Cyprus and Israel sign a deal for a new Sa’ar 62 offshore patrol vessel with Rafael systems, and an upgrade for the “Ioannidis”

Cyprus will acquire a second Israeli-built offshore patrol vessel. The defence ministries of the Republic of Cyprus and Israel signed on Monday, October 26, at a ceremony in Cyprus, an agreement for the procurement of a new Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV). The agreement was announced by the Israeli Ministry of Defense in a post on X and in a detailed LinkedIn post.

Who signed

The agreement was signed by the director general of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, Brig. Gen. (res.) Amir Baram, and Stelios Kounouris, acting permanent secretary of the Cypriot Ministry of Defence. Responsibility for the agreement lay, on the Israeli side, with the International Defense Cooperation Directorate (SIBAT) and, on the Cypriot side, with the Directorate of Armaments and Defence Capability Development.

Present at the ceremony were the head of SIBAT, Brig. Gen. (res.) Yair Kulas, Israel’s ambassador to Cyprus, Shuli Davidovich, Israel Shipyards CEO Eitan Zucker, and Ran Tavor, head of Rafael’s Naval Warfare Systems Directorate. The photograph accompanying the Israeli ministry’s announcement shows a handshake next to a ship model, under the logos of the Cypriot Ministry of Defence.

A new ship and an upgrade of the existing one

The new patrol vessel will be built by Israel Shipyards and will carry a range of naval systems from Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. The agreement also covers a second element: the upgrade of the systems of the patrol vessel Cyprus already has, the Commodore Andreas Ioannidis, which was also built by Israel Shipyards and received by Cyprus in 2018. When it was delivered, the Ioannidis was equipped with Rafael Typhoon naval weapon stations.

The new ship is of the Sa’ar 62 type, of the same family of offshore patrol vessels from Israel Shipyards. The model displayed at the signing ceremony shows an eight-cell multi-missile launcher (MLS) for Rafael Spike NLOS guided missiles, while farther back a ten-cell vertical launcher for air-defence missiles can be seen.

The Israeli Ministry of Defense describes the agreement as another important step in strengthening the operational capabilities of the Cypriot naval command and its ability to meet maritime security challenges. Together, the two ships will support expanded patrol, surveillance and search-and-rescue missions. The two countries, the announcement concludes, thus reaffirm their commitment to regional stability.

Rafael commented on the deal in its own post, noting that the upgrade of the existing patrol vessel will boost the operational capabilities of the naval command. The company calls it another important milestone in Israel-Cyprus defence cooperation and says it highlights its “leading” role in providing advanced naval defence solutions to international partners.

Background

Negotiations for the procurement had become known last week, when Israeli financial media wrote that Israel Shipyards and Rafael were close to a government-to-government deal with Nicosia. Cyprus-Israel defence cooperation has widened in recent years, with joint exercises and procurements, among them the Barak MX air defence system and Spike LR2 anti-tank missiles. The two countries also cooperate with Greece on regional security issues.