The Israeli Ministry of Defense has signed a contract to start building Reshef-class corvettes.

Naval News reported that after 20 years, the Israeli Defense Ministry has agreed to resume production of warships in the country.

They will be built at the local Israel Shipyards, but some hull modules will be manufactured abroad by an American shipbuilder.

The Ministry of Defense will purchase five advanced ships worth NIS 2.8 billion (about $780 million).

This is one of the largest procurement deals signed in recent years, as part of the Defense Ministry’s policy of increasing defense independence.

Under the agreement, Israel Shipyards will produce the ships for approximately six years with the possibility of producing additional ships in the future.

The local production of these ships will strengthen Israel’s national security and provide ongoing support to the Israeli Defense Forces in the face of constant challenges.

Reshef is a patrol corvette with heavy armament with a displacement of 1000 tons. The ships are designed to patrol Israel’s maritime economic zones.

The corvettes are designed to replace the outdated Sa’ar 4.5-class missile boats of the Israeli Navy.

The corvettes will be assembled using modular structures manufactured in the United States.

The stage of integration of weapons and radar equipment was entrusted to Israel Shipyards.

The construction of the hull modules in the United States will allow the Reshef program to take advantage of U.S. grants for foreign military financing and reduce the overall cost of the program for the Israeli Ministry of Defense.

The main air defense system of the corvette will be a naval version of the Iron Dome system.