A small surface combatant is one of the major actors with the capability which could shift
the balances in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea, where is a critical tension
today. In this region, the Super Vita-class missile boats of the Hellenic Navy fiercely
defend Greece's national interests. These fast attack craft, also known as the Roussen-class,
are among the best examples that demonstrate the importance of missile boats in the modern
navies. As the Weapon Detective, we are investigating the Super Vita-class, the lastest grandson
of Leonidas. Please don't forget to subscribe to our channel,
before we start and give us a thumbs up if you like our video. To be notified of our
new video, please click the bell button. For the Super Vita-class it would indeed be
an appropriate definition to call Leonidas' grandson.
As you may know, this legendary King of Sparta became the nightmare of a great army in a
narrow passage with a small force consisted of highly skilful warriors.
Like Leonidas and his army, the Super Vita-class is capable of giving the large fleet a hard
time, especially on the narrow waterways of the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean.
To better understand the Super Vita-class, it would be useful to take a brief look at
the history of Greece and the evolution of the Hellenic Navy.
The Greeks declared their independence in 1821. Yet, it was just the first step. The
newly established Greece also wanted to unify with other islands and regions where Greeks
lived in the Ottoman Empire. To accomplish this plan, Athens needed a navy
strong enough to control the Aegean Sea. For this reason, the Royal Hellenic Navy was not
very interested in the Jeune École naval concept, which became popular at the end of
the 19th century. The conducting naval guerrilla warfare with
the torpedo boats and cruisers against a larger and more powerful navy was the main principle
of this concept. However, the navy of the collapsing Ottoman
Empire was already obsolete. A navy with the major surface combatants would
be more useful for Athens' plans. This is why Greece commissioned Georgios Averof,
one of the best cruisers of its time, in 1911. Thanks to this wise decision, Greece won great
naval victories and took the East Aegean Islands in the 1912-1913 Balkan Wars.
Of course, the Royal Hellenic Navy had also torpedo boats besides big warships. During
the Balkan Wars, two Greek torpedo boats managed to sink the Ottoman ironclad Feth-i Bülend
and a gunboat. The Royal Hellenic Navy had no major rivals
during the First World War and the 1919-1922 Greco-Turkish War.
However, the Greco-Turkish War, defined by the Greeks as the Asia Minor Catastrophe,
caused the collapse of the economy. Therefore, after this war, Athens could not
spare money to buy a new torpedo boat, for a long time. But, there was no need for that
either. The navy of the newly established Republic
of Turkey was not strong enough to threaten Greece.
Moreover, thanks to the rational policies of Venizelos and Atatürk, these two countries
were now friends and even allies. But, while the Aegean Sea cooled down, the
Adriatic Sea began to warm in the late 1920s. Italy had ambitions over the Greek territory.
However, Greece's economy was too weak for building a fleet that could resist the Regia
Marina. Also, Athens was giving priority to the army
to prevent a possible land invasion. At the beginning of the Second World War,
Greece had seven torpedo boats. But, it lost all of them during the invasion.
After the Second World War, neither Turkey nor Italy was a threat to Greece.
But, the ethnic tensions in Cyprus broke the longstanding good relations with Turkey.
However, now Turkey had a powerful naval force. Besides, the aircraft had become the main
enemy to the navies. For this reason, the Greek surface combatants could no longer blockade
the Dardanelles as in the Balkan Wars. It was even too risky to be near the coast of
Anatolia. Therefore, in the 1960s, finally, Greece adopted
the Jeune École and ordered many torpedo boats.
It started to commission the missile boats, in early 1970.
Athens had once again made a wise decision. The small and fast missile boats could easily
hide from Turkish combat aircraft and warships in the Aegean Sea, where there are many islands
and islets. So they could block the area with hit-and-run tactics and escort more economically
to the ships tasking with supplying numerous islands.
It was wiser to monitor the Turkish Navy's activities with a fast attack craft which
has lower operating costs. This marks the beginning of the missile boat
tradition of the Hellenic Navy. The Super Vita-class is the last and most
advanced example of this tradition. Greece chose the Super Vita design of Vosper
Thornycroft of the UK, in 2000. According to the programme, the construction
of three boats took place in the local Elefsis Shipyards with the assistance providing from
the British partner. The first boat of the class, HS Roussen was
launched in 2002 and commissioned in 2005. In 2003 and 2008, Greece activate the option
for four additional vessels. Due to financial problems of the shipyards
and the Greek economic crisis, the major delays have occurred in the programme.
After a five-year delay, the Hellenic Navy plans to commission the last boat of its class,
HS Vlachakos, this year. The Super Vita-class has a steel hull and
an aluminium superstructure. The vessel has incorporated features significantly reducing
radar, infrared, acoustic, and magnetic signatures. But as you see, the Super Vita-class boats
do not have a similar design with modern stealth ships.
The Super Vita-class can operate with full capability at sea state 5 and it can survive
at sea state 7. The complement of the boat is 45-person. The
Super Vita-class has a length of 61.9 metres, a beam of 9.5 metres, and a draught of 2.8
metres. Its fully loaded displacement is 670 tons. Four 5,875-horsepower MTU 16V 595 TE
90 diesel provide a maximum speed of 34.5 knots. The range is 3,335 kilometres with
an economical speed of 12 knots. The Super Vita-class has eight Exocet MM40 anti-ship
missile and an RIM-116 RAM close-in weapon system as well as a 76mm Super Rapido and
two 30mm guns. The boat is also equipped with two 7.62mm MG3 machine guns. It has the Mirador
and STING weapon control systems. The vessel is equipped with the MW-08 air/surface search,
Scout Mk2 surface search, Bridgemaster-E navigation radars. There are two Mk 36 SRBOC six-barreled
decoy launchers and the DR 3000 electronic support measure system on the boat.
