Sea skimming

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.

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 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.

The use of sea skimming increases the risk of water impact by the missile before reaching the target due to weather conditions, rogue waves, software bugs and other factors.

The Argentinian pilots of the Super Étendard planes that attacked HMS Sheffield were also skimming the sea at very low level.