Sea Dart

Uncommon card · No. 184353

Sea Dart, or GWS.30 was a Royal Navy surface-to-air missile system designed in the 1960s and entering service in 1973. It was fitted to the Type 42 destroyers, the sole Type 82 destroyer and the Invincible-class aircraft carriers. Originally developed by Hawker Siddeley, the missile was built by British Aerospace after 1977. It was replaced starting in 2009 with Sea Viper, with the last Sea Dart leaving service in 2012. Britain's first naval surface-to-air missile was GWS1 Seaslug, which entered service in 1963. This used beam riding guidance which offered limited accuracy and was effective only against slower targets. The need for a higher performance system was identified even as Seaslug entered service. Bristol Aerospace proposed a new ramjet-powered design, while British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) offered a shorter-range rocket-powered design. The Admiralty requested a proposal combining BAC's layout with Bristol's engine, resulting in the Sea Dart. Compared to Seaslug, Sea Dart was...

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