The Finnish Navy has officially placed the Israeli-made Gabriel-5 anti-surface missile into operational service.
The milestone comes after a series of extensive exercises over the summer, where Finnish naval crews tested and integrated the missile into combat operations.
Designated as the Surface Defense Missile 2020 (PTO2020), the Gabriel-5 will replace the current M85 anti-ship missile and has been installed on board the Hamina-class fast-attack missile boats, significantly expanding the Finnish Navy’s strike capabilities against maritime and land targets. It will later be integrated onto the Pohjanmaa-class multi-role corvettes that are still under construction.
“The introduction of the surface defense system is a very significant step forward for the Finnish Navy and naval defense,” Rear Admiral Tuomas Tiilikainen, commander of the Finnish Navy, said in a statement, adding that “the sophisticated features and long range of the missile system contribute to ensuring the carrying out of naval defense tasks nationally or as a part of the Alliance.”
Manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries, the missile has combined anti-ship and land attack capabilities with a reported range of close to 300 km. at high sub-sonic speed. It has beyond-the-line-of-sight strike capabilities and can strike both mobile and stationary targets, providing Finland with greater standoff capabilities.
Combat resistance
“By installing this system on several different platforms, we will achieve combat resistance and wide-area striking power against land and sea targets in the challenging circumstances of the modern battlefield and that of the future,” Tiilikainen said.
With a state-of-the-art radar seeker and advanced weapon control system, it can provide precise target detection and engagement even in the most dense electronic warfare environments. The missile can also operate under all weather conditions as well as during both day and night.
The missile weighs 760 kg., is 4.3 meters long, and possesses a 150-kg. high-explosive munition warhead that uses active radar-homing for target acquisition through INS-based navigation.
The missile, which can be launched with a fire-and-forget mode or fire and update version, does not fly in a straight line toward its target, making it difficult for a radar or optical system of an interceptor to detect and hit. It also features sea-skimming capabilities that make it difficult for radars to detect and intercept.
Finland’s geography, with a 1,340-km. border with Russia and facing the strategic Baltic Sea, makes maritime defense a top priority. Recent years have seen heightened tensions following Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine and increased military activity in the Baltic region. The Hamina-class vessels, designed for shallow-water operations, have undergone extensive upgrades to accommodate stealth, and now, with the Gabriel’s strike capabilities, they are formidable assets for littoral warfare.
Israel Aerospace Industries had no comment.