Gabriel (missile)

Gabriel is a family of sea skimming anti ship missiles manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). The initial variant of the missile was developed in the 1960s in response to the needs of the Israeli Navy which first deployed it in 1970. Since then, variants have been exported to navies around the world. The latest variant, the Gabriel V, is in use by the Finnish and Israeli navies as of 2020.

On October 21, 1967, four Styx missiles sank the destroyer INS Eilat, which was patrolling along the northern shores of the Sinai. Forty seven Israeli sailors and officers were killed or went missing in action and 100 were injured. The loss of the ship prompted the Israeli Navy to ask Israel Aerospace Industries to accelerate the development of an anti ship missile, which had begun in 1958 with the Luz (or Lutz) program.

Faced with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems's anxiety to develop a new guidance system, Shlomo Erell asked Israel Aerospace Industries to take over the program by recruiting Ori Even Tov, a former Rafael engineer. Even Tov suggested dropping the guidance joystick approach used by the Luz, and instead proposed the development of an autonomous guidance system which would allow the missile to seek its objective, even in bad weather or bad visibility. He further proposed using an altimeter, allowing the missile to fly some meters over the surface of the sea, making it difficult to detect and allowing it to hit the target just above the waterline. A radar installed on the ship had to guide the missile, while the altimeter would keep the missile in sea skimming mode. before being first shown to the public in 1970. It was touted to be the world's first operational sea skimming missile, and saw extensive action during the Yom Kippur War. A batch of 50 was imported by the Republic of China Navy for evaluation and as the interim weapon for the three Allen M. Sumner class destroyers upgraded with Gabriel Mk 2 missile system, and it is also the basis for the Taiwanese Hsiung Feng I missile.

The Gabriel Mk 2, an improved version of Gabriel, was created in 1972 and entered service in 1976. It was also built under license in South Africa under the name Skerpioen (Afrikaans for Scorpion). with major improvements. The air launched Gabriel III A/S has a range of over 60 km. Both Gabriel III versions employ the widely used 'fire and forget' mode.

Developed in the early 1990s is related to the Gabriel Mk III but larger and with a turbojet engine for sustained flight. It is distinguishable from the Mk III because of its swept wings with cropped tip. Like the Mk III, it has 3 guidance modes: Fire and Forget, Fire and Update with data link, and Fire and command using Radar update As of 2020, this variant is deployed by the Finnish and Israeli navies. Range is claimed to be more than 200 km to 400 km.

In 2020, Israel's IAI and Singapore's ST Engineering started a 50/50 joint venture company called Proteus Advanced Systems to develop, produce and market a derivative of the Gabriel V called the Blue Spear missile system. The missile has both sea and deep land attack capabilities with enhanced maneuverability for littoral environments. The warhead employs an active radar homing seeker, accurate INS based navigation capabilities, beyond line of sight (BLOS) capability and a robust system which is immune to GPS disruptions and maximal accuracy target acquisition. The system is equipped with a variety of deception means to achieve its mission and cope with the different battle field challenges. ST Engineering's role in the Blue Spear's development includes the design, development and production of major subsystems like the booster motor and warhead. In 2021, IAI and Thales jointly marketed a variant of the Gabriel V/Blue Spear called Sea Serpent to the Royal Navy to replace its ageing Harpoon missile system. At DSEI 2021, IAI revealed that Sea Serpent was developed in parallel with Blue Spear and based on the Gabriel V missile system and/or older variants. IAI also revealed that Sea Serpent has a low profile mode or sea skimming range of greater than 290 km. This range corresponds with the overall Gabriel V's range of 200 km to 400 km, depending on flight profile. In October 2021, it was announced that the Estonian Defence Forces purchased the Blue Spear missile system with a maximum range of 290 km (flight profile not mentioned). The cost of each missile is about $5 million. On 13 May 2022, it was reported that Israel gave permission to Estonia to give Ukraine one Blue Spear 5G SSM rocket which Israel claims are false. However, the Estonian Minister of Defense dismissed the claims as false. As part of the class's mid life upgrade from 2028, ST Engineering will install the Blue Spear missile on the Republic of Singapore Navy's six Formidable class frigates as a replacement for the American Harpoon missile.

Older models of the Gabriel are still used by Chile (Sa'ar 4 with Gabriel II), Israel (Sa'ar 4.5 with Gabriel II), Mexico (Sa'ar 4.5 with Gabriel II), Sri Lanka (Sa'ar 4 with Gabriel II) and Thailand (FPB 45 with Gabriel I).