Article Posted on : - Oct 05, 2010

An Aster 30 missile is fired from Royal Navy's HMS Dauntless warship. A UK MoD photo

LONDON (BNS): UK Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyer ‘HMS Dauntless’ has successfully test launched its newest air defence missile system, the Sea Viper, for the first time last week.

The Sea Viper missile system, which consists of Aster 15 and Aster 30 missiles, fired an Aster 30 missile from HMS Dauntless at the MOD range in the Hebrides and hit a moving target drone, the UK MoD said.

“This firing is the culmination of a series of trials of Sea Viper as the system moves towards acceptance into the Royal Navy,” Captain Richard Powell, Commanding Officer of HMS Dauntless, said.

The missile system had completed test trials for the Royal Navy’s new fleet of Type 45 destroyers in the Mediterranean Sea last month.

The Sea Viper is a potential air defence missile system designed to defend the new Type 45 fleet of destroyers and others ships in their company against multiple attacks by aircraft or missiles approaching from any direction and at supersonic speed.

The system can engage more than ten targets simultaneously – a huge leap in the capability for the Royal Navy.

The missile system, previously called the Principal Anti-Air Missile System (PAAMS), consists of sophisticated, phased-array Sampson radar, a combat and control system, the Sylver missile launching system and MBDA-designed Aster 15 and Aster 30 missiles.