The INS Hanit (translated as Spear) is a Sa'ar 5-class missile boat of the Israeli Navy that was built by Northrop Grumman Ship Systems in 1994. INS Eilat - Saar 5 class missile boat Saar 5 (Hebrew: סער 5) is a class of Israeli Navy missile boat, designed based on lessons learnt from the Saar 4. ... The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) (Hebrew: צבא ההגנה לישראל Tsva Ha-Haganah Le-Yisrael ([Army] Force [for] the Defense of Israel), often abbreviated צהל Tsahal, alternative English spelling Tzahal, is the name of Israels armed forces (army, air force and navy). ... Northrop Grumman Ship Systems (NGSS) is the division of Northrop Grumman Corporation responsible for building small and medium shipping products. ...

The Sa'ar 5-class missile boat INS Hanit

During the 2006 Israel-Lebanon crisis, the vessel was patrolling in Lebanese waters ten nautical miles off the coast of Beirut. It was damaged on July 14, 2006 on the waterline, under the aft superstructure ^[1][2] by a missile (likely a Chinese-designed C-802 or C-701, supplied by Iran) fired by Hezbollah. Reportedly, the missile started a fire aboard the ship and critically damaged the vessel's steering capability, requiring it to be towed part of the way back to Israel. A large explosion caused the landing pad to cave in and be engulfed in flames that threatened the aviation fuel storage below, and flames were not fully extinguished until several hours later. There were four fatalities amongst the ship's crew, that were found later in the ship. ^[3]. Image File history File links Idf-saar5-hit3. ... Image File history File links Idf-saar5-hit3. ... INS Eilat - Saar 5 class missile boat Saar 5 (Hebrew: סער 5) is a class of Israeli Navy missile boat, designed based on lessons learnt from the Saar 4. ... Combatants Israel Lebanon Hezbollah Commanders Dan Halutz (Chief of Staff) Udi Adam (Regional) Michel Sulaiman Hassan Nasrallah (Secretary General) Casualties 12 civilians killed 500 civilians injured [1] 12 soldiers killed 6 soldiers wounded[2] 2 soldiers captured[2][3][4] 1 warship damaged 1 tank destroyed[5] (Israeli media accounts... A nautical mile is a unit of length. ... For other uses, see Beirut (disambiguation). ... July 14 is the 195th day (196th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 170 days remaining. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Ying Ji-82 (NATO reporting name CSS-N-8 Saccade) is a Chinese anti-ship missile developed by the China Hai-Ying Electro-Mechanical Technology Academy (CHETA), also known as the CASIC 3rd Academy. ... Flag of Hezbollah For other uses, see Hezbollah (disambiguation). ...

According the the Israeli Navy, the ship's sophisticated automatic missile defense system was intentionally disabled. This was done for two reasons, one, there were many Israeli Air Force aircraft conducting operations in the vicinity of the ship and it was feared that the system may accidently be triggered by a friendly aircraft, potentially shooting it down. Second, there was no intelligence pointing to the fact that such a sophisticated missile, roughly equivalent to the American Harpoon, was deployed in Lebanon by Hezbollah. The Israeli Air Force (IAF) (Hebrew: זרוע האוויר והחלל Zroa HaAvir VeHaḤalal, literally Air and Space Arm) is the air force of the Israel Defense Forces and currently operates around 900 aircraft. ... The AGM-84 Harpoon is a U.S. all-weather, over-the-horizon, anti-ship cruise missile system, originally developed by McDonnell Douglas, with development and manufacturing now taken over by Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. ...

See also

• Israeli Sea Corps

Main operational areas of the Israeli Sea Corps as seen from Space Shuttle STS-40: Mediterranean Sea (north), Gulf of Aqaba (east), Red Sea (south), and Gulf of Suez (west). ...

References