Amidst the continued controversy surrounding women joining combat units in the military, six female naval combat recruits enlisted in the Israeli Navy for the first time to serve on the new Sa’ar 6 corvette missile ships, The Jerusalem Post reports.
“In the framework of the November 2018 enlistment, five female soldiers were recruited for the first time to serve as naval fighters on the Sa’ar 6 missile ships,” read a statement released by the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit. The sixth female soldier who was identified for the role will join the other combat soldiers at the end of basic training.
The military said that the “recruitment of the female fighters is part of a long-term plan to absorb the new Sa’ar 6 missile ship.”
While the prestigious Naval Officers Course opened its gates to women in 1998 and in 2014 the option of becoming a naval vessel commander became available to women, there have not been any female soldiers serving on missile ships prior to these five recruits.
The recruits will do their six-month long basic training at the naval base in Haifa which will include a comprehensive course for their role on the ship.
While the female navy soldiers will begin their service on the Sa’ar 5 INS Lahav, they will move to the Sa’ar 6 INS Magen in approximately a year when the ship is expected to be operational.
The construction of the four Sa’ar 6 warships was agreed to in a 430 million euro deal between Israel and the German company ThyssenKrupp in 2015. The first ship is expected to arrive at the end of 2019 with the last by 2021 and will defend Israel’s offshore natural gas reserves as well as other strategic maritime assets.
According to the military the female soldiers will serve in command and control centers responsible for the building of a maritime image as well as in attack centers which are responsible for the launching and operation of weapons which are on the Navy’s missile ships.
The Sa’ar 6 will have a maximum speed of 26 knots and a crew of 70 sailors, a range of 2500 miles, and advanced capabilities able to deal with a wide range of threats.
According to the military the new Sa’ar 6 are set to defend Israel’s strategic maritime assets such as the country’s offshore natural gas reserves, “as well as maintaining Israel's sovereignty in the near and far seas, destroying the enemy's war fleets and significantly contributing to complex and secret missions in the war-between-war campaign.
They will be fitted with two Naval Iron Dome short range defense missile launchers with 20 Tamir missile for each launcher and Barak-8 long-range surface-to-air missile naval defense system.
They will also have 16 anti-ship missiles, one 76mm Oto Melara Super Rapid main gun, two Typhoon 25mm remote weapon stations and two 324mm torpedo launchers for MK54 Lightweight Torpedos.