Sea Wolf

A trainable launcher type Sea Wolf missile. The vertical launch missile has a large booster motor in tandem.
Type	surface-to-air
Nationality	UK
Era	Cold War
Launch platform	ship
Target	missile, aircraft
History
Builder	BAe, MDBA
Date of design
Production period
Service duration	1979 -
Operators	UK, Brazil and Chile
Variants	Electronics; GWS-25, GWS-26, GWS-27 Vertical Launch
Number built
Specifications
Type
Diameter	0.18 m
Wing span	0.7 m
Length	2.0 m
Weight	80 kg
Propulsion	Blackcap solid fuel sustainer
Steering	control surfaces
Guidance	automatic command line of site
Speed	Mach 3
Range	1000 m - 6 km
Ceiling	3000 m
Payload
Warhead	14 kg blast
Trigger	proximity or contact

Sea Wolf is a naval missile system designed and built by BAC, later to become British Aerospace (BAe) Dynamics (now by MBDA). It is an automatic point-defence weapon system designed as a final line of defence against both sea-skimming and high angle anti-ship missiles and aircraft. It has been fielded by the Royal Navy in GWS-25 and GWS-26 (Guided Weapon System) VL Sea Wolf (Vertical Launch) forms. Image File history File links Sea_Wolf_missile. ... A weapons platform is generally any structure or system on which a weapon can be mounted. ... A missile (CE pronunciation: ; AmE: ) is, in general, a projectile—that is, something thrown or otherwise propelled. ... The British Aircraft Corporation, or BAC, was a British aircraft manufacturer, formed from the forced merger of the Bristol Aeroplane Company, English Electric, Vickers-Armstrong and Hunting Aircraft Company in 1959. ... British Aerospace (BAe) was a UK aircraft manufacturer, now part of BAE Systems. ... MBDA is a European arms company which manufactures missiles and is the result of the 2002 merger of Aérospatiale-Matra Missiles (of EADS), Alenia Marconi Systems missile divisions and Matra BAe Dynamics. ... RBS-15 missile launched from a Sisu missile carriage. ... The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the senior service of the British armed services, being the oldest of its three branches. ...

History

The system was developed by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) from a 1964 requirement for a replacement for the Sea Cat missile system to give small warships protection against anti-ship missiles and aircraft. A contract was awarded in 1967 to BAC, Vickers and Bristol Aerojet. Testing lasted from 1970 until 1977, with shipborne trials on a modified Leander class frigate, HMS Penelope, from 1976 onwards. Sea Wolf was tested with a vertical launch system early in the missile's development on a modified Loch class frigate, Loch Fada, but for unclear reasons work did not continue in this direction: the GWS-26 "VL Seawolf (VLS)" being a much later (1980s) unrelated development. During trials the missile performed impressively, successfully intercepting a 114mm shell on one occasion. The first deployment, in the GWS-25 form, was on the Type 22 frigate (2 systems) and later on modified Leander class frigates (1 system) in six-round, manually loaded, trainable launchers. The British Aircraft Corporation, or BAC, was a British aircraft manufacturer, formed from the forced merger of the Bristol Aeroplane Company, English Electric, Vickers-Armstrong and Hunting Aircraft Company in 1959. ... Sea Cat Type surface-to-air Nationality United Kingdom Era Cold War Launch platform Ship Target aircraft History Builder Short Brothers Date of design Production period Service duration 1962 - Operators UK Variants Fire Control (see text) Number built Specifications Type close range anti-aircraft Diameter 0. ... Vickers Armstrong (Aircraft) company logo Vickers, founded as the Vickers Company in 1828, was a British manufacturer, primarily of military equipment, traditionally based in Barrow-in-Furness. ... The Leander class, informally known as the Type 12M, comprising twenty-six frigates, was arguably the most successful and popular class of frigates in the Royal Navys modern history. ... HMS Penelope (F127) was a Leander-class frigate of the Royal Navy (RN). ... Loch class frigates were essentially an improved River class. ... HMS Loch Fada (K390) was the lead ship of the Loch class of frigates of the Royal Navy, pennant number K390 and named after Loch Fada in Scotland. ... A group of Type 22s, with HMS Coventry in the foreground HMS Chatham, the last of the Batch 3 Type 22s, at the International Fleet Review, 2005 The Type 22 Broadsword class frigates are a class of warships built for the Royal Navy. ...

