Article Posted on : - May 02, 2012

HMS Diamond firing Sea Viper for the first time (inset). Photo: UK MoD.

LONDON (BNS): HMS Diamond, the third of the Royal Navy's Type 45 destroyers, blasted a Sea Viper missile out of her silo at three times the speed of sound, obliterating the jet drone target in the sky above.

Sea Viper is a state-of-the-art air defence weapons system which is a combination of Aster missiles, Sampson radar (the spinning ball on top of the mast), a combat and command system, and the silo on the forecastle containing the Sylver vertical missile launcher.

During the mission, HMS Diamond's prey was a Mirach drone - a 13-foot (4m) remote-controlled jet that can fly at speeds of up to 600mph (966km/h) at altitudes as low as 10ft (3m) or as high as 14,000ft (4km) for 90 minutes.

The successful firing of Sea Viper means that HMS Diamond is now ready to take her place as a fully operational warship, capable of deploying anywhere across the world, as reported in a statement by UK Ministry of Defence (MoD).

HMS Diamond was accepted into the Royal Navy 11 months ago and is due to deploy later this year - making her the fastest warship in recent memory to go from 'joining up' to deploying.