat (disambiguation)
A Missile Boat is a small craft armed with anti-ship missiles. Being a small craft, missile boats are popular with nations that are looking for 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.
History
The first use of missile boats was by the Egyptian Soviet-built Komar class craft fire of four SS-N-2 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 to utilise a catamaran hull.
- Type 037-II class missile boat
- Type 037-IG class missile boat
Croatia
Finland
- Tuima class missile boat -modified version of the Osa class
- Helsinki class missile boat
- Rauma class missile boat
- Hamina class missile boat - used by Finland, a fast attack missile boat.
France
- FACM Class La Combattante IIa - built for export
- FACM Class La Combattante III - built for export
Germany
- 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
- Sa'ar 5-class corvette
Italy
- Sparviero class patrol boat class seven now decommissioned Hydrofoils
Japan
Korea
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.[dubious ]
- 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
Other uses
The term missile boat is also often used as a slang synonym for a Ballistic Missile Submarine, primarily used by US submariners.
Colloquially, and especially in video gaming, the term is applied to any offensive combat vehicle equipped with an extremely large number of guided or tracking munitions (such as the fictional Missile Boats seen in the Imperium (board game) and the Star Wars: X-Wing game series).