Gabriel ( missile ) Gabriel missiles , created by Israel Aerospace Industries , are a range of anti - ship missile s that use the technique of sea skimming , created in response to an attack on an Israeli warship in 1967 . The Mark IV version is in service with the Israeli Navy while other versions are in service with navies around the world . Origin . 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 soldiers 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 . Development . Faced with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems ' s anxiety to develop a new guidance system , Shlomo Arel 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 . Gabriel Mk 1 . The development of the Gabriel for the Israeli Navy began in 1962 , 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 . Gabriel Mk 2 . 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 Taiwan , as the Hsiung Feng 1 and South Africa under the name ' Skerpioen ' ( Afrikaans for Scorpion ) . Gabriel III . Gabriel III and Gabriel III A / S were introduced in 1978 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 . The Gabriel III flies so low that it is extremely hard for enemy targets to detect the missile early enough to counter it . Gabriel IV . Developed in the early 1990s is related to the Gabriel Mk III but larger and more massive 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 Gabriel V ( Advanced Naval Attack Missile ) . Israel Aerospace Industries is reportedly working on a Gabriel V Advanced Naval Attack Missile , with an advanced active radar seeker designed for cluttered littoral environments . Operational history . During the Yom Kippur War the Gabriel I was used for the first time during the Battle of Latakia . Israeli missile boats armed with Gabriel Mk 1 missiles were credited with defeating Syrian ships armed with the Soviet - made Styx missile . Even though the Styx missile had a longer range , the Gabriel ' s reliability and flexibility of handling contributed to the Israeli victory . It is known that the Syrians shot missile salvos at the charging Israeli vessels , but missed due to the Israeli ECM technology of the time . When they were in range , the Israeli boats launched their Gabriel missiles , and sank all but one Syrian Osa class ship , which was later sunk by cannon fire . After defeating the Syrian Navy ( surviving Syrian ships stayed in port ) the Israeli missile boats defeated the Egyptian navy as well , achieving naval supremacy for the remainder of the war . Older models of the Gabriel are still used by Chile , Ecuador , Israel , Mexico , Sri Lanka , Kenya , and other countries . During the Yom Kippur War in 1973 , however , the P - 15 Russian missile was much less successful . From October 6 to October 12 , 54 missiles were fired to no effect , according to Western sources . The aforementioned Russian sources however , claim that a total of seven ships were sunk - all small vessels such as trawlers , patrol boats , and missile boats . But the Russian specialists agreed with their Western counterparts that the overall results were unsatisfying , especially considering that seven Egyptian and Syrian vessels were sunk after being hit by Israeli Gabriel Mk . 1 anti - ship missiles . Interestingly , this last figure is commonly recognized by specialists in both the West and East . The first such encounter took place during the night of October 6 to October 7 , 1973 , near Latakia on the Syrian coast . Israeli forces used helicopters flying slowly at very low altitude , effectively simulating naval targets . No Israeli ship was hit by the large salvo of P - 15s subsequently fired by the Syrians , who themselves lost the T - 43 class trawler Jarmuk and three torpedo boats to Israeli Gabriel missiles . The Syrian missile boats withdrew successfully , but all of their missiles missed the Israeli helicopters , which had climbed to break the missile radars ' locks . On the same night , a similar trick with helicopters was repeated against Egyptian ships north of the Sinai Peninsula . Yet another encounter took place near Latakia on the night of October 10 – 11 . This time , the missile exchange between Israeli and Syrian missile boats took place without the use of helicopters , and Israeli ships relied on chaff launchers . The Syrian vessels maneuvered outside their harbor among the anchored merchant ships . Two of the warships were sunk by Gabriel missiles , which also hit two neutral ships , the Greek Tsimentaros and the Japanese Yamashuro Maru . According to Israeli sources , the use of chaff saved all of its vessels , but it is possible that on that occasion at least one Sa ' ar - class missile boat was hit and sunk while Russian sources claimed three . The following night , the helicopter maneuver was again successfully used during an encounter near Tartus off the Syrian coast . No Israeli ship was hit by a salvo of P - 15s fired by Syrian missile boats . On the Syrian side , two Komar - class vessels were sunk by Gabriel missiles , and also the Soviet merchant ship Ilya Mechnikov was hit . On the same night , a similar encounter took place off the coast of Port Said .