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Sea Viper fired from Type 45
01 October 2010Sea Viper, the Royal Navy's new air defence missile, has been fired from a Type 45 Destroyer for the first time, the MoD has confirmed.
HMS Dauntless successfully fired an Aster 30 missile, hitting a moving target drone at the MOD's range in the Hebrides.
Captain Richard Powell, Commanding Officer of HMS Dauntless, said: "This firing is the culmination of a series of trials of Sea Viper as the system moves towards acceptance into the Royal Navy. Both my ship's company and the equipment manufacturers have done a sterling job in preparing for and conducting the test.
"We are delighted with the success of this firing which is particularly important for the UK as the Sea Viper system will also work in support of land and air forces."
Richard Smart, head of Team Complex Weapons at the MoD, said: "Sea Viper is one of the most advanced weapons systems in the world. Its ability to engage multiple targets gives the Royal Navy unparalleled protection from air attack which, together with the ship's speed and agility, makes the Type 45 a truly formidable fighting force. The first firing from HMS Dauntless is a fantastic achievement that has successfully built on the weapon system's extensive qualification programme."
HAVE YOUR SAY
03 October 2010
Good. But why are the T45's based in Portsmouth? Is it more for the air defence of the capital and the North Sea installations rather than the defence of the fleet?
Norman - UK
03 October 2010
This is good news, but what kept a hostile fleet in port in the Falklands War, surface ships or nuclear submarines?
John Cassford - ex-ROC
04 October 2010
Should have used UNIX as opposed to Microsoft operating system. Less liable to crash..
jack - UK
04 October 2010
They don't STAY in Portsmouth Norman! Nor is 'the fleet' constantly at sea, all need a base port to operate from, Portsmouth just happens to be one of them, though the government would dearly like to reduce this number. If the rumoured defence cuts do turn out as bad as some predict, there won't be much of a fleet to protect and you could be right and at least Westminster will be well protected!
Hereman - Wirral, England
19 November 2010
This is good news, but what kept a hostile fleet in port in the Falklands War, surface ships or nuclear submarines?
John Cassford - ex-ROC
That's a slight over simplification of the facts.
The RN task force was magnitudes more powerful than the Argentine one. 2 carriers to their 1. More destroyers, more frigates.
Coupled with Sea Harrier being a far more advanced carrier fighter than the jet fighters they could launch.
Then you have to consider what would you rather have to support troops and project expeditionary warfare... A carrier or a Hunter Killer.
Ideally both but if you forced me I would rather have surface ships with the inevitable helicopter and air wings that would accompany them. Than Hunter killers that can only launch quite a limited number of TLAM's and for every torpedo they carry that number shrinks even more. And how many troops and planes can a Hunter killer launch?
I wish people would stop with the "Submarines are the way forward"... "Carriers and Amphibious vessels aren't needed".
You need a balance. Most modern engagements have proven this.
Anthony - Bristol- United Kingdom
03 January 2012
Hereman and Norman: The fleet IS at sea - we have only 1 Fleet Ready Escort to cover the whole of UK waters. Everything else is committed elsewhere, working up (=non-operational) or being fixed (=refit). The T45's might as well be at Portsmouth as anywhere else - although my vote goes for Devonport (the UK one).
Dyvroeth - Hornchurch, UK