Sea Dart

Sea Dart, or GWS.30 was a Royal Navy surface-to-air missile system designed in the 1960s and entering service in 1973. It was fitted to the Type 42 destroyers, the single Type 82 destroyer and the s. Originally developed by Hawker Siddeley, the missile was built by British Aerospace after 1977. It was withdrawn from service in 2012.

Britain's first naval surface-to-air missile was GWS1 Seaslug, which entered service in 1963. This used beam riding guidance which offered limited accuracy and was useful only against slower targets. The need for a higher performance system was seen even as it entered service.

Bristol Aerospace, which had recently introduced the ramjet-powered Bloodhound missile for the RAF, offered a new ramjet powered concept, while British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) proposed a shorter-range rocket powered design. The Admiralty asked for a proposal combining BAC's layout with Bristol's engine, which became Sea Dart. Compared to Seaslug, Sea Dart was faster, had much greater range, and its semi-active radar homing guidance was much more accurate and allowed attacks against supersonic targets. After the Falklands War, further updates dramatically increased its range, reaching .

The system had nine confirmed successful engagements in combat, including six aircraft, a helicopter and an anti-ship missile. This was the first time a missile had shot down another in combat. An additional helicopter was shot down in a 'friendly fire' incident during the Falklands.

History

Impetus

From the immediate post-WWII era, the Royal Navy had been looking for a general-purpose weapon to arm small ships. After the experience with German glide bombs during the war, the primary concern was the development of a medium-range surface-to-air missile able to shoot down the carrier bombers before they could approach the ships within the range of their glide bombs. As this weapon would take up room normally assigned to a dual-purpose gun, the weapon also needed a secondary anti-ship capability. The secondary anti-ship role was later reduced in importance.

Early experiments during the 1950s led to the development of the Seaslug system. Seaslug was useful against first-generation strike aircraft but had limited performance against faster aircraft or anti-ship missiles. Seaslug was also too large to be carried by a frigate-sized ship, leaving smaller ships with little air defence. Some consideration was given to a high-performance gun system for these ships, the DACR (direct-action, close-range), but calculations showed it would be useless against future anti-ship missiles that would manoeuvre on the approach.

SIGS

In October 1960, the Navy launched the Small Ship Integrated Guided Weapon System project to fill this need, SIGS for short. This called for a weapon small enough to be carried on a 3,000 ton frigate and able to attack bombers, anti-shipping missiles, and other ships up to frigate size. Seaslug had taken much longer to develop than expected and was a very costly, ongoing program. There was some concern that development of a new system should not commence before Seaslug was in service. A review by the Defence Research Policy Committee agreed with the Navy that the new design represented an entirely new class of weapon and that development should be undertaken immediately.

Two systems were initially considered for the role. Bristol's RP.25 was a ramjet powered design with a long ogive wing that was boosted to speed by two detachable booster rockets under the missile in a layout not that different from Bristol's Bloodhound missile. The second was two-stage solid-fuel rocket known as SIG-15 from BAC, developed partially from BAC's work on the PT.428 which would later emerge as Rapier.

The Admiralty considered the range of the BAC entry, about , to be too short to be useful. The Bristol concept offered a much more useful maximum around . However, it also felt the BAC team, known as Project 502, was better able to manage the project. The Admiralty also demanded that the design be able to be moved about the ship in a fashion similar to gun ammunition, which made the winged RP.25 unsuitable. The result was a redesign effort with BAC designing the airframe and Bristol providing the engine.

CF.299

The new design was returned in 1962, and was so promising that the Ministry of Aviation assigned it the name CF.299 and detailed design began.

A 1966 report estimated that CF.299 would have a two-shot kill probability (Pk) against an AS-2 Kipper missile of 0.8–0.9, whereas Seaslug II would manage only 0.35–0.55. Against a supersonic "Blinder" bomber, Pk was 0.5–0.8, compared to 0.3–0.5 for Seaslug. Additionally, because it flew faster than Seaslug, the total engagement time was shorter, and this meant the battery could salvo more rapidly. Finally, its ability to lead the target, compared to Seaslug's beam riding pursuit course, allowed it to attack targets with much higher crossing speeds. A 1968 study suggested Sea Dart would have the same capability as eight F-4 Phantoms on patrol.

