Israel Shipyards Begin Construction of Reshef-class Corvettes

The Ministry of Defense, the Israeli Navy, and Israel Shipyards marked on February 18, 2025 the beginning of the production process for the Reshef-class ships (corvettes) in a traditional “steel cutting” ceremony, signaling the start of the manufacturing of five advanced warships. The event was attended by Acting Director General of the Ministry of Defense Itamar Graf, Commander of the Israeli Navy Vice Admiral David Saar Salama, Deputy Director General and Head of the Defense Procurement Directorate (DOPP) Ze’ev Landau, Head of the Finance Division at the Ministry of Defense CPA Dekel Cohen, owners of Israel Shipyards Industries Shlomi Fogel, Assi Shmeltzer, and Sami Katzav, CEO of Israel Shipyards Eitan Zucker, and other senior officials. As part of the deal, led by the outgoing Director General of the Ministry of Defense, Maj. Gen. (Res.) Eyal Zamir, Israel Shipyards will provide the Navy with five advanced “Reshef”-class ships at a cost of approximately NIS 2.8B ($780M). The new ships are expected to replace the old “Saar” (Sa’ar 4.5 or else Nirit Class) vessels, which will be retired after nearly four decades of service. My story for Naval News, here.