It has been used by the Royal Navy since 1979 and has been fired in anger during the Falklands War. Current deployment is on the Type 22 Batch 3 (GWS-25) and Vertical Launch Seawolf (VLS) on Type 23 (GWS-26) frigates. The latter fields 32 vertical launch missiles (VL Sea Wolf) in its missile silo. It is expected to remain in service until 2020. GWS-27 was an enhanced variant of the system which was cancelled in 1987. The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the senior service of the British armed services, being the oldest of its three branches. ... Combatants United Kingdom Argentina Casualties 255 killed 777 wounded 1 taken prisoner 649 killed 1,068 wounded 11,313 taken prisoner The Falklands War (Spanish: Guerra de las Malvinas) was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the Falkland Islands (also known in Spanish as the Islas... HMS Richmond The Type 23 frigate is a class of warship serving with the Royal Navy, also known as the Duke class. ...

Characteristics

Sea Wolf is powered by the Blackcap solid-fuel rocket to a maximum velocity of Mach 2 and can intercept targets in the range of 1000 to 6000m and 10 to 3000m in altitude. The 14 kg warhead is a proximity fuzed HE-fragmenting type. In the manually loaded form, the missiles are stored onboard in individual maintenance-free canisters, sealed until use and handled like a round of ammunition. Look up Proximity fuze in Wiktionary, the free dictionary A proximity fuze (also called a VT fuze) is a fuze that is designed to detonate an explosive automatically when close enough to the target to destroy it. ...

Fire Control

The system is fully automated and uses an integrated combination of visual (CCTV) and radar tracking. Target detection is carried out using the parent ship's surveillance radars. Originally, in the Type 22 and Sea Wolf equipped Leander class, this was the radar Type 967 / 968 combination; the D-band Type 967 providing long range surveillance and the E-band Type 968 providing short range target indication. Laterly, these functions have been taken over by the radar Type 996 3D surveillance radar. Target data is processed by the ships computers and when the system is live, targets are automatically assigned and engaged without the need for human intervention (although this can be over-ridden in the operations room).

When a target is to be engaged, the ships computer slews one of the pair of Sea Wolf trackers onto the target (there was a single tracker on a Sea Wolf Leander). Originally the Type 910, with a dual-role I/J band radar, was used but this suffered from poor performance locking onto low-altitude targets hidden in the background sea clutter in the Falklands War. Subsequently, the lighter Type 911 supplanted the Type 910, with a separate I-band radar to gather targets and K band radar to provide the lock. This system is based on the Blindfire tracker of the Rapier missile and was fitted in the 7th Type 22 Frigate onwards. Unlike Type 910, Type 911 is not reliant on the CCTV function, although this is retained as a back up and to provide a record of engagements. Combatants United Kingdom Argentina Casualties 255 killed 777 wounded 1 taken prisoner 649 killed 1,068 wounded 11,313 taken prisoner The Falklands War (Spanish: Guerra de las Malvinas) was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the Falkland Islands (also known in Spanish as the Islas... Rapier Type surface to air Nationality UK Era Cold War Launch platform vehicle Target aircraft History Builder British Aerospace Date of design Production period Service duration Operators UK Variants ? Number built ? Specifications Type Diameter 0. ...

When lock has been achieved with the missile tracker a round is fired, and is tracked by a pair of radio transmitters in the missile's tail and visually by the CCTV camera boresighted in the tracker by means of the exhaust flare. The ship-board system constantly measures the angle differences between the target and the missile and issues the relevant guidance commands to the missile through an Automatic Command to Line of Sight (ACLOS) device transmitting on a microwave link and controlling the rear fins of the missile. It is possible for a single tracker to control a salvo of two missiles.

Combat performance

During the Falklands War, Sea Wolf was present on board HMS Brilliant and HMS Broadsword. As the Royal Navy's only modern point-defence weapon at the time, the two Type 22 frigates so equipped were assigned "goalkeeper" duties; close anti-aircraft defence of the carrier task force. Unlike the long-range Sea Dart, Sea Wolf lived up to expectations and performed well in combat. On May 12, 1982, Brilliant was attacked by and drove off a flight of four Argentine A-4 Skyhawk aircraft; destroying 2 and causing a third to crash trying to avoid the missile. Sea Wolf accounted for two confirmed 'kills' and three further possible successes from eight launches. Combatants United Kingdom Argentina Casualties 255 killed 777 wounded 1 taken prisoner 649 killed 1,068 wounded 11,313 taken prisoner The Falklands War (Spanish: Guerra de las Malvinas) was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the Falkland Islands (also known in Spanish as the Islas... HMS Brilliant (F90) was a Type 22 frigate of the Royal Navy. ... HMS Broadsword (F88) was the lead ship and first Batch 1 unit of the Type 22 frigates of the Royal Navy. ... Sea Dart Type surface-to-air, surface-to-surface Nationality UK Era Cold War Launch platform ship Target aircraft or ship History Builder British Aerospace Date of design Production period Service duration 1973 Operators UK (Royal Navy), Argentina Variants ? Number built ? Specifications Type Diameter 0. ... May 12 is the 132nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (133rd in leap years). ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The A-4 Skyhawk is an attack aircraft originally designed to operate from United States Navy aircraft carriers. ...