By this time, many European navies had chosen the US RIM-24 Tartar surface-to-air missiles, but the Dutch Navy was interested in the British missile for a new class of advanced anti-air ships they were designing. The design mounted an advanced radar system, and an agreement was arranged where the Dutch would use the British missile and the RN ships would use the Dutch radar under the name Type 988 "Broomstick". This was a 3D radar with multiple antennas that provided both fast continual scanning as well as multiple independent targeting radars. Both the radar and missiles would be controlled by a new combat direction system being developed by both navies.

Ultimately, the Dutch also chose Tartar for their missile component, leaving the Royal Navy as the Sea Dart's only initial user. The Navy dropped its interest in Broomstick and continued development using simpler radars like the Type 965 radar that was already in service. This had the disadvantage of not being able to pick out targets against a background landform or high waves, significantly limiting its capabilities against low-flying strike aircraft.

Into service

Sea Dart entered service in 1973 on the sole Type 82 destroyer before widespread deployment on the Type 42 destroyer commencing with in 1976. The missile system was also fitted to ''Invincible''-class aircraft carriers but was removed during refits between 1998 and 2000 to increase the area of the flight deck and below-decks stowage associated with the operation of Royal Air Force (RAF) Harrier GR9 aircraft.

In 1982, British Aerospace won a £100m contract to sell the Sea Dart system to China, but this fell through in 1983, with Chinese minister Chen Muhua explaining that China was "not satisfied with the price, technology or production".

Proposed versions

During the late 1970s, British Aerospace proposed a Sea Dart II, which replaced the original's transistor-based electronics with integrated circuits that so reduced the size of the equipment that it allowed for a useful increase in fuel storage and range. British Aerospace also outlined a new version of the Chow booster that included thrust vector control that would allow it to be stored vertically on new platforms or make radical maneuvers when launching from the existing launch rail systems. Development was cancelled in the 1980 Defence Review by the Minister of Defence, John Nott. Another short-lived project was Sea Daws 100, which used a single-rail launcher for a future Type 82 replacement.

Hawker Siddeley Dynamics, which had taken over Bristol, proposed using the Sea Dart missile as a replacement for both the British Army's Thunderbird and the RAF's Bloodhound. This Land Dart was launched from a four-round box that would be highly mobile. Hawker Siddeley Dynamics suggested that if the missile was used by all three British services, it would result in further sales as a NATO-standard SAM. The introduction of the VR.725 Thunderbird II led the Army to drop any interest in Land Dart, and the NATO contract eventually went to the MIM-23 Hawk.

Hawker Siddeley tried again in the 1970s when the Air Staff released GAST.1210, calling for a long-range missile to replace Bloodhound. It proposed a further updated Land Dart combined with a dramatically improved radar system, the Plessey GF75 Panther, a land-based version of the naval AWS-5. This concept ultimately went nowhere and the Bloodhound was removed from service in 1991 with no replacement. In the early 1980s, British Aerospace (BAe), who had taken over Hawker, re-launched the GAST.1210 concept under the new name Guardian. This proposed a lightweight two-round launcher and mobile version of Panther to be used as both a SAM and an anti-missile for short-range ballistic missiles like SCUD. Despite interest from the Middle East, no sales followed. The same launcher was also offered as Lightweight Sea Dart, which used its disposable shipping container as the launch tube, which was fit into a four-place trainable launcher that could also mount Sea Eagle. Most of the weight savings was in the launcher itself, allowing it to be fit to smaller ships.

Updates

Experience in the Falklands War demonstrated that the mix of systems used to support Sea Dart put it at a significant disadvantage despite the missile itself being highly potent. This led to a series of updates to both the missile and the radars equipping the ''Sheffield''-class destroyers.

The first upgrade was to replace the older Type 965 radar with the much better Type 1022. The Navy had originally planned on replacing the 965 with a new radar, then known as STIR, when it became available. As it became clear that STIR would not be available for some time, Marconi offered an interim model, the 1022. This had a new antenna design that greatly reduced the beamwidth from around 12 degrees to 2.3, and used a shaped broadcast pattern that greatly reduced the amount of signal that was aimed at waves and thereby reduced clutter.

