Israel and Cyprus Sign OPV Deal Worth ~€150 Million
A new Israel Shipyards patrol vessel and an upgrade to Cyprus's existing OPV deepen a years-long eastern Mediterranean defense axis.
By The Defense Desk
Israel signed a deal on Oct. 26 to supply Cyprus with a new offshore patrol vessel built by Israel Shipyards and fitted with a range of Rafael naval systems, while simultaneously upgrading the 62-meter Commodore Andreas Ioannides — the OPV Israel delivered to Nicosia in 2018. [1]
No delivery date or official price was announced, but an Oct. 20 report from the Cyprus Mail estimated the deal's value at €150 million ($167.7 million). Cyprus Defense Minister Vasilis Palmas had telegraphed the acquisition on Friday, telling the same publication that a second patrol vessel from Israel was coming. [1]
The systems to be fitted remain unspecified. Cypriot media have speculated the options include a naval version of Rafael's Spike missile system — the Spike NLOS — while the Israeli navy's Sa'ar 6 vessel points to other candidates: Rafael's Typhoon gun and C-Dome, the naval variant of Iron Dome. [1]
The deal extends a defense relationship that already spans anti-tank missiles and air defense. The Cypriot National Guard uses Rafael's Spike LR2, and the country operates Israel Aerospace Systems' Barak MX air defense system. In August, Israel and Greece signed the multi-billion-dollar Achilles Shield deal, and the two countries conducted a joint naval drill in the eastern Mediterranean on Sunday before this signing. [1]
The eastern Mediterranean is becoming a theatre where defense contracts double as diplomatic signals — each hull, each missile system, a vote on whose map of the sea gets legitimacy.
The Libya-Turkey maritime boundary deal, signed just days prior and opposed by Israel, Greece, and Cyprus, makes plain what this OPV purchase is also about: presence. [1]
The new OPV, alongside the upgraded OPV IOANNIDES, will support expanded patrol, surveillance, and search-and-rescue missions.Israeli Ministry of Defense