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48-455: The Royal Navy withdrew the missile from active service in 2017. Its replacement, Sea Venom was considerably delayed with full operating capability was only anticipated in 2026. Sea Skua traces its history, indirectly, to the immediate post-war era. Growing increasingly concerned about the threat of aircraft, especially after the introduction of glide bombs during the war, the Royal Navy

96-490: A fault prevents datalink self-destruct signals when a missile is heading in the wrong direction. Most coastlines are heavily populated, so this risk exists at test centers for sea-based systems that are near the coastlines: The combat record of U.S. SARH missiles was unimpressive during the Vietnam War . USAF and US Navy fighters armed with AIM-7 Sparrow attained a success rate of barely 10%, which tended to amplify

144-490: A ship carrying many other weapons systems. This turn of events was the final nail in the idea of having a dual-purpose weapon. The entire concept was reevaluated and led to the decision to launch a new weapon from helicopters. Long-range was not required, it only had to travel far enough to keep the helicopter out of range of any anti-aircraft weapons the boats might carry. Because the boats were small, these would be light weapons with limited range. The missile would be carried by

192-541: A single T43-class minesweeper , was detected in the same area. Sea Skuas fired from four Lynx helicopters destroyed the three fast attack craft, and damaged the minesweeper and one landing ship; the landing ship was later destroyed by RAF Jaguars . During several engagements in February, Lynxes with Sea Skuas destroyed a Zhuk-class patrol boat , a salvage vessel and another Polnocny class landing ship, and damaged another Zhuk patrol boat. The Sea Skua entered service with

240-674: A surface target. Sea Skua is planned to be replaced in UK service by the Sea Venom . The Royal Navy conducted its final Sea Skua live firing in March 2017. Fischer, Johann. "Sea Skua, the hurricane from the Sea". RiD Magazine, Genova, March 1993 . Sea Venom (missile) Sea Venom is an Anglo-French lightweight anti-ship missile developed by MBDA to equip the French Navy and

288-402: A very high hit rate. At 0130 a Sea King helicopter detected a target on radar and closed to identify it. They were fired on and retreated to a safe distance to shadow the target. Lynx helicopters from HMS Coventry and HMS Glasgow were flown off to look for the target. Coventry s picked up the target and was fired on by a medium-calibre gun, firing its two Sea Skuas in return. Both of

336-464: A wider pattern. Modern SARH systems use continuous-wave radar (CW radar) for guidance. Even though most modern fighter radars are pulse Doppler sets, most have a CW function to guide radar missiles. A few Soviet aircraft, such as some versions of the MiG-23 and MiG-27 , used an auxiliary guidance pod or aerial to provide a CW signal. The Vympel R-33 AA missile for MiG-31 interceptor uses SARH as

384-437: Is a Royal Ordnance (now Roxel UK ) "Redstart" steel body, while the sustainer is a Royal Ordnance "Matapan" light alloy body. The missile flies at high subsonic speed to a range of up to 15.5 miles (24.9 km). The official range is declared to be 15 km, but this is widely exceeded. The missile has two sensors: a semi-active radar homing system by Marconi Defence Systems, and a Thomson-TRT AHV-7 radar altimeter (which

432-531: Is also used by the Exocet missile), built under licence by British Aerospace Defence Systems. The missile is launched into a cruise at a preselected altitude, with four settings for different surface conditions. The launching helicopter illuminates the target with its radar, normally the Seaspray. As it approaches the pre-programmed location of the target, the missile climbs to a higher altitude in order to acquire

480-460: Is an impact-delayed model. The illuminating radar aboard Lynx helicopters is the Seaspray , developed by Ferranti , now GEC, specifically for this role. This weighs only 64 kilograms (141 lb). It operates in the I band with a power of 90 kW, with two modes (three in the improved model) and a 90° observation field. The Seaspray Mk. 3 had a rotating antenna with a 360° field of view. It

528-522: Is capable of operating in a track while scan (TWS) mode. The missile flight ends after 75–125 seconds, during which time the helicopter can manoeuvre at up to 80° from the missile path. In addition to serving with the United Kingdom, the Sea Skua has been exported to Germany (where it will be replaced from 2012 onwards), India, Kuwait and Turkey. It was generally preferred to the similar rival,

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576-537: Is controlled by producing navigation input to the steering system (tail fins or gimbaled rocket) using angle errors produced by the antenna. This steers the body of the missile to hold the target near the centerline of the antenna while the antenna is held in a fixed position. The offset angle geometry is determined by flight dynamics using missile speed, target speed, and separation distance. Techniques are nearly identical using jamming signals , optical guidance video, and infra-red radiation for homing. Maximum range

