Sea Skua

Sea Skua
General Information
Type	Anti-ship missile
Manufacturer	British Aircraft Corporation (now MBDA )
development	1972-1981
Commissioning	1979
Unit price	$ 316,000
Technical specifications
length	2.51 m
diameter	250 mm
Combat weight	147 kg
span	720 mm
drive	Solid rocket motor
speed	Mach 0.8-0.95
Range	15-25 km
Furnishing
Target location	Inertial navigation platform plus semi-active radar target search
Warhead	28 kg high explosive armor piercing
Detonator	Impact fuse
Weapon platforms	helicopter
Lists on the subject

The Sea Skua (English for Skua ) is a light anti-ship guided missile with short range from British production. The system is primarily used to combat small surface vessels.

development

The Sea Skua was developed on behalf of the Royal Navy as a replacement for the AS.12 currently in use . The development under the designation CL.834 at British Aircraft Corporation (from 1977 British Aerospace , today MBDA ) began in 1972. The first guided missiles were delivered in 1982.

The Sea Skua is primarily used by helicopters, although the Sea Skua does not depend on any particular helicopter model. For example, it can take off from the Westland Lynx or Sea King helicopter. After being released from the helicopter, there is a short unpowered start phase. The rocket motor only ignites at a safe distance from the helicopter. This accelerates the missile to a speed of around Mach 0.8 (approx. 1000 km / h), and the missile sinks at a steep angle to a cruising altitude of 2 to 5 m (depending on the sea ). Using the inertial navigation platform and the AHV-7 radar altimeter, the missile stays on course to its target. For the last 1 to 2 km to the target, the guided missile requires radar target lighting. This is based on the principle of semi-active radar target search. For this purpose, the helicopter uses a target lighting radar . The Sea Skua only has one signal receiver that does not transmit any radar signals itself, but can only receive them. This assumes that the on-board radar for the target approach of the guided weapon continuously sends out radar signals in the direction of the target. The Sea Skua's seeker head uses reflected radar energy to find the target. The rocket hits the target at wave height in the ship's hull. In the optimal case, the guided weapon penetrates the ship's side and the warhead detonates only inside the ship.

Other light anti-ship guided missiles are developed and produced by Israel Military Industries ( Delilah ) and Aérospatiale ( AS.15TT ).

variants

Sea Skua SL

The Sea Skua SL ( S hip L aunched) was developed from 1981 to 1988. It is primarily installed on small ships (patrol boats). There the Sea Skua SL is in a container in which it can be stored, but also fired at the same time. Patrol boats that are to be equipped with it must also be equipped with a Seaspray 3000 or Mk. 3 radar, which is used for target acquisition and illumination.

Contrary to what the name suggests, the SL can also be installed on a truck and fired from land for coastal defense.

Deployment platforms

A Sea Skua on a Westland Lynx of the German Navy

Helicopter:

Westland Lynx - four missiles
Sea King - four missiles
AB-212 - two missiles
NH90 - four missiles

Plane:

Britten-Norman Defender 4000 - four missiles

Ship: (Sea Skua SL)

To Al Maradim class (Combattante I) - four missiles

commitment

Falklands War

The Sea Skua experienced its first mission, still untested, in the Falklands War during Operation Corporate . Four rockets were fired on May 3, 1982 in heavy snowstorms at the Argentine patrol boat Alférez Sobral . Three Sea Skua hit their target. Despite severe damage and eight dead crew members, the small ship was able to reach the port of Puerto Deseado without assistance. Four more missiles were later fired at the wreckage of the Río Carcarañá freighter and the Río Iguazú patrol boat .

Second Gulf War

Further missions followed in 1991 in the Second Gulf War . On January 24, a Royal Navy Westland Lynx sank two Iraqi minesweepers with Sea Skua guided missiles. A third was damaged.

On January 29, a formation of 17 Iraqi landing craft and speedboats were discovered south of Failaka Island . Two of the boats were sunk by the Royal Navy's Westland Lynx using Sea Skua guided missiles. The rest of the boats were sunk or damaged by American carrier aircraft.

On January 30, in the same area as the day before, a group of three Polnochny landing craft , three TNC-45 speedboats and a T-43 mine-layer were discovered. Westland Lynx of the Royal Navy used Sea Skua guided missiles to damage the mine- layer and a Polnochny landing craft . The two wrecks were later sunk by Royal Air Force aircraft .

In February 1991 a Zhuk speedboat, a mine- layer and a Polnochny landing craft were sunk by Westland Lynx of the Royal Navy with Sea Skua guided weapons. Another Zhuk speedboat was damaged.

distribution

Depending on the source, a total of around 800 to 1500 guided missiles of the Sea Skua and Sea Skua SL types were produced.

Brazil Brazil

40 Sea Skua were delivered to the Brazilian Navy (Marinha do Brasil) for the Westland Lynx between 1986 and 1987.

Germany Germany

The naval aviators of the Bundeswehr received around 140 Sea Skua between 1988 and 1989. These are used by the Sea King and Sea Lynx helicopters equipped with the Seaspray 3 radar. In the German Navy , the Sea-Skua anti-ship missiles are being replaced by the NSM .

Kuwait Kuwait

In Kuwait, the naval forces there have been using 80 Sea Skua SL for the Umm-al-Maradim class since 2000, a missile speedboat based on the Combattante I and produced by Chantiers des Constructions Mechaniques de Normandie in Cherbourg.

Malaysia Malaysia

As of 2007, the Malaysian Navy should receive 48 Sea Skua for their Super Lynx. In a pre-test, however, a Sea Skua failed completely. It neither hit the target nor ignited the warhead. All missiles delivered up to then were then returned for revision. It wasn't until the beginning of 2008 that a revised Sea Skua was able to demonstrate its capabilities.

Korea South South Korea

In 1990 the Navy of the South Korean Armed Forces received 96 Sea Skua, which were supplied along with Super Lynx helicopters.

Turkey Turkey

The Turkish Navy has 120 Sea Skua that are used with the Augusta Bell AB-212 ASW. This helicopter is equipped with a Seaspray 3 radar.

United Kingdom United Kingdom

The Royal Navy has been using the Sea Skua with the Lynx since 1982. It is to be retired in the Royal Navy from 2017 and only be replaced by the Sea Venom rocket with the introduction of the AW159 helicopter from 2020 .

References

Web links

Commons : Sea Skua - collection of images, videos and audio files

www.fas.org
Sea Skua Mk. 2 on MBDA.com (en)
Sea Skua on armedforces.co.uk (en)
Sea Skua on the-grey-lynx.com (en)
Presentation of the Sea Skua from forecastinternational.com (en; PDF; 341 kB)

Videos

literature

British secret projects - Hypersonics, Ramjets and Missiles by Chris Gibson and Tony Buttler, Midland Publishing, 2007, ISBN 978-1-85780-258-0

Individual evidence

↑ Naval Lynx website ( memento of September 13, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) accessed on January 24, 2012
↑ http://aviationweek.com/awindefense/germany-buy-norwegian-naval-strike-missile
^ Trade Register at sipri.org , accessed May 8, 2010
↑ Ben Farmer: "Royal Navy to lose missiles and be left only with guns" Telegraph of November 15, 2016

[1] Naval Lynx website ( memento of September 13, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) accessed on January 24, 2012

[2] ttp://aviationweek.com/awindefense/germany-buy-norwegian-naval-strike-missile

[3] Trade Register at sipri.org , accessed May 8, 2010

[4] Ben Farmer: "Royal Navy to lose missiles and be left only with guns" Telegraph of November 15, 2016