Description
Physical description
missile
This is an example of the British anti-ship missile, that entered service in 1982. It is 2.5m long, has a launch weight of approximately 145kg, and with semi-active homing radar, has a range of about 15km.
Label
The British Aerospace Sea Skua entered service in 1982 as the first missile system developed specifically for the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It is a lightweight, all-weather helicopter-launched missile carried by the the Westland Lynx and controlled and guided by the helicopter's Ferranti Sea Spray radar.
The missile was first used operationally in the Falklands conflict in 1982. Of the nine Sea Skuas fired, seven registered hits, helping to sink the already abandoned Argentine cargo vessel Rio Carcarana and damaging the patrol craft Alferez Sobral and Rio Iguazu.
Sea Skuas were again employed with great success in the Gulf War of 1991. Lynx helicopters from HMS Cardiff, HMS Gloucester, HMS London and HMS Manchester, armed with Sea Skua missiles, sank or disabled 15 Iraqi patrol craft, from a range of 5 miles.
History note
The British Aerospace Sea Skua entered service in 1982 as the first missile system developed specifically for the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It is a lightweight, all-weather helicopter-launched missile carried by the the Westland Lynx and controlled and guided by the helicopter's Ferranti Sea Spray radar.
The missile was first used operationally in the Falklands conflict in 1982. Of the nine Sea Skuas fired, seven registered hits, helping to sink the already abandoned Argentine cargo vessel Rio Carcarana and damaging the patrol craft Alferez Sobral and Rio Iguazu.
Sea Skuas were again employed with great success in the Gulf War of 1991. Lynx helicopters from HMS Cardiff, HMS Gloucester, HMS London and HMS Manchester, armed with Sea Skua missiles, sank or disabled 15 Iraqi patrol craft, from a range of 5 miles.