A report on Seaslug (missile) and Rainbow Code

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

Blue Shield – see Armstrong Whitworth Sea Slug

- Rainbow Code

The Seaslug Mark 2 was based on the aborted Blue Slug programme to develop an anti-ship missile using the Seaslug missile and guidance system.

- Seaslug (missile)
Seaslug Mk. II missile

4 related topics with Alpha

Overall

Blue Envoy

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Blue Envoy (a Rainbow Code name) was a British project to develop a ramjet-powered surface-to-air 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.

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".

As a new project, it was assigned a name under the newly-introduced MoS rainbow code, "Red Heathen".

Ministry of Supply

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Department of the UK government formed in 1939 to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Minister of Supply.

Department of the UK government formed in 1939 to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Minister of Supply.

The Ministry of Supply instigated the Rainbow Codes designation system.

As a result, secret weapon projects—including numerous nuclear weapons—were given lighthearted names such as Green Cheese, Blue Slug or Red Duster.

A Fireflash missile at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford (2014)

Fireflash

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The United Kingdom's first air-to-air guided missile to see service with the Royal Air Force.

The United Kingdom's first air-to-air guided missile to see service with the Royal Air Force.

A Fireflash missile at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford (2014)
A Fireflash missile at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford (2014)
A Supermarine Swift with two Fireflash missiles (1956)
Drawing of a Fireflash missile

In January 1945 the Air Ministry issued Operational Requirement OR.1056, given the Ministry of Supply rainbow code "Red Hawk", for an air-to-air missile.

In the immediately following period, a rationalized development program was laid out that called for the development of a surface-to-air missile (SAM) for the Royal Navy that became Seaslug, a similar SAM design for the British Army and Royal Air Force known by the code name "Red Heathen", the Blue Boar anti-shipping bomb, and ongoing development of Red Hawk.