INS Sufa (2003)

INS Sufa (2003)

INS Sufa during operation Protective Edge
History
Israel
Name	Sufa
Namesake	Storm
Builder	Israel Shipyards Ltd.
Launched	August 2002
Commissioned	May 2003
Status	Active
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Sa'ar 4.5-class missile boat
Displacement	488 tonnes (full load) 430 tonnes (standard)
Length	61.7 m (202.43 ft)
Beam	7.62 m (25.00 ft)
Draft	2.8 m (9.19 ft)
Propulsion	4 MTU 16V 396 TB91 diesel engines, four shafts, total of 16,000 shp (12,000 kW)
Speed	34 knots (63 km/h)
Range	4,800 nautical miles (8,900 km) at 19 knots (35 km/h) 2,200 nautical miles (4,100 km) at 30 knots (56 km/h)
Boats & landing craft carried	1 Rigid hull inflatable boat
Complement	53 officers and crewmen
Sensors and processing systems	Elta EL/M-2218S air search radar Elta EL/M-2221 fire-control radar
Electronic warfare & decoys	Elbit chaff rocket launchers Rafael RF corner reflector Elisra NS-9003A/9005 RWR
Armament	8 x RGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles 16 x Barak 1 surface-to-air missiles 1 x OTO Melara 76 mm naval gun 2 x 0.5 in (12.70 mm) caliber M2 Browning machine guns 3 x 7.62 mm FN MAG 58 general-purpose machine guns 1 x 20 mm Phalanx CIWS

The INS Sufa (Hebrew: סופה, Storm) is a Sa'ar 4.5-class missile boat of the Israeli Navy's Shayetet 3 Flotilla, built by Israel Shipyards Ltd. and commissioned in May 2003.^[1]

The ship is not the first to use this name, which was also used by a previous Sa'ar 3-class missile boat which was the command ship at "Operation Noa" in which the remaining 5 boats (including itself) escaped from Cherbourg (France) during the French embargo in 1969.