Warrior-class strike craft
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Warrior-class strike craft |
| Builders: | |
| Operators: | South African Navy |
| Built: | 9 |
| In commission: | 3 |
| Completed: | 9 |
| Active: | 3 |
The Warrior-class strike craft (ex Minister class) in service with the South African Navy are modified Sa'ar 4 (Reshef) class fast attack craft. The class was initially known as the Minister class as all the boats were named after South African Ministers of Defence. The strike craft flotilla was known as SAS Scorpion.
In March 1971, a South African project team visited Britain, France and Portugal to investigate alternative designs for future frigates or corvettes. A decision was made to buy corvettes from Portugal, with four ships of an upgraded version of the João Coutinho-class being ordered. However, due to the changing of the political climate in Portugal following the 1974 Carnation Revolution, the new Portuguese authorities cancelled the transference of the corvettes to South Africa, instead integrating them in the Portuguese Navy, where they formed the Baptista de Andrade-class.
The then Minister of Defence, P. W. Botha, had already started discussions with Israel to buy their Reshef-class missile boats, designated Project Japonica.
In 1974, a contract was signed with Israeli Military Industries for the construction of three of the modified Reshef-class vessels at the Haifa facility of Israeli Shipyards. A further three were built immediately after at the Sandock-Austral shipyard in Durban, South Africa, with three more being built at the same facility several years later. The imposition of the international embargo on the sale of arms to South Africa on 4 November 1977 forced the project to be carried out under a cloak of security. The South African variants were fitted with Gabriel missiles, otherwise known as 'Scorpion' missiles, and had two Oto Melara 76 mm guns instead of a single one with a Phalanx CIWS.
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