This challenge was met with the development of an original approach to missile guidance, resulting in the creation of the Gabriel - the world's first operational, sea-skimming missile. 
The Gabriel missile system gave the Israel Navy an unprecedented combat capability as demonstrated during the 1973 Yom Kippur War . 

Missile upgrading - A cost-effective way to extend the life of a missile system is to upgrade its guidance system. IAI's Electronics Group / MBT has employed this technique in different missile systems, using various types of seekers based on advanced signal processing techniques, artificial intelligence, multi-tasking, multi-processing, and secure communication systems. 

Advanced Missiles - MBT is currently developing the next generation of naval missiles and weapon control systems, utilizing the most sophisticated concepts. The new missile will be able to penetrate both softkill and hardkill defenses.

To see video about this weapon click here.

The Gabriel III A/S is powered by a stubby cruciform wings fitted to the midsection and cruciform tailfins for guidance. It has boost-sustain solid rocket motor and is fitted with a SAP warhead. 

While the Gabriel I used a semiactive radar homing seeker that required the launch platform to keep the target illuminated by radar, the Gabriel III has a dual-mode seeker that can be operated in "fire and forget" or "fire and update" modes. 

In the "fire and forget" mode, the Gabriel III is guided by an INS into the target area, with altitude maintained by a radar altimeter. It then turns on its active radar seeker to lock onto and attack the target after a search. In the "fire and update" mode, the missile can receive course corrections from the launch aircraft while it is cruising towards the target, allowing it to keep its radar seeker off until the last moment. 

The Israeli Gabriel III A/S is an advanced offshoot of the original Gabriel ship-to-ship missile system. The original Gabriel was a small, canister fired sea skimmer, designed to attack enemy vessels at wavetop level, making its approach extremely hard to detect. This newer, air-launched version is larger, with a range of 60+ km, and carries a high-explosive warhead weighing 150 kg. The guidance system of the Gabriel III/AS enables it to fly so low that it must be pre-set according to the current size of the waves.