624-432: Is currently unknown, MBDA has stated that the missile has a "long" stand-off range enabling it to be launched from beyond the reach of most modern air defence systems. The missile is capable of several attack modes including sea skimming and "pop up/ top attack ." Sea Venom uses an infrared seeker with the option of "man in the loop" track-via-missile guidance via data-link ; the high speed two-way data-link transmits

672-400: Is designed to attack surface targets, such as fast in-shore attack craft ranging in size of between 50 and 500 tonnes, as well as larger surface targets of up to corvette size. With its 30 kg warhead, the missile is also capable of inflicting significant damage to larger vessels through precision aim point selection, and can also attack static land-based targets. Whilst its precise range

720-525: Is increased in SARH systems using navigation data in the homing vehicle to increase the travel distance before antenna tracking is needed for terminal guidance. Navigation relies on acceleration data , gyroscopic data , and global positioning data . This maximizes distance by minimizing corrective maneuvers that waste flight energy. Contrast this with beam riding systems, like the RIM-8 Talos , in which

768-412: Is redundant. The weight of a transmitter reduces the range of any flying object, so passive systems have greater reach. In addition, the resolution of a radar is strongly related to the physical size of the antenna, and in the small nose cone of a missile there isn't enough room to provide the sort of accuracy needed for guidance. Instead the larger radar dish on the ground or launch aircraft will provide

816-572: The Royal Malaysian Navy as part of the package for the purchase of six AgustaWestland Sea Lynx 300 helicopters. The missiles supposedly cost RM104 million. On 16 March 2006, the Royal Malaysian Navy test-fired the Sea Skua missile as part of a contractual Firing exercise. The missile was fired eight miles downrange from the 40m Surface Target Barge. The Sea Skua failed to hit its target and failed to explode. The fault

864-529: The Royal Navy . The missile is known as Anti-Navire Léger (ANL) in France and Sea Venom (formerly "Future Anti-Surface Guided Weapon (Heavy)") in the United Kingdom. While initial operating capability had been expected with the Royal Navy in 2022, it was reported in 2023 that, due to "on-going integration challenges", the Royal Navy's Wildcat helicopters would only achieve full operational capability with

912-632: The French-built AS 15 TT , even though the two missiles had similar performance. The guidance of AS-15TT was radio-command, and it required the Agrion 15 radar, unlike the more flexible British missile. Sea Skua's success in active service and its adoption by the Royal Navy resulted in considerable success in the international market. Sea Skuas were launched eight times during the Falklands War , sometimes in extremely bad weather, and scoring

960-573: The Iraqi attack which resulted in the Battle of Khafji . Two vessels were sunk by Sea Skuas fired by four Lynx helicopters. The remaining vessels were damaged, destroyed or dispersed by American carrier-based aircraft and Royal Navy Sea King helicopters. The next day, another convoy of three Polnocny class landing ship , three TNC-45 fast attack craft (taken over by Iraq from the Kuwaiti Navy ) and

1008-528: The Navy launched a project with the goal of once again producing a single weapon that could fit on a 3,000 ton frigate and able to attack bombers, anti-shipping missiles, and other ships up to frigate size. This led to the Small-Ship Guided Weapon and ultimately to Sea Dart , which was tested in the anti-shipping role against a Brave-class patrol boat . It also ended up being too large for

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1056-457: The Pacific. The missile equipped four Wildcat HMA2 helicopters embarked on the strike group's accompanying destroyers. However, in 2023 it was reported that integration challenges were ongoing and, as a result, full operating capability would be delayed until 2026. In October 2024, a Royal Navy Wildcat helicopter conducted a test-firing of the missile. The British share of the lifetime cost of

1104-654: The Sparrow at beyond visual range . Similar performance has been achieved with the sea-launched RIM-7 Sea Sparrow . Soviet systems using SARH have achieved a number of notable successes, notably in the Yom Kippur War , where 2K12 Kub (NATO name SA-6) tactical SAM systems were able to effectively deny airspace to the Israeli Air Force . A 2K12 also shot down a U.S. F-16 in the Bosnian War. SARH

1152-530: The beam riding system is not accurate at long ranges, while SARH is largely independent of range and grows more accurate as it approaches the target, or the source of the reflected signal it listens for. Reduced accuracy means the missile must use a very large warhead to be effective (i.e.: nuclear). Another requirement is that a beam riding system must accurately track the target at high speeds, typically requiring one radar for tracking and another "tighter" beam for guidance. The SARH system needs only one radar set to