The G-band MW-08 3-D air/surface search radar can track up to 160 air targets and 40 surface
targets simultaneously. It can detect a target with a radar cross-section of 0.1 square meters
in 17 kilometres. The X-band Scout Mk2 Low Probability of Intercept
surface search and tactical navigation radar has an extremely low output power. So, it
is extremely hard to detect its radar transmissions by electronic support measure systems or radar
warning receivers. The range of the Scout Mk2 is over 44 kilometres.
The ship has the TACTICOS combat data system and Link 11 secure half-duplex tactical data
link which provides the capability of exchanging data such as radar tracking information beyond
the line of sight. However, Link 11's data transfer speed and
quality are no longer sufficient to meet modern naval combat requirements. So, the Hellenic
Navy should consider adding the Link 16 or Link 22 capability to the Super Vitas.
HS Roussen and HS Krystallidis of this class have an INMARSAT FLEET 77 satellite communication
system. Thanks to this system, these two boats can be used as the leaders of fast attack
craft flotillas. The main armament of the Super Vita-class
is the MM40 Exocet anti-ship missiles. The first three boats of the class have the Block
II model whose maximum range is 72 kilometres. Other vessels have the Block III variant whose
maximum range is 180 kilometres. The Hellenic Navy plans to reequip the third
boat, HS Krystallidis with MM40 Exocet Block III missiles.
The first two vessels will also follow to HS Krystallidis soon.
With GPS guidance, MM40 Exocet Block IIIs are highly effective against targets on land
and littorals waters. The RIM-116 RAM on the Super Vita-class is
the Block 1A version. This version has the passive radar homing capability and an infrared
guidance system that enables it to intercept the stealth missiles. The effective range
of the RAM is over 9 kilometres. Its maximum speed is over Mach 2. The Hellenic Navy plans
to upgrade the RIM-116s on the boats to the Block 2 version. This variant is more effective
against more manoeuvrable anti-ship missiles. The 76mm Super Rapido gun has an effective
range of 16 kilometres. Its rate of fire is about 120 rounds per minute.
The 30mm stabilized guns have 160 ready to use rounds of ammunition for each. The gun
can be used from inside the turret or remotely via joystick inside the CIC. It has a rate
of fire of 800 rounds and an effective range of 3 kilometres.
The 30mm and 76mm guns are controlled via STING fire control radar and/or Mirador electro-optic
system. The Super Vita-class also has mine laying
capability. Due to economic difficulties, the Hellenic
Navy has not made any new major purchases for a long time.
That's why the Super Vita-class boats are Greece's most capable surface combatant today.
The Hellenic Navy has frequently deployed HS Roussen, HS Krystallidis, HS Grigoropoulos,
and HS Ritsos of this class to Kastellorizo ​​Island since 2017.
This highly strategical Eastern Mediterranean island is located on the 2 kilometres south
of the Turkish city Antalya. Thanks to ​​Super Vita-class boats deployed
at Kastellorizo, the Hellenic Navy can keep monitor and threat most of Turkish naval activities
in the south of Turkey. The fact that the Aksaz, the largest naval
base of the Turkish Navy, is about 130 kilometres far from this island increases the importance
of these vessels. The MM40 Exocet Block III missiles of the
Super Vita-class can reach a range of 180 kilometres. They are highly effective against
targets on both land and littoral waters. So, the Hellenic Navy has a significant advantage
against the Turkish Navy. Yet, Kastellorizo ​​is faraway from the
mainland and major islands of Greece. So, a Super Vita-class boat stationed near
the island naturally cannot survive long alone in a possible war. But she can survive enough
to fire her eight Exocet missiles. The Super Vita-class is also an ideal platform
for controlling the narrow waterways of the Aegean Sea. For this reason, the boats of
this class are frequently experiencing naval dogfights with the surface combatants of the
Turkish Navy. For example, in 2019, HS Krystallidis harassed
the Turkish corvette TCG Burgazada with close and dangerous manoeuvres.
A year later, the RHIB of the same boat intercepted a Turkish coast guard boat off Oinousses.
The Hellenic Navy has regularly deployed its Super Vita-class boats in the Eastern Mediterranean.
For example, HS Daniolos participated in CYPGRE-01/17 exercise off Cyprus in 2017.
In the same year, HS Grigoropoulos visited the island.
Again in 2017, HS Ritsos participated in Medusa 5 naval exercises in the region.
Thanks to its advanced design, detecting and tracking a Super Vita-class is more difficult
than the Elli and Hydra-class frigates. These missile boats, whose anti-surface warfare
capability is also superior to the frigates of the Hellenic Navy, currently are the most
reliable and most economical solution to protect Greece's national interests.
Of course, the Super Vita-class alone cannot resist the Turkish Navy. But these boats are
the grandson of Leonidas in the sea. They could hold much bigger ships and fleets in
narrow passages for a long time. Also, the Super Vita-class could cause great damage
to important naval facilities and interrupt sea lines. They can monitor and keep naval
activities under control in the region with relatively low costs. In contrast their small
size, these boats are too important to ignore. They are real deterrents in peacetime. In
wartime, they have the potential to determine the fate of the battle. With these abilities,
the Super Vita-class are among the most successful examples demonstrating the place of the missile
boats in modern navies. Thanks for watching our video. And please
don't forget to subscribe to our channel and give us a thumbs up if you like our video.
To be notified of our new videos, please click the bell button.