Sea Skua Anti-ship Missile

Type

Medium-range, radar-guided, air-to-surface missile.

 Development

Sea Skua development started in 1975, under a project numbered CL 834, in response to a requirement for an all-weather, anti-ship missile small enough to be carried by light helicopters. Development continued through to 1982, although a production contract was placed in mid-1981. In April 1982, the Royal Navy took some early missiles for use in the Falklands/Malvinas conflict, before formal evaluation and acceptance procedures had been completed. Sea Skua has been cleared for carriage on Lynx, Super Lynx, SH-2G Super Seasprite, Agusta-Bell 212ASW and SH-3D Sea King helicopters. In addition, studies have been completed to fit the missiles to SH-60B Seahawk helicopters as well as to smaller fixed-wing aircraft such as the Pilatus Britten-Norman Defender and Dornier 228. A ship-launched variant, Sea Skua SL was developed, with the first trial firing carried out at the end of 1988 as a private venture by British Aerospace (later Matra BAe Dynamics and now MBDA). This version was ordered by Kuwait in 1997, where they will be installed on Combattante 1 fast patrol boats. A coastal defence variant has also been studied, called Coastal Battery Sea Skua (CBSS), to be mounted on a 6 × 6 cross-country vehicle.
            In 1997, a life extension contract was placed by the UK MoD, to investigate the implications of retaining the missiles in service for a longer period. MBDA has proposed a Sea Skua Mk 2 missile, with a range increased to over 30 km, as a possible air-to-surface weapon for carriage by EH 101 Merlin helicopters.

 Description

The Sea Skua has four moving delta control fins just forward of the mid-body and four fixed out of line clipped-tip delta-wings at the rear. The missile has a distinctive narrow waist just forward of the rear wings. The missile is 2.5 m long, has a body diameter of 250 mm, a fin span of 0.72 m and weighs 147 kg. The semi-active radar seeker is in the nose of the missile, followed by the warhead and safety arming unit. At mid-body are the electronics and actuators for the moving control fins, together with gyros and gas bottles. At the rear of the missile are the solid-propellant sustainer motor, with the solid-propellant boost motor and fixed-wings right at the aft end. Guidance in azimuth is by an I-band (8 to 10 GHz) semi-active radar and in elevation by a four-position pre-programmed radio altimeter, controlling the sea-skimming flight profile. The radio altimeter is located in the centre-body section. The Lynx helicopter uses the I-Band (8 to 10 GHz) Seaspray radar as the target illuminator and the pilot can set Sea Skua's cruise altitude depending upon the sea state and target size. The missile has a semi-armour-piercing 30 kg HE warhead. Propulsion is by solid-propellant boost and sustainer motors, ignited simultaneously after launch. The sustainer motor jet efflux exhausts through two angled nozzles. The missile has a maximum speed of M0.85 and a maximum range of 15 km.

 Operational status

Sea Skua development started in 1975, with the first flight trials in 1979. Sea Skua was successfully used in the South Atlantic in 1982, although it did not formally enter service until 1983. It is reported that around 20 Sea Skua missiles were fired in the 1991 Gulf War, from RN Lynx helicopters, sinking or damaging 11 Iraqi ships. Sea Skua was used again by Royal Navy Lynx HMA.Mk 8s during combat operations against Iraq in March/April 2003 (Operation Telic). Export sales have been made to Brazil, Germany, South Korea and Turkey. The missiles are still in production. Kuwait selected a ship-launched version of Sea Skua, for fitment to eight fast patrol craft, in 1997. There have been no reported sales of the coastal defence version. Some 430 Sea Skua missiles were refurbished for the UK between 1996 and 1999.
            In October 2001 the Royal Malaysian Navy ordered the Sea Skua to equip its six new AgustaWestland Super Lynx ship-board helicopters.

 Specifications

Length: 2.5 m
Body diameter: 250 mm
Fin span: 0.72 m
Launch weight: 147 kg
Warhead: 30 kg HE semi-armour-piercing
Fuze: Impact
Guidance: Semi-active radar
Propulsion: Solid propellant
Range: 15 km

 Contractors

MBDA Missile Systems (MBDA UK), Stevenage (prime contractor).