1200-420: The effect of removing the gun on most F-4 Phantoms , which carried 4 Sparrows. While some of the failures were attributable to mechanical failure of 1960s-era electronics, which could be disturbed by pulling a cart over uneven pavement, or pilot error; the intrinsic accuracy of these weapons was low relative to Sidewinder and guns. Since Desert Storm , most F-15 Eagle combat victories have been scored with

1248-539: The final attack. This can keep the target from realising it is under attack until shortly before the missile strikes. Since the missile only requires guidance during the terminal phase, each radar emitter can be used to engage more targets. Some of these weapons, like the SM-2, allow the firing platform to update the missile with mid-course updates via datalink . Some of the more effective methods used to defeat semi-active homing radar are flying techniques. These depend upon

1296-568: The flight path geometry shown in Figure 1. The closing velocity is used to set the frequency location for the CW receive signal shown at the bottom of the diagram (spectrum). Antenna offset angle of the missile antenna is set after the target is acquired by the missile seeker using the spectrum location set using closing speed. The missile seeker antenna is a monopulse radar receiver that produces angle error measurements using that fixed position. Flight path

1344-488: The images "seen" by the seeker back to the operator, enabling them to remain in control of the missile throughout its flight in addition to having an autonomous engagement capability. MBDA is also working on a surface-launched variant of the missile. The Royal Navy declared Sea Venom an initial operating capability in May 2021 when it deployed them as part of United Kingdom Carrier Strike Group 21 on its maiden deployment to

1392-453: The launch aircraft vulnerable to counterattack, as well as giving the target's electronic warning systems time to detect the attack and engage countermeasures. Because most SARH missiles require guidance during their entire flight, older radars are limited to one target per radar emitter at a time. The maximum range of a SARH system is determined by energy density of the transmitter. Increasing transmit power can increase energy density. Reducing

1440-421: The launching range of its missiles, which was longer-ranged than any light gun. Seacat did not have anywhere near the required range. Sea Dart did, but could not be fitted to the majority of RN ships. A new dedicated anti-shipping missile could fill the role, but it would have to be roughly the same size as those being aimed against it in order to reach the required range, which would make it take up too much room on

1488-399: The main type of guidance (with supplement of inertial guidance on initial stage). SARH missiles require tracking radar to acquire the target, and a more narrowly focused illuminator radar to "light up" the target in order for the missile to lock on to the radar return reflected off target. The target must remain illuminated for the entire duration of the missile's flight. This could leave

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1536-736: The missile in 2026. The first test launch, from an AS365 Dauphin helicopter of the French DGA , was successfully conducted on 21 June 2017. Sea Venom is designed as a successor to the French Navy's AS 15 TT and Royal Navy's Sea Skua missiles. When in service, Sea Venom will equip Eurocopter Panther and NH90 helicopters in the French Navy and Wildcat helicopters in the Royal Navy. Due to shared characteristics with its predecessors, MBDA claims Sea Venom will be able to readily integrate onto platforms that are already carrying Sea Skua and AS 15 TT. Much like its predecessors, Sea Venom

1584-450: The missiles hit what was later learned to be the 800 ton patrol boat/rescue tug ARA Alférez Sobral . One of the two missiles hit the bridge while the second hit the ship's fibreglass sea boat and exploded. Extensive damage was inflicted and eight crewmen (including the captain) were killed, but the ship was not sunk and returned to Puerto Deseado. Glasgow s helicopter was delayed due to radio problems but arrived about 30 minutes later and

1632-420: The need for a gun. The original Navy guided-missile sets, Seaslug and Seacat , both had secondary anti-shipping roles. Seaslug was a large system and could only be carried by larger ships, while Seacat could be fitted to almost any ship but had a relatively short-range and small warhead suitable only for use against small boats. Neither filled the goal of replacing guns in any meaningful way. In October 1960,

1680-403: The needed signal and tracking logic, and the missile simply has to listen to the signal reflected from the target and point itself in the right direction. Additionally, the missile will listen rearward to the launch platform's transmitted signal as a reference, enabling it to avoid some kinds of radar jamming distractions offered by the target. The SARH system determines the closing velocity using

1728-645: The new Westland Lynx and its targets detected by a new lightweight radar, Seaspray . Its combat effectiveness was further improved by the addition of the Racal "Orange Crop" ECM suite, which allowed the helicopter to track the boats who were using radar to attempt to approach their target ships, allowing the helicopters to approach without turning on their Seaspray until the last moment. The British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) began development in May 1972. The British Government authorised its production in October 1975. At

