Lightweight Seawolf for the '80s

British Aerospace's Seawolf and Sea Dart missile export drive concentrates on lightweight versions. R I C H A R D W H I T A K E R reports.
urther development of the British
Aerospace Seawolf surface-to-air
missile centres on the lightweight
version, offered with two different tracking radars and a choice of launchera
lightweight conventional launcher and a
vertical-launch system currently being
tested. In the long term, an active seeker is
likely. Containerised Seawolf is being
promoted for merchant ships and fleet
auxiliaries.
Seawolf is effective against ballistic,
cruise, and sea-skimming missiles, says
BAe. Following the success of the latter in
the Falklands war, ship point-defence systems are likely to become popular. BAe
points out that 800 ships around the world
have sea-skimmers such as Exocet and
Harpoon, but contends that only five have
effective defence against them. The
company is unenthusiastic about heavyartillery as a defence against seaskimmersonly the Signaal Goalkeeper,
which uses the General Electric 30mm
Gatling gun, has anything like the sustained firepower necessary, according to
BAe.
Eight GWS25 Seawolf installations
have been deliveredfive for Broadswordclass Type 22 destroyers, and three for
Leander-class frigates. Nine Type 22s are
on order, and up to 14 could be acquired.
Ten Leander-class vessels are to receive
Seawolf.
The next major candidate for Lightweight Seawolf is the Royal Navy's Type
23 lightweight frigate class. BAe hopes
that vertical launch will be selected.
Meanwhile, the Type 22s will be refitted
with lightweight Marconi 805SW tracking
radar, which affords better capability
against sea-skimmers than the old 910
radar. Although this radar was selected instead of the Hollandse Signaalapparaten
VM40, BAe still offers the latter for export.
Seawolf has command to line-of-sight
(CLOS) guidance. The ships's surveillance radar measures target velocity, bearing, and size. The computer assigns a priority, allocates a Seawolf launcher, and
inputs the desired pointing angle. If the
target is a missile, only one Seawolf will be
fired; a salvo is more appropriate for
manoeuvring aircraft targets.
Once Seawolf is launched, the 910
tracks its target using two I-band beams,
while missile location is derived from
its I-band beacon signal. The difference
between missile flightpath and beam
centreline is measured 100 times a second,
and a course modification is transmitted
to the missile. Two command dishes operate at slightly different frequencies to
reduce the effects of land and sea clutter
and of multipath. The relatively wide
tracking-radar beam is ineffective below
1 5 elevation, so a TV tracker is provided
for use against low-level targets.
Compared with a semi-active system,
CLOS gives better system availability,

530

improved electronic
counter-countermeasures (ECCMj, and a higher kill rate,
especially against sea-skimmers, says
BAe. An active guidance system would be
better still, but was not available when
Seawolf development started in 1966. BAe
does, however, envisage an active seeker
for Seawolf some time in the future.
GWS25 Seawolf is launched from a
Vickers six-barrel launcher which is large
and heavy. Reliability is also "a bit
suspect" because of the large number of
moving parts, poor access, and tendency
to collect waterrust is a problem.
To sell Seawolf overseas, improvements
were needed. BAe began with the Signaal
VM40 tracking radar, and added a K-band
transceiver, command-link antennas, and
a beacon receiver. The K-band beam is
narrower than the 910's I-band, so lowlevel performance is much better. The unsatisfactory TV tracker was deleted. Two
years of trials, including integration and
firing, were completed on Seawolf VM40,
which was offered to the Royal Navy to
replace existing 910s. But the UK Ministry of Defence opted for the alternative
Marconi 805SW radar, which uses a new
I-band dish married to an adaptation of
the Rapier's Blindfire K-band system. Export customers can now choose either radar. BAe feels that VM40 stands a better
chance because Signaal radars have better
market penetration, with around 30 customers compared with Marconi's three.
Although the Royal Navy is keeping its
Vickers Seawolf launchers, other customers will prefer lighter, more reliable
systems, especially if they want to fit Seawolf on smaller ships. BAe has developed
a four-barrel launcher based on the plinth
of the Shorts Seacat SAM. Weight without missiles is 2 1 tonnes, compared with
7 3 tonnes for the Vickers launcher. The
new launchers would be installed in pairs.
BAe is developing expendable barrels
which are used to store the missile, and are
thrown overboard once the missile is fired.
This minimises moving parts, and means
that the barrels need no maintenance.
BAe and Vickers have designed a
power-assisted automatic launcher loading system. Although complex, this allows
17sec reload into fixed barrels on the Seacat plinth. Once the missile is placed on to
the hoist below decks, operation is automatic. Although a prototype was never
built, BAe says that some navies are interested, and it is available. A two-barrelled
launcher is most likely with the automatic
facility.
Vertical launch is being carried further;
a successful first firing was accomplished
last September, and test firings continue.
Range is improved with vertical launch,
and all-round coverage is provided, says
BAe. Firepower is greater because all missiles are ready to be fired immediately.
The trainable launcher is eliminated, sav-

