Seaslug (missile)

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

First-generation surface-to-air missile designed by Armstrong Whitworth for use by the Royal Navy.

- Seaslug (missile)
Seaslug Mk. II missile

18 related topics

Alpha
The League of Nations assembly, held in Geneva, Switzerland, 1930

Rainbow Code

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.

The League of Nations assembly, held in Geneva, Switzerland, 1930

Blue Shield – see Armstrong Whitworth Sea Slug

Thunderbird II at Imperial War Museum Duxford

Thunderbird (missile)

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
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".

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

Bloodhound (missile)

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

An artist's depiction of a Soviet surface-to-air missile system engaging two F-16 Fighting Falcons

Surface-to-air missile

Missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles.

Missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles.

An artist's depiction of a Soviet surface-to-air missile system engaging two F-16 Fighting Falcons
A Wasserfall missile lifts off during a test flight.
Typical of the "boost-glide" type weapons, the Fairey Stooge was an armed drone aircraft flown to a collision with the target. Enzian and Schmetterling were similar in concept, design and performance.
Nike Ajax was the first operational SAM system.
SA-2 Guideline surface-to-air missiles, one of the most widely deployed SAM systems in the world
A moment after an S-75 Dvina (SA-2) hits an F-105 over North Vietnam, the fighter-bomber starts to spew flame.
An S-75 detonates directly below an RF-4C reconnaissance plane. The crew ejected and were taken captive.
The Osa was the first system to include search, track and missiles all on a single mobile platform.
The Strela-2 was an early and widespread MANPADs system.
Starstreak laser-guided surface-to-air missile of the British Army.
Long-range SAMs like the RIM-161 are an important part of modern naval forces.
The David's Sling Stunner missile is designed for super-maneuverability. A three-pulse motor activates only during the kill-stage, providing additional acceleration and maneuverability.
Israel's Arrow 3 missiles use a gimbaled seeker for hemispheric coverage. By measuring the seeker's line-of-sight propagation relative to the vehicle's motion, they use proportional navigation to divert their course and line up exactly with the target's flight path.
A JASDF soldier uses the optical sight on the Type 91 Kai MANPADS to acquire a mock airborne target. The prominent vertical metal devices on the left are the IFF antennas.
A U.S. Marine antiaircraft gunner aims his Stinger at a location indicated by a spotter.

A third design followed the American Bumblebee efforts in terms of role and timeline, and entered service in 1961 as the Sea Slug.

The League of Nations assembly, held in Geneva, Switzerland, 1930

Blue Envoy

British project to develop a ramjet-powered surface-to-air missile.

British project to develop a ramjet-powered surface-to-air missile.

The League of Nations assembly, held in Geneva, Switzerland, 1930

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.

Hawker Siddeley

Group of British manufacturing companies engaged in aircraft production.

Group of British manufacturing companies engaged in aircraft production.

Royal Air Force Hawker Siddeley Hawk T.1A, with its pilot. This aircraft, used for aerobatic displays, is in a special colour scheme.
Caboose built in the Hawker Siddeley plant of Thunder Bay, Ontario
A Hawker Siddeley Trident.

Sea Slug – Armstrong Whitworth surface-to-air missile.

The last of 100 Gloster Meteor NF.14 night fighters built for the RAF at AWA's factories demonstrating at the 1954 Farnborough Air Show

Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft

British aircraft manufacturer.

British aircraft manufacturer.

The last of 100 Gloster Meteor NF.14 night fighters built for the RAF at AWA's factories demonstrating at the 1954 Farnborough Air Show

Seaslug (missile)

Swedish Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft gun mounted overlooking a beach in French Algeria, manned by a United States anti-aircraft artillery crew. (1943)

Anti-aircraft warfare

Battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".

Battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".

Swedish Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft gun mounted overlooking a beach in French Algeria, manned by a United States anti-aircraft artillery crew. (1943)
1909 vintage Krupp 9-pounder anti-aircraft gun
A Canadian anti-aircraft unit of 1918 "taking post"
A French anti-aircraft motor battery (motorized AAA battery) that brought down a Zeppelin near Paris. From the journal Horseless Age, 1916.
A Maxim anti-aircraft machine gun.
A No.1 Mark III Predictor that was used with the QF 3.7-inch AA gun
Shooting with anti-aircraft gun in Sweden 1934
German 88 mm flak gun in action against Allied bombers.
German soldier manning a MG34 anti-aircraft gun in WW2
A USAAF B-24 hit by flak over Italy, 10 April 1945.
British QF 3.7-inch gun in London in 1939.
US Coast Guardsmen in the South Pacific man a 20 mm anti-aircraft cannon.
Indian troops manning a Bren light machine gun in an anti-aircraft mount in 1941.
5-inch, 40mm and 20mm fire directed from USS New Mexico at Kamikaze, Battle of Okinawa, 1945.
One of six flak towers built during World War II in Vienna.
A British North Sea World War II Maunsell Fort.
A USAAF B-24 bomber emerges from a cloud of flak with its no. 2 engine smoking.
Flak in the Balkans, 1942 (drawing by Helmuth Ellgaard).
A 1970s-era Talos anti-aircraft missile, fired from a cruiser
A three-person JASDF fireteam practices using a rocket target with a training variant of a Type 91 Kai MANPADS during an exercise at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska as part of Red Flag – Alaska.
A Gepard in motion at the 2015 Military Day in Uffenheim. The Gepard is an autonomous all-weather-capable German self-propelled anti-aircraft gun.
Soviet 85mm anti-aircraft guns deployed in the neighborhood of St Isaac's Cathedral during the Siege of Leningrad (formerly Petrograd, now called St. Petersburg, ) in 1941.
The Royal Navy's Type 45 destroyers are advanced air defence ships
Soviet/Russian AK-630 CIWS (close-in weapon system)
Model of the multirole IDAS missile of the German Navy, which can be fired from submerged anti-aircraft weapon systems
Layered air defence missile launchers and radars of Dutch Armed Forces in 2017.
A RIM-67 surface to air missile intercepts a Firebee drone at White Sands, 1980.
A USAF F-22A Raptor firing an AIM-120 air to air missile.
The Russian Pantsir-S1 can engage targets while moving, thus achieving high survivability.
AGM-88 and AIM-9 on a Luftwaffe Tornado.
Ballonabwehrkanone by Krupp
Ballonabwehrkanone by Krupp
Ballonabwehrkanone on the Prussian corvette Nymphe 1872.
20 mm Becker-Oerlikon Model 1917 AA-Gun

British naval missiles used included Sea Dart and the older Sea Slug longer range systems, Sea Cat and the new Sea Wolf short range systems.

Sea Dart drill missiles on in 2012

Sea Dart

Royal Navy surface-to-air missile system designed in the 1960s and entering service in 1973.

Royal Navy surface-to-air missile system designed in the 1960s and entering service in 1973.

Sea Dart drill missiles on in 2012
Sea Dart missile illustration. The Chow booster is on the extreme right. The four small receiver antennas for the semi-active radar homing are visible on the left. The antennas are arranged to provide phase-comparison to improve accuracy.
Sea Dart on in 1982 (taken after the Falklands War had ended)
Canberra bomber B-108 of Grupo de Bombardeo 2. This Argentine aircraft was shot down by a Sea Dart on 13 June 1982.
Sea Dart on Invincible
conducting the final Sea Dart missile firing at the north western Scottish range of Benbecula. The ship fired five missiles, three single missiles and a two-missile salvo at an unmanned drone target.
Map with former Sea Dart operators in red

Britain's first naval surface-to-air missile was GWS1 Seaslug, which entered service in 1963.

Ministry 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.

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.

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