1776-583: The noise bandwidth of the transmitter can also increase energy density. Spectral density matched to the receive radar detection bandwidth is the limiting factor for maximum range. Recent-generation SARH weapons have superior electronic counter-countermeasure ( ECCM ) capability, but the system still has fundamental limitations. Some newer missiles, such as the SM-2 , incorporate terminal semi-active radar homing (TSARH). TSARH missiles use inertial guidance for most of their flight, only activating their SARH system for

1824-414: The pilot knowing that a missile has been launched. The global positioning system allows a missile to reach the predicted intercept with no datalink, greatly increasing lethality by postponing illumination for most of the missile flight. The pilot is unaware that a launch has occurred, so flying techniques become almost irrelevant. One difficulty is testing, because this feature creates public safety risks if

1872-458: The radar is pointed at the target and the missile keeps itself centered in the beam by listening to the signal at the rear of the missile body. In the SARH system the missile listens for the reflected signal at the nose, and is still responsible for providing some sort of "lead" guidance. The disadvantages of beam riding are twofold: One is that a radar signal is "fan shaped", growing larger, and therefore less accurate, with distance. This means that

1920-436: The radar signal for final homing. This allows it to fly below the horizon for much of the journey, reducing the chance it will be noticed and allow the target to attempt to escape. On impact it penetrates the hull of a ship before detonating the 62 pounds (28 kg) blast fragmentation warhead . A semi armour piercing (SAP) warhead is also available; this contains 9 kilograms (20 lb) of RDX, aluminium and wax. The fuze

1968-479: The smallest ships and was ultimately only fit for destroyers and larger ships. So, by the late 1960s, the role of a widely available dual-purpose weapon remained unfilled. The sinking of the Eliat in 1967 led to the realization that small fast-attack boats carrying medium-range anti-shipping missiles were a serious immediate threat. A weapon was needed that could destroy any such craft before it could approach within

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2016-430: The system was given as £945 million in 2022. Semi-active radar homing Semi-active radar homing ( SARH ) is a common type of missile guidance system, perhaps the most common type for longer-range air-to-air and surface-to-air missile systems. The name refers to the fact that the missile itself is only a passive detector of a radar signal — provided by an external ("offboard") source—as it reflects off

2064-412: The target (in contrast to active radar homing , which uses an active radar transceiver ). Semi-active missile systems use bistatic continuous-wave radar . The NATO brevity code for a semi-active radar homing missile launch is Fox One . The basic concept of SARH is that since almost all detection and tracking systems consist of a radar system, duplicating this hardware on the missile itself

2112-699: The time, the missile was known as CL.834. The first launches took place in November 1979 at the Aberporth Range in Cardigan Bay . Three missiles were launched from the ground and three by helicopters. Further tests were made and in July 1981, full-scale production was ordered of the new missile, now called "Sea Skua". With the missile weighing only 320 pounds (150 kg) at launch, a Lynx helicopter can carry up to four, two on each wing pylon. The booster

2160-649: The wrecks of the cargo ship Río Carcarañá (8,500   grt) and the patrol boat Río Iguazú . During the Gulf War , six naval Lynx helicopters were deployed to the Gulf on four frigates and destroyers of the Royal Navy. On 24 January 1991 one Lynx engaged and sank two Iraqi minesweepers near Qurah Island. A third was scuttled. A larger engagement took place on 29 January 1991. A force of seventeen Iraqi landing craft and escorting fast attack craft and minesweepers were detected moving south near Failaka island, as part of

2208-492: Was also fired on. They fired their missiles and also saw resulting explosions. Initially, there was some mystery as to what ship they hit, believing it to be the Sobral s sister ship ARA Comodoro Somellera , while the crew of the helicopter believed it was a larger ship and that one of the explosions they saw was an Exocet missile being hit. Post-war analysis suggested neither was true. Another four Sea Skuas were used to destroy

2256-412: Was believed to have been traced to a faulty connecting pin wire that ignites the rocket motor. The missile fell into the sea and was not recovered. The Royal Malaysian Navy ordered Matra Bae Dynamics ( MBDA ) to take back the missiles to conduct system checks and re-tested. On 12 February 2008, the Royal Malaysian Navy successfully conducted a second firing. The missile was fired from maximum range and hit

2304-405: Was convinced that all ships required some form of surface-to-air missile (SAM) for defence. These systems tended to be relatively large, especially in the era before vertical launch, and it was difficult to mount both a useful SAM and a conventional gun on smaller ships. This led to a series of experiments to produce a dual-use missile capable of both anti-air and anti-ship use, thereby removing

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