Sea-skimmer
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Sea skimming is a technique many anti-ship missiles and some fighter or strike aircraft use to avoid radar, infrared detection, and to lower probability of being shot down during their approach to the target.


Method

Sea-skimming anti-ship missiles try to fly as low as is practically achievable, which is almost always below 50 meters (150  ft), and is often down towards 2 meters (6 ft). When under attack, a warship can detect sea-skimming missiles only once they appear over the horizon (about 28 to 46 km from the ship), allowing about 25 to 60 seconds of warning.


Advantages

By flying low to the sea, missiles decrease the range at which the target ships can detect them by a significant amount. Flying at a lower altitude increases the amount of time the missile is under the horizon from the perspective of the target ship, making it harder to detect due to
radar clutter Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weat ...
from the sea and similar effects. The real-life success of sea skimming depends on its exact implementation, the sophistication of the detection equipment, as well as the infrared and radar signature of the missile. Sea skimming can significantly reduce the available response time that a ship's
missile defense Missile defense is a system, weapon, or technology involved in the detection, tracking, interception, and also the destruction of attacking missiles. Conceived as a defense against nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), ...
s have to work within, making these missiles significantly harder to defend against. Sea skimming can also increase the range of a missile, by relying on ground effects.


Disadvantages

The use of sea skimming increases the risk of water impact with the missile before reaching the target, due to weather conditions, rogue waves,
software bug A software bug is an error, flaw or fault in the design, development, or operation of computer software that causes it to produce an incorrect or unexpected result, or to behave in unintended ways. The process of finding and correcting bugs i ...
s and other factors. Sea skimming also hinders target acquisition, as many of the principles that hinder the target's detection of the missile also hinder the missile's detection of the target. Furthermore, sea skimming involves a significant computational load, increasing the required processing power and cost.


Possible defenses

Several systems are capable of defeating sea skimming weapons


Gun-Based CIWS


Missile-Based CIWS


Chaff


ECM


Use in major wars

French-made Exocet missiles were used by Argentina in the
Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...
(including the scuttling of HMS ''Sheffield'') and by Iraq against the USS ''Stark'' in the Persian Gulf during the Iran–Iraq War. The Argentinian pilots of the Super Étendard planes that attacked HMS ''Sheffield'' were also skimming the sea at very low level. They increased their altitude only for a very short period to get final target information for the attack with their Agave radars. During the
2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
, two Ukrainian-made R-360 Neptune sea-skimming cruise missiles were claimed to have struck and sank the Russian cruiser Moskva.


References

{{Reflist Anti-ship missiles Low flying Missile types Naval warfare