The La Combattante III type patrol boat was a type of fast attack craft built in France for export during the late 1970s and 1980s. The design was a modification of the successful La Combattante II type fast attack craft. Nineteen ships of the design were built in various classes for several navies around the world.
In 1975 Constructions Mécaniques de Normandie (CMN) modified the La Combattante II design, adding nine metres to the length to improve seaworthiness and give more internal space; this gave a displacement of 359 tons and an overall length of 56 metres, though the armament remained the same. This design was designated La Combattante III.
Between 1975 and 1990 a further 19 were built for the navies of Greece, Tunisia, Qatar, and Nigeria. In addition were built for Israel (the Sa'ar 4 class), five in France and the remainder under licence in Israel. The Israelis also built, or assisted in building, nine vessels for South Africa, at the time under embargo for its Apartheid policy.[1]
Between 1975 and 1990 nineteen vessels were built for the navies of Greece, Nigeria, Qatar and Tunisia.
See main article: La Combattante III-class fast attack craft. In 1974 the Hellenic Navy ordered four vessels to be built by Constructions Mécaniques de Normandie (CMN), referred to as the Greek La Combattante IIIa class, and in 1978 a further six vessels to be built under licence in Greece (the La Combattante IIIb class); These were to the same design, but were armed with the Norwegian Penguin Surface-to-surface missile (SSM) instead of the French Exocet.[2] [3]
| P20 | Antiploiarchos Laskos | 20 April 1977 | Active |
| P21 | Plotarchis Blessas | 7 July 1977 | Active |
| P22 | Ypoploiarchos Mykonios | 10 February 1978 | Active |
| P23 | Ypoploiarchos Troupakis | 8 November 1977 | Active |
| P24 | Simaioforos Kavaloudis | 14 July 1980 | Active |
| P25 | Ypoploiarchos Kostakos | 9 September 1980 | Accidental loss, November 1996 |
| P26 | Ypoploiarchos Degiannis | 11 December 1980 | Active |
| P27 | Simaioforos Xenos | 31 March 1981 | Active |
| P28 | Simaioforos Simitzopoulos | 30 June 1981 | Active |
| P29 | Simaioforos Starakis | 12 October 1981 | Active |
In November 1977 the Nigerian Navy ordered three vessels from CMN to the modified La Combattante IIIB design. This was slightly larger and faster than the standard La Combattante III design, but with a reduced armament. These were known as the Siri class.[4] [5]
| P181 | Siri | 3 June 1980 | . |
| P182 | Ayah | 10 November 1980 | . |
| P183 | Ekun | 11 February 1981 | . |
In October 1980 the Qatari Emiri Navy ordered three vessels form CMN to the modified La Combattante IIIM design. This was slightly smaller than the standard La Combattante III design, with a reduced armament, but superior performance and electronics.[6] [7]
| Q 01 | Dansah | 10 November 1982 | Active | ||
| Q 02 | Al Gharijah | 10 February 1983 | Active | ||
| Q 03 | R'Biva | 11 May 1983 | Active | + |
In June 1981 the Tunisian Navy ordered three vessels from CMN, also to the modified La Combattante IIIM design.[8] [9]
| P501 | La Galik | 27 February 1985 | . | |
| P502 | Tunis | 27 March 1985 | . | |
| P503 | Carthage | 29 April 1985 | . |