In an attempt to overcome the fleet's evident air defence deficiency, a new tactic was devised. A Type 22 frigate and a Type 42 destroyer (a 22/42 combo) were deployed together some distance from the main fleet, covering likely attack routes, in an attempt to draw attacking aircraft into a 'missile trap'. It is indicative of the compromised Type 42's shortcomings that the Navy's newest air-defence destroyer required an anti-submarine frigate to act as close air-defence. Broadsword however was unable to successfully defend HMS Coventry when the pair were attacked on May 25. The latter, moving evasively, crossed in front of Broadsword and broke the Sea Wolf's lock on the attacking aircraft. Sea Wolf also suffered from problems with hardware failure causing launches to fail, and broken lock resulting from the extreme sea conditions and the Argentine's low altitude hit-and-run tactics, and multiple targets and crossing targets - neither of which it was designed to intercept. HMS Coventry (D118) was a Type 42 destroyer of the Royal Navy laid down by Cammell Laird and Company, Limited, at Birkenhead on 29 January 1973, launched on 21 June 1974 and commissioned on 20 October 1978. ... May 25 is the 145th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (146th in leap years). ...

As of 1991 Sea Wolf is said to have a 70% hit chance and VL Sea Wolf is said to have 80% kill rate.

Variants

Vertical Launch Seawolf (VLS)GWS-26

Instead of an aimed launcher, the VL Seawolf missile is a vertical launch system. The missiles are packed into tubes forming a "silo" on the deck. Missiles are launched vertically by a booster motor to clear the ship's super-structure and rapidly flipped onto their flight path by thrust vectoring.The boost and vectoring stages then separate. The VLS cells on board USS San Jacinto. ...

Although vertical launch aspects had been explored much earlier in Seawolf's development, it was not until the 1980s that a production design was undertaken. VL Seawolf (VLS) went into service as GWS-26 on the Type 23 frigate HMS Norfolk(F230). HMS Richmond The Type 23 frigate is a class of warship serving with the Royal Navy, also known as the Duke class. ...

Block 2 Sea Wolf

Block 2 Sea Wolf is a replenishment upgrade to the existing stocks of Sea Wolf missiles. Block 2 missiles will replace all Sea Wolf missiles, both on Type 22 and Type 23 frigates, as part of the normal ammunition replenshiment. In a parallel programme, the associated Type 911 tracker is being upgraded by the addition of an infra-red camera, enhanced tracking software and new operator's consoles.

Block 2 Seawolf is not a "Fire and Forget" missile; it still relies on target data from the parent ship all the way to intercept. A variant with a fire-and-forget capability, GWS-27, was cancelled in 1987.

Lightweight Sea Wolf

Sea Wolf was not designed as a particularly lightweight system, the original GWS-25 variant with Type 910 tracking required 13.5 tonnes of tracking and below decks fire control equipment, reduced to 5 tonnes with the upgraded Type 911 tracker. The "broad-beam" Leander class frigate of 3,200 tons could carry only a single missile system, and required some significant structural "surgery" of the upperworks to counteract the weight of the new missile system. Sea Wolf in its original guise cannot therefore be easily added to existing vessels. For this reason a variant was designed to use a four-missile launcher, similar in form to that of the obsolete Sea Cat system; Lightweight Sea Wolf'. It was to equip the Royal Navy's Invincible class carriers and Type 42 destroyers to supplement the medium range Sea Dart system, which could not intercept sea-skimming anti-ship missiles such as Exocet. However, it was cancelled before it entered service. Sea Cat may refer to: Sea Cat missile Sea Cat: a type of passenger-carrying catamaran ferry This is a disambiguation page, a list of pages that otherwise might share the same title. ... Type 42 destroyer HMS Manchester Type 42, also known as the Sheffield class, is a class of destroyers of the Royal Navy. ... Sea Dart launcher Sea Dart is a surface to air missile system mounted on air defence destroyers of the Royal Navy. ... In older English literature there are some uses of exocet to mean flying fish. There is also a typeface known as Exocet. ...

Bibliography

• "BATTLE ATLAS of the FALKLANDS WAR 1982, by Land, Sea, Air" Gordon Smith, 2006 ( [1])
• "Tras un manto de neblina. Breve crónica de la Guerra de las Malvinas", Mario Díaz Gavier, Córdoba, 2004
• "Modern Combat Ships 4: Type 22" Leo Marriot, Ian Allan, 1986
• "Royal Navy Frigates 1945-1983" Leo Marriot, Ian Allan, 1983
• "Naval Armament", Doug Richardson, Jane's Publishing, 1981

External link

• Jane's Defence news on Seawolf Block 2, April 2006

See also

List of missiles Below is a list of (links to pages on) missiles, sorted alphabetically by name. ...