Sea Dart (missile)

Sea Dart
Sea Dart drill missiles on HMS Edinburgh in 2012
Type	Surface-to-air, surface-to-surface
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	1973 – 2012
Used by	See operators
Wars	Falklands War Gulf 1991
Production history
Designer	Hawker Siddeley Dynamics
Designed	1963
Manufacturer	Hawker Siddeley Dynamics (1963–1977) BAe Dynamics (1977–1999) MBDA (UK) Ltd (since 1999)
Produced	1970
No. built	2,000+
Specifications
Weight	550 kg (1,210 lb)
Length	4.4 m (14 ft)
Diameter	0.42 m (17 in)
Warhead	11 kg (24 lb) HE. Blast-fragmentation
Detonation mechanism	Proximity fuze and contact
Engine	Chow solid-fuel booster motor Bristol Siddeley Odin ramjet cruise motor
Wingspan	0.9 m (3.0 ft)
Operational range	Mod 0 (basic) 40 nmi (46 mi; 74 km) Mod 2 (upgrade) 80 nmi (92 mi; 150 km)
Flight ceiling	Greater than 10,000 m (33,000 ft)
Speed	Mach 2.0+
Guidance system	Semi-active radar illuminated by radar Type 909
Steering system	control surfaces
Launch platform	ship

Sea Dart or GWS30 was a British surface-to-air missile system designed by Hawker Siddeley Dynamics and built by British Aerospace from 1977. It was fitted to the Type 42 destroyers (UK and Argentina), Type 82 destroyer and Invincible-class aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy. The missile system has had nine confirmed successful engagements in combat, including six aeroplanes, two helicopters and a missile.

Sea Dart began as Hawker Siddeley project "CF.299", a weapon to replace the Royal Navy's first-generation long-range surface-to-air missile, Seaslug. It entered service in 1973 on the sole Type 82 destroyer HMS Bristol before widespread deployment on the Type 42 destroyer commencing with HMS Sheffield in 1976. The missile system was also fitted to Invincible-class aircraft carriers but was removed during refits in the 1998-2000 period to increase the area of the flight deck and below-decks stowage associated with the operation of Royal Air Force Harrier GR9 aircraft.

Sea Dart is a two-stage, 4.4-metre (14 ft) long missile weighing 550 kilograms (1,210 lb). 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 30 nautical miles (35 mi; 56 km) over a wide range of altitudes. It has a secondary capability against small surface vessels, tested against a Brave-class fast patrol boat, 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 46 litres (10 imp gal; 12 US gal) of kerosene fuel.