Some years ago, Finland has selected the Gabriel 5 missile after a competition involving Boeing’s Harpoon, Kongsberg’s NSM, MBDA’s Exocet and Saab’s RBS-15.
Gabriel 5 is an advanced long-range sea-sea missile system, capable of flying for hundreds of kilometers, in varying sea and air conditions. The missile’s impact enables the thwarting and destruction of a wide variety of targets
According to the Missile Threat website, the Mk 5 is the latest known Gabriel variant, and is also called the ‘Advanced Surface Attack Missile’ (ASAM). It is believed to have entered service in 2007. This missile is reportedly deployed on the Israeli Navy’s Eilat Sa’ar 5 corvettes. It has an estimated range of 200-400 km.
An additional report in 2009 claimed that another variant of the Mk 5 was in development called the Advanced Naval Attack Missile. This version is to be ship-launched and have an active radar seeker and a two-way datalink with a range of 150 km. Finland purchased this variant of the Gabriel missile for its Hamina-class and Pohjanmaa-class ships.
According to reports, the missile is optimized with more advanced seeker technology to operate in cluttered or congested littoral environments.
The Israeli Navy has added more advanced systems to enhance the capability of its new Sa’ar 6 corvettes to perform more versatile missions in the Mediterranean and in other seas and oceans. The Gabriel 5 is one of these systems.
The Sa’ar 6 corvettes built in Germany for the Israeli navy, carry a combined air defence system, comprised of the Barak-8 and the C-Dome. The navy says that the use of both systems will be defined by the threat.
The Sa’ar 6 corvettes are mainly built to protect the Israel EEZ that includes the huge gas reservoirs in the Mediterranean. These are very high in the target bank of the Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The Barak-8 is made by Israel aerospace industries (IAI). According to company the Barak-8 provides the ultimate protection against a variety of aerial platforms and munitions including aircraft, helicopters, unmanned aircraft and sea-skimming missiles. It is based on a sophisticated missile (developed in collaboration with Rafael), state-of-the-art phased array multi mission radar, two-way data link, and flexible command and control system.
A source said that a typical ship installation includes 4 vertical launchers each carrying 8 missiles.
The Barak-8 has an effective range of 43 miles. IAI is developing an extended range version . This one will have an add on booster and it will give the missile a 93 miles range.
According to the plan, the Sa’ar 6 will also carry the C-Dome based on the Iron Dome and designed to effectively protect combat vessels against a large set of modern threats. C-Dome handles saturation attacks by engaging multiple targets simultaneously. Reaction time according to Rafael, is very short and enables automatic and semi-automatic engagements.
C-Dome components include a multi-round launcher assembly loaded with vertically-launched canistered interceptors. The launcher is installed under the ship’s deck.
C-Dome utilizes the ship’s own surveillance radar and does not require a dedicated Fire Control Radar. Weapon System Command and Control is seamlessly integrated with the ship’s combat management system, facilitating system operation.
Rafael emphasizes that C-Dome uses the combat-proven Iron Dome interceptor that has already achieved more than 2300 successful intercepts.
