OVERVIEW: The Gabriel I is a short-range, solid-fuel, subsonic, surface-skimming, semi-active radar homing, surface to surface anti-ship missile, armed with a 70kg (explosive weight) warhead.

DETAILS: The Gabriel I  is a beam-rider missile, using semi-active radar homing.  Its standard engagement profile requires the target vessel to be illuminated by the ship's I-band  fire control radar. After launch, the operator l uses a joystick to gather it into the guidance beam by commanding it into the center of a circle etched on stabilized binoculars. The other operator tracks the target as a backup to the radar. During the midcourse phase, the missile uses a gyro-based inertial guidance, and either  radio command or semiactive radar guidance for the terminal phase. Because the system has only a single fire control channel, the fire control system can control only one missile fired against a single target. A second missile can only be fired and controlled only after the first missile has switched to semiactive homing, approximately 15 seconds after launch.

Gabriel’s flight profile after launch begins with a climb to approximately 100 meters before descending to  20 meters approximately 7.5 km from the target.  During the terminal phase, at approximately 1.2 km from the target, the Gabriel descends to 3 meters.  

When the missile  gets close enough to the target, it is commanded to shift to semiactive radar homing. If the target jams, the missile seeker can be turned off and the missile will attempt to ride the beam all the way into the target.  After the seeker acquires the target, the missile enters the terminal phase, descending between 4.5 and 6 meters from the surface, with a final descent to 3 meters altitude 1200 meters from the target. 
	
In the command back up mode, the Gabriel can also be controlled optically, with an operator using an optical sight on the firing ship and a joystick to control the missile. This mode is particularly useful in a high ECM environment.

Specifications: 
Weight: 			430 kg 
Length: 			3.35 m 
Diameter: 		0.34 m 
Wingspan: 		1.35 m 
Speed:			 466 knts (864 km/hr)(0.7 M)
Range:			2.7-14.5 nm (27 km)
CEP:			4.0 meters.  
 Hit Prob v. Frigate (est):	0.75-0.79


NOTES:    IOC by Israel in 1970. Production ended in 1992.   The missile can be installed in vessels as small as 50 tons displacement. Claimed to be the world's first operational sea-skimming missile.  The Gabriel evolved from the command guided Luz SSM.

 

SOURCES:   Friedman, Norman. The Naval Institute Guide to World Naval Weapon Systems, 5th ed., Annapolis, Md: Naval Institute Press, 2006, pg. 525-26 ;  Jane's Naval Weapon Systems, 1997 "Gavriel (Gavriel)/Skerpioen/Advanced Naval Attack Missile (ANAM); Gabriel (missile) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_(missile) ; Gabriel | Weaponsystems.net. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://weaponsystems.net/weaponsystem/HH10%20-%20Gabriel.html; Rabinovich, Abraham, The Boats of Cherbourg, 2013, pg. 129; Orbis "War Machine" vol 25, No 3 (1984), pg.  483  https://www.scribd.com/document/557616902/Orbis-War-Machine-025-Anti-ship-Missiles
