The Finnish Navy in August announced that their new anti-ship missile, the Gabriel 5, is in operational use as the PTO2020.
This ends a process that started with the surprise announcement back in July 2018 that the Israeli missile had beat the competition – including the Kongsberg NSM, the Saab RBS15 Mk3/Gungnir and the MBDA Exocet MM40 Block 3c – to become the next heavy anti-ship missile for the Finnish Navy.
The Finnish Navy has a number of different weapon systems dedicated to countering enemy ships, ranging from the Spike-ER in a manpacked tripod configuration as a short-range light missile system, fixed 130 mm coastal artillery (to be replaced by a new mobile 155 mm system), mines, and heavy anti-ship missiles on vessels and truckmounted batteries. The current heavy missile is the Saab RBS15 which has been used in that role since the mid-80’s as the MTO 85, including an MLU which saw them upgraded to MTO 85M-status in the early 2000’s.
The Gabriel was acquired to replace the ageing MTO 85M in all roles, and the acquisition is part of a major modernisation of the Navy. There are currently two classes of four fast attack craft vessels each – the older and lighter Rauma-class and the newer Hamina-class. Both were delivered with the RBS 15 as their main weapon, and the Rauma-class will continue operating the weapon until retiring to make way for the Pohjanmaa-class heavy corvettes towards the end of the decade. The Hamina-class will however serve on, and as such in recent years have undergone a comprehensive mid-life update programme which saw them get a littoral ASW-capability and the Gabriel as their new main weapon system.
The choice of the Gabriel in many ways carry on the basic features which the Navy has valued with the current RBS15 version, including a true all-weather capability thanks to the active radar-seeker, a high subsonic speed, and a relatively heavy warhead. The missile has a secondary land-attack capability, which is in line with the overarching theme of the Finnish Defence Forces striving to have the capability to strike enemy targets at long-range with precision-guided weapons from multiple platforms and with different weapons. This include ground- and air-launched missiles, and while the anti-ship role will be the primary usage of the Gabriel, the land-role is seen as vital.
“Using the system [in the land-attack role] will enable the Navy to participate also in the Defence Forces’ joint effects tasks, which I consider crucial”.
Rear admiral Tuomas Tiilikainen, commander of the Finnish Navy
With the Finnish Navy throughout the summer having conducted exercises in order to develop and implement the new missile system, it has now officially been introduced into operational use on the Hamina-class. The status of the truck-mounted system is so far unconfirmed, though a vehicle belonging to the system did take part in a national parade last year and as such the development of the batteries can be assumed to be quite far along at this stage.