The 1022 arrived in time to equip the "Batch II" Sheffields, which began in 1978 with HMS ''Exeter''. Initially they had planned to re-equip the earlier ships as well, but as the new ships started arriving all desire to spend the money on the upgrades disappeared. As many of the problems with the Sea Dart could be traced to the failure of the 965 to provide any early warning against low-level engagements, the ability to offer dramatically improved performance with a relatively simple update that had been planned all along was suddenly considered very important.

Design

Sea Dart is a two-stage, long missile weighing . It is launched using a drop-off ''Chow'' solid-fuel booster that accelerates it to the supersonic speed necessary for the operation of the cruise motor, a Rolls-Royce /Bristol Siddeley kerosene-fuelled ''Odin'' ramjet. This gives a cruise speed of over Mach 2.5, and unlike many rocket-powered designs, the cruise engine burns for the entire flight, giving excellent terminal manoeuvrability at extreme range.

It is capable of engaging targets out to at least over a wide range of altitudes. It has a secondary capability against small surface vessels, tested against a , although in surface mode the warhead safety arming unit does not arm, and thus damage inflicted is restricted to the physical impact of the half-ton missile body and the unspent proportion of the of kerosene fuel.

Guidance is by proportional navigation and a semi-active radar homing system using the nose intake cone and four aerials around the intake as an interferometer aerial, with targets being identified by a Type 1022 surveillance radar (originally radar Type 965) and illuminated by one of a pair of radar Type 909. This allows two targets to be engaged simultaneously in initial versions, with later variants able to engage more. Firing is from a twin-arm trainable launcher that is loaded automatically from below decks. The original launcher seen on HMS ''Bristol'' was significantly larger than that which appeared on Type 42 and ''Invincible'' classes. Initial difficulties with launcher reliability were resolved.

Combat service

Falklands War

Sea Dart was used during the Falklands War (1982) and is credited with seven confirmed kills (plus one British Westland Gazelle helicopter downed by friendly fire). Kills were made against a high-flying aircraft beyond the missile's stated technical envelope and low-flying attack aircraft.

The net effect of Sea Dart was to deny the higher altitudes to enemy aircraft. This was important because Argentine aircraft such as the Dassault Mirage III had better straight line performance than the British Aerospace Sea Harriers, which were unlikely to successfully intercept them.

The first Sea Dart engagement was against an Aérospatiale Puma, on 9 May 1982 near Stanley by , with the loss of the three men aboard.

On 25 May 1982 an Douglas A-4C Skyhawk of Grupo 5 was shot down north of Pebble Island, again by ''Coventry''. The pilot, Capitán Hugo Angel del Valle Palaver, was killed. Later, ''Coventry'' shot down another Skyhawk of Grupo 4 while it was returning from a mission to San Carlos Water. Capitán Jorge Osvaldo García successfully ejected but was not recovered. The next Argentine action that day sank ''Coventry''. An unguided Sea Dart was launched in an effort to disrupt the attack but missed, and the destroyer was struck by two iron bombs and sank.

The same day a Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard strike fighter sought to attack the British carrier group with Exocet missiles, but instead struck the cargo ship . fired six Sea Darts in less than two minutes, but all missed.

On 30 May 1982, during the last Exocet air attacks against the British fleet, shot down two Skyhawks (out of four), despite their flying only above the sea (below Sea Dart's theoretical minimum engagement altitude of ). On 6 June ''Exeter'' shot down a Learjet 35A being used for reconnaissance at .

On 6 June 1982, ''Cardiff'' fired a Sea Dart missile at an aircraft believed to be an Argentine C-130 Hercules. The missile destroyed the aircraft, which was in fact a British Army helicopter. All four occupants were killed in this "friendly-fire" incident.

Finally, on 13 June 1982, an English Electric Canberra flying at en route to bomb British troops near Port Harriet House was destroyed by a Sea Dart fired from ''Cardiff''.

