Israeli corvette upgraded with ALPHA radar

At least one of the Israeli Navy’s three Saar-5 corvettes now has the new IAI-Elta ELM-2258 Advanced Lightweight Phased Array (ALPHA) radar, images emerging from the multinational Exercise ‘Mighty Waves’ have shown.

Lahav leads another Saar 5 with the ALPHA radar during Exercise ‘Mighty Waves’ on 7 August, followed by the French frigate Auvergne . (Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images)

The ALPHA is a multi-function active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar that operates in the S-band to detect and track threats and provide guidance for weapon systems.

Israeli Naval sources told Jane’s in 2017 that the Saar 5 corvettes Hanit and Eilat would receive the radar as part of an upgrade that would also see the integration of the new Barak 8 surface-to-air missile.

The third ship in the class, Lahav , had the larger ELM-2248 MF-Star radar installed and was used as testbed for the systems that will be fitted to the new Saar 6 vessels currently under construction in Germany.

Photographs and video footage from ‘Mighty Waves’, which was held from 4–12 August, showed an unidentified Saar 5 with the ALPHA radar sailing next to Lahav with the MF-Star. Neither vessel carried the Phalanx close-in-weapon system (CIWS) originally installed on the foredeck of all three corvettes, indicating the Israeli Navy is phasing it out of service.

An Israeli Saar 4.5 vessel equipped with the launchers for the unidentified projectiles and the new structure on its foredeck where the Phalanx was once fitted. (Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images)