A report on Seaslug (missile) and Blue Envoy

Seaslug Mk. II missile
Seaslug on display at Wickenby Aerodrome, Lincolnshire, UK
Test firing from the trials ship HMS Girdle Ness (A387), circa 1961.
The Seaslug launcher mounted on the quarterdeck of HMS Glamorgan, circa 1972
The firing of the first Seaslug test missile from HMS Girdle Ness (A387). This version is based on the RAE's early GPV, and retains the rear-mounted boosters before they moved forward on the "long round".
Map with Seaslug operators in blue

It was planned that Seaslug's medium-range role was to be supplanted by a very long-range missile known as Blue Envoy, but this was passed over in favour of a new medium-range system, Sea Dart.

- Seaslug (missile)

They started the New Guided Missile Program, or NIGS for short, to replace the existing Seaslug missile on the County-class destroyers with a missile of much higher performance and a fire control system and radar that could track multiple targets, similar to the modern Aegis Combat System.

- Blue Envoy
Seaslug Mk. II missile

3 related topics with Alpha

Overall

Thunderbird II at Imperial War Museum Duxford

Thunderbird (missile)

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British surface-to-air missile produced for the British Army.

British surface-to-air missile produced for the British Army.

Thunderbird II at Imperial War Museum Duxford
Thunderbird II at Imperial War Museum Duxford
A Thunderbird I missile minus finned-boosters, a museum exhibit at the Midland Air Museum, England.
Thunderbird missile (front)
Colourful display of Thunderbird II airframe in Anti-Aircraft Museum, Tuusula, Finland. Note the changes to the main fins.
Missile rear end connector details. The Artillery Museum of Finland, Hämeenlinna.
Thunderbird at RAF Museum Cosford

From their work the LOPGAP experimental design emerged, short for "Liquid Oxygen and Petrol Guided Anti-aircraft Projectile".

The original Red Heathen concept for a much longer-ranged weapon became "Green Sparkler" and then "Blue Envoy", and relegated to Stage 2 deployment in the 1960s along with newer radars and interceptor aircraft.

A Bloodhound missile at the RAF Museum, Hendon, London.

Bloodhound (missile)

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British ramjet powered surface-to-air missile developed during the 1950s.

British ramjet powered surface-to-air missile developed during the 1950s.

A Bloodhound missile at the RAF Museum, Hendon, London.
Bloodhound as used by the Royal Australian Air Force from 1963 with No. 30 Squadron in Darwin, Australia
Bloodhound of the Republic of Singapore Air Force
Before-and-after detonation of a K11A1 continuous rod warhead intended for Bloodhound Mk.2

This was part of Stage 1 upgrades to the defensive systems, in the later Stage 2, both Bloodhound and the fighters would be replaced by a longer-range missile code named Blue Envoy.

This was initially known as LOPGAP, for Liquid-Oxygen and Petrol, the proposed fuel.

Rainbow Code

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The Rainbow Codes were a series of code names used to disguise the nature of various British military research projects.

The Rainbow Codes were a series of code names used to disguise the nature of various British military research projects.

Blue Envoy – surface-to-air missile to OR.1140, replaced Green Sparker as "Stage 2" SAM

Blue Shield – see Armstrong Whitworth Sea Slug