In total at least eighteen missiles were launched by Type 42 destroyers, six by ''Invincible,'' and two by ''Bristol''. Out of five missiles fired against helicopters or high flying aircraft, four were successful, but only two of nineteen fired at low level aircraft hit: just eleven per cent; however a number of missiles were fired without guidance to deter low level attacks. ''Exeter''s success can be partially attributed to being equipped with the Type 1022 radar, which was designed for the system and provided greater capability than the old Type 965 fitted to the earlier Type 42s. The Type 965 was unable to cope with low level targets as it suffered multiple path crossings and targets became lost in radar clutter from the surface of the South Atlantic. This resulted in Sea Dart being unable to lock onto targets at distance obscured by land, or fast-moving low-level targets obscured in ground clutter or sea-returns.

The Argentine Navy was well aware of the Sea Dart's capabilities and limitations, having two Type 42s of its own. Consequently, Argentine planes, opting to fly below the Type 965 radar ("sea skimming"), frequently dropped bombs which failed to explode. The arming vane on the bomb had insufficient time to complete the number of revolutions required to arm the fuze.

Persian Gulf War (1991)

In February 1991 during the Persian Gulf War the battleship was operating in the Persian Gulf. Her battlegroup included a number of escorts, including the Type 42 destroyer . On 24 February, ''Missouri'' was fired on by a pair of Silkworm anti-ship missiles. Although one missed completely, the other was engaged and destroyed by a Sea Dart fired by HMS Gloucester after it had flown over the target, while another of the battleship's escorts, the frigate , attempted to engage with its Phalanx CIWS, but succeeded only in firing at the chaff launched by ''Missouri''.

Variants

The Sea Dart was upgraded over the years - notably its electronics - as technology advanced. The following modification standards have been fielded:
; Mod 0: Basic 1960s version, used in the Falklands. valve technology. Range circa .
; Mod 1: Improved Sea Dart. Upgraded version 1983–1986. Updated guidance systems possibly allowing some capability against sea-skimming targets and much greater reliability.
; Mod 2: 1989–1991. Upgrade included ADIMP (Air Defence IMProvement) which saw the replacement of six old circuit cards in the guidance system with one, allowing the spare volume to be used for an autopilot. Used alongside a command datalink (sited on the Type 909 pedestal) it allows several missiles to be 'in the air' at once, re-targeted during flight etc. and allows an initial ballistic trajectory, doubling range to with the upgraded 909(I) radar for terminal illumination only.
; Mod 3: Latest version with new infrared fuze. Delayed eight years from 1994 to 2002.

The Sea Dart Mark 2, GWS 31, (also known as Sea Dart II - not to be confused with Mod 2, above) development was cancelled in 1981. This was intended to allow 'off the rail' manoeuvres with additional controls added to the booster. The Mark 2 was reduced to Advanced Sea Dart, then Enhanced Sea Dart and finally Improved Sea Dart.

Lightweight Sea Dart was a version with minimal changes to the missile itself, but based in a new sealed box-launcher. A four-box trainable launcher was developed that allowed it to be mounted to ships as small as 300 tons displacement. The same box and launcher could also support the Sea Eagle SL, the proposed ship-launched version of Sea Eagle. Guardian was a proposed land-based system of radars, control stations and the Lightweight Sea Dart proposed in the 1980s for use as a land-based air defence system for the Falkland Islands. Neither system was put into production.

Withdrawal

The Sea Dart-equipped Type 42s were replaced by the larger Type 45 which are armed with the Sea Viper missile system which is much more capable in the anti-air role. The first-of-class, ''Daring,'' entered service in 2009.

On 13 April 2012 fired the last operational Sea Dart missiles. The last two remaining Type 42s, and ''Edinburgh'' completed their careers without the system being operational.

A launcher with drill missiles has been preserved and is on display at Explosion! Museum of Naval Firepower, Gosport, Hampshire.

Operators

Former operators

;:
;:

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

*
*
* ''Britain's Modern Royal Navy'', Paul Beaver, Patrick Stephens Limited, 1996
* ''Naval Armament'', Doug Richardson, Jane's Publishing, 1981,
*
* War Machines enciclopedy, Limited publishing, 1984 page 866 (Italian version printed by De Agostini) and page 1260-1268
* Enciclopedy War Machines, 1265–70 and 864-65 (Italian edition)

See also

{{UKmissiles

Naval surface-to-air missiles
Naval weapons of the United Kingdom
Ramjet-powered missiles
Surface-to-air missiles of the United Kingdom
Military equipment introduced in the 1970s