By: Dawn Zoldi
Israeli defense giant Rafael has upgraded its Sea Breaker long-range precision-guided missile with advanced artificial intelligence (AI) to improve autonomous target recognition and performance in highly contested maritime environments. The fifth-generation system now offers enhanced automatic target acquisition and recognition against both maritime and land targets, even under severe conditions and in GNSS-denied scenarios.
AI at the Core of Sea Breaker
Rafael has integrated AI into Sea Breaker to power automatic target acquisition (ATA) and automatic target recognition (ATR). This enables the missile to precisely identify stationary and moving maritime or land targets. The AI engine uses deep learning and big data-based scene-matching so the missile can navigate and prosecute targets in GNSS-denied arenas, in all-weather conditions and under heavy electronic countermeasures.
The company coupled Sea Breaker’s advanced imaging infrared (IIR) seeker with computer vision algorithms that support fully autonomous operation while still allowing real-time man-in-the-loop supervision via a secure datalink. This architecture supports mid-flight abort, re-targeting and battle damage assessment. It gives operators more tactical flexibility and control at stand-off ranges of up to 300 km.
Designed for Complex Littoral Battlespaces
Rafael sources the company optimized the missile for employment from frigates and other naval platforms operating in congested littoral zones with intense civilian traffic. In these environments, Sea Breaker’s AI-enabled ATR can discriminate high-value targets such as gunboats from similar-looking commercial or non-combatant vessels to reduce the risk of collateral damage.
The missile’s sea-skimming and terrain-following low-level flight profile is tailored for Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) arenas, where legacy radio-frequency (RF)-seeker-based missiles struggle against modern air defenses and cluttered coastal geography. Rafael positions Sea Breaker as a solution for navies facing sophisticated electronic warfare (EW) threats and the operational need for precise, stand-off engagement of surface combatants and critical land infrastructure.
Multi-Domain Launch Options
Sea Breaker can be launched from a range of naval platforms, from fast attack missile boats to corvettes and frigates which gives operators flexibility in how they deploy the system. Rafael designed the land-based configuration as a core element of shore-defense architectures, integrated on its highly mobile launcher systems.
The battery architecture supports standalone launchers or fully networked operation with a command and control (C2) unit and multiple sensors, depending on customer requirements. This multi-domain approach enables forces to build layered coastal defense or expeditionary strike capabilities using a common AI-enabled weapon system across sea and land.
Fifth-Generation Precision Strike Capability
Rafael classifies Sea Breaker as a fifth-generation, long-range, autonomous precision-guided missile capable of delivering surgical strikes from stand-off ranges of up to 300 km. With its IIR seeker, AI-based ATA/ATR, GNSS-independent navigation, electronic countermeasures (ECM) resilience and man-in-the-loop data link, the system is designed to neutralize frigate-sized ships and other high-value targets with a single 113 kg warhead hit.
According to Rafael, the combination of compact form factor, advanced mission planning, evasive low-level flight profile and AI-driven target discrimination makes Sea Breaker a uniquely adaptable tool for modern naval and coastal defense forces. For operators preparing for future high-end conflicts in cluttered, electronically contested maritime theaters, Sea Breaker provides reliable autonomous, AI-enabled precision strike.