Sea Viper News

The U.K. on Thursday said its Royal Navy had shot down a missile fired by the Iran-backed Houthis from Yemen targeting a merchant vessel in the Gulf of Aden."The UK continues to be at the forefront of the international response to the Iranian-backed Houthis’ dangerous attacks on commercial vessels, which have claimed the lives of international mariners," British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said in a statementThe crew of the Royal Navy warship HMS Diamond used a Sea Viper missile system to shoot down the missile…

Britain's Ministry of Defence said on Sunday it would spend 405 million pounds ($514 million) to upgrade a missile system now being used by the Royal Navy to shoot down hostile drones over the Red Sea.The Sea Viper Air Defence system will be upgraded with missiles featuring a new warhead and software enabling it to counter ballistic missile threats, the MoD said in a statement.The contracts were awarded to the British division of MBDA, a missiles joint venture owned by Airbus…

HMS Duncan, the Royal Navy’s sixth Type 45 Destroyer, has entered into service from BAE four months ahead of schedule. The 7,500 tonne vessel will now embark on a program of trials to prepare the ship and her crew for operational deployment. HMS Duncan is the final Type 45 to enter service with the Royal Navy. Her handover to the Fleet marks the end of a 13-year build programme with BAE Systems to deliver the six ships – Daring, Dauntless, Diamond, Dragon, Defender and Duncan.

Building on its relationship with the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) a Royal Navy Type 45 frigate will take part in major research trials. The joint Ministry of Defence and industry-run UK Missile Defence Centre (MDC) has agreed to take part in trials which will include testing the Sampson radar, part of the Sea Viper missile system, in detecting and tracking ballistic targets. While there is no programme to fit Type 45 with Theatre Ballistic Missile Defence (TBMD) capability…

'HMS Diamond'  joins with 'USS Enterprise' to demonstrate the Type 45 destroyer's outstanding air defence capabilities. During the exercise warfare specialists in Diamond's operations room helped to choreograph sorties of F-18 Super Hornets and other aircraft, which add to the Carrier Strike Group's potency. As her sister ship Daring did just a few months ago, Diamond joined forces with the 'Big E' to show how a Type 45 destroyer can shield a task group from air attack - exactly what she was built for.

The Royal Navy's newest Type 45 destroyer, 'HMS Defender', sails to her new home at Naval Base Portsmouth. The ship's arrival at her new base brings Defender a step closer to her first deployment. She will now undergo sea trials before being declared ready for operations in 2013. Armed with the world-leading Sea Viper missile defence system, the 7,500-tonne vessel is able to defend against multiple attacks from even the most sophisticated anti-ship missiles, approaching from any direction and at supersonic speeds.

The third of the Royal Navy's cutting-edge 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. 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. '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)…