Amissile boat ormissile cutter is a small, fastwarship armed withanti-ship missiles. Being smaller than other warships such asdestroyers andfrigates, missile boats are popular with nations interested in forming anavy at lower cost. They are similar in concept to thetorpedo boats ofWorld War II; in fact, the first missile boats were modifiedtorpedo boats with thetorpedo tubes replaced by missile tubes.
Thedoctrine behind the use of missile boats is based on the principle of mobility over defence and firepower. The advent of properguided missile andelectronic countermeasure technologies gave birth to the idea that warships could now be designed to outmaneuver their enemies and conceal themselves while carrying powerful weapons.
Previously, increasing the potency ofnaval artillery required larger projectiles, which required larger and heavierguns, which in turn called for larger ships to carry these guns and theirammunition and absorb theirrecoil. This trend culminated in the giantbattleships ofWorld War II. Even as World War II was taking place,submarines and aircraft, particularly those launched fromaircraft carriers, had made it clear that large warships were little more than targets in a major war. Guided bombs and then anti-ship missiles further reduced the usefulness of large warships outside the carriers.
Missile boats, when equipped with sophisticated anti-ship missiles, and especially when used in aswarm, can pose a significant threat to even the largest ofcapital ships, and do so at much greater ranges than is possible with torpedoes.
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Missile boats were invented and first manufactured by theSoviet Union in the 1950s, beginning with "Project 183R" which developed into theKomar-class missile boat, mounting twoP-15 Termit (Styx) anti-ship missiles in box launchers and a twin 25mmautocannon on a 25-metre (82 ft) woodenhulldisplacing 66.5 tonnes (65.4 long tons; 73.3 short tons) Fourdiesel engines gave the Komars 4,800 bhp (3,600 kW) and a top speed of around 44knots (81 km/h; 51 mph). Endurance was limited to 1,000nautical miles (1,900 km; 1,200 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) and the vessels had fuel and supplies for only five days at sea. 112 Komar-class vessels were produced, while over 400 examples were built of the followingOsa-class missile boat, with a significant number of both types being sold to pro-Soviet nations.
Being relatively small and constructed of wood, the Komar-class boats had a very smallradar cross-section. Its sophisticatedradar enabled the missile boat, with its low radar reflectivity, to detect a larger enemy ship before the latter was aware of its presence, fire its missiles and speed away.
Soviet naval architects had designed them with these characteristics to give the small boats this advantage against much larger American naval ships should they attempt to attack the Russian coast. The boats were designed for coastal operations, with limitedendurance.[1]
The first combat use of missile boats was by theEgyptian Navy operating Komar-class craft, which fired four Styx missiles (hitting with three) at theIsraeli destroyerEilat on October 21, 1967, shortly after theSix-Day War, sinking theEilat with 47 dead and over a hundred wounded out of a crew of 199.[2]
The Soviet-built boats prompted aNATO response, which became more intense after the sinking ofEilat. The Germans and French worked together to produce their own missile boat, resulting in theLa Combattante class. These were built on a 47-or-49-metre (154 or 161 ft) hull with 12,000 bhp (8,900 kW) of MTU diesel engines driving four shafts; a common weapon loadout would have four MM-38Exocet missiles in two sets of two box launchers, in line and offset to the right and left with a 76 mm gun forward and 40 mm twin guns aft. Built until 1974, a total of 68 Combattante IIs were launched. The design was immediately followed by the Combattante III (1975 - 1990) which added 9 metres (30 ft) to hull length but kept the same armament (plus two twin 30mm autocannon), 43 of this type were produced. Several other countries produced their own versions of theCombattante, notably Israel with theSa'ar 3 and theSa'ar 4 variants.
During theIndo-Pakistani War of 1971, the Indian Navy's 25th Missile Boat Squadron, operatingVidyut-class missile boats, played a crucial role in the devastating Indian attacks onKarachi in December 1971. The two key operations in which these vessels played an active role wereOperation Trident andOperation Python.[citation needed] Indian attacks destroyed half of thePakistani Navy[3] and most of Pakistan's naval fuel reserves in the port's fuel storage tanks which cleared the way for the decisive victory of theIndian Armed Forces.[1][4]
The world's first naval battles between missile-armed warships occurred between IsraeliSa'ar 3-class andSa'ar 4-class missile boats (using indigenously-developedGabriel missiles), and Syrian Komar- and Osa-class missile boats during the October 1973Yom Kippur War. The first of these engagements became known as theBattle of Latakia. During this and later battles, some fiftyGabriels and a similar number ofStyx missiles were fired; seven Syrian ships were sunk, with zero Israeli losses.
At theBattle of Bubiyan in 1991 Iraqi missile boats were destroyed by Britishair-to-surface missiles.
Later designs, such as the GermanGepard class and FinnishHamina class are equipped withsurface-to-air missiles andcountermeasures.
The size of missile boats has increased, with some designs now atcorvette size, 800 tonnes including ahelicopter, giving them extended modes of operation. In April 1996 during Israel'sOperation Grapes of Wrath, IDF naval forces used Sa'ar 4 andSa'ar 4.5 boats to shell the Lebanese coast with 76 mm fire, in conjunction with artillery and air attacks.
Iran andNorth Korea have some of the largest numbers of missile boats in operation today. North Korea alone operates more than 300,[5] whileIran has been developing "swarm boats" to be used as harassing vessels in the heavily contested littoral waters of thePersian Gulf. To counter the threat, theUS Navy has been developing an ASUW Littoral Defensive Anti-Surface Warfare doctrine, along with vessels such as thelittoral combat ship.[citation needed]
ThePeople's Liberation Army Navy of China also has a large fleet of missile craft, which includeType 22 missile boats,Type 037IG Houxin-class missile boats andType 037II Houjian-class missile boats, with a total of 109 units.[citation needed]
TheRepublic of China Navy based in Taiwan has also deployed theKuang Hua VI-class missile boat to act as missile carriers in their fleet to counter big navies with naval version of "Shoot-and-scoot" technique along with their more than two hundred fishing ports. Originally, they plan to add so calledMicro-class missile assault boat to their fleet underAdmiralLee Hsi-ming, yet the plan was halted due to budgetary issues.
In a two-week war, Pakistan lost half its navy.
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