British Aerospace kas been performing launch

trials of vertical-launch Seawolf since this test in
September 1982
FLIGHT International, 26 February 1983

SEAWOLF-THE OPTIONS

TRACKING A N D GUIDANCE RADAR

Marconi 8 0 5 SW

J1 :

Signaal VM 4 0

Vickers six-barrel

*Kl

BAe vertical
launch

Vickers twin-barrel
auto reload

Signaal offers the VM40 tracking radar for

Lightweight Seawolf
*5=E
Trainable launch

cUfc
Vertical launch

Radar ( V M 4 0 o r 8 0 5 S W )

CONTAINERISATION

Operations room

FLIGHT International, 26 February 1983

ing maintenance time and improving

reliability.
The launch box has integral efflux
ducts, the exhaust gases travelling up the
ducts between the missile's cruciform
surfaces. BAe says that the gases disperse
after about 100 milliseconds, by which
time the missile is about three lengths
clear of the launcher. This is much simpler
than other methods of removing exhaust
gases after vertical launch. These involve
a plenum chamber below the launcher
with ducts through the ship. BAe has
conducted a static trial which demonstrated that no damage results if the
missile hangs up in its tube.
For vertical launch, Seawolf has the
inevitable solid-rocket booster addition,
with a swivelling nozzle to provide control.
The rest of the missile is similar to
conventional Seawolf, but some largescale integrated circuits are included,
together with a strapdown inertial reference system.
As an example of the volume saving
with vertical launch, BAe points out that
49 ready-to-fire missiles could replace the
12 Seawolfs in a GWS25-equipped Type
22 with no structural modification to the
ship, and with no need to store missiles in
the deep magazine. Typically, the missiles
would be distributed around the ship in
batteries of eight. The launchers can be
entirely sunk into the ship, where they
take up two decks, but if a customer wants
to leave his second deck clear, he can place
the launchers in a semi-recessed position.
Use of merchant vessels and fleet auxiliaries in the Royal Navy's Falklands task
force demonstrated that they need pointdefence systems if they are to avoid the
Atlantic Conveyor's fate. BAe has therefore designed a containerised Seawolf
installation which could quickly be
installed when necessary. This could be
purchased independently, or as part of the
BAe/Fairey/Plessey
Scads shipborne
containerised air-defence system, which
One Lightweight Seawolf launcher option is this
converted four-barrel Sea Cat launcher
531

Sea Dart loses weight

Royal Navy Type 22 frigates will be retrofitted

with the Marconi 805SW radar

includes a ski-jump runway, AWS-6

surveillance radar, command-and-control
cabins, aircrew facilities, and chaff
dispensers, and takes 48hr to build.
An air-defence package for an Atlantic
Conveyor class of vessel would occupy
seven standard containers, according to
BAeone for the tracking radar and its
control, two for surveillance radar, an
operations cabin, a power container, and
two containers to house lightweight
Seawolf launchers. These could be either
vertical launch tubes or automatically
loading twin-barrel launchers.
BAe describes Seawolf as "agile and
exceedingly fast". The standard target for
trials is a 4^in shell. Design is
conventional, with a steel structure and
aluminium wings and fins. Antennas for
the identification beacon are on the wings.
Although sea-skimmers are becoming
more manoeuvrable and more resistant to
radar detection, BAe cannot see them
becoming too good for Seawolf in the next
20 to 30 years. During that time the
company will introduce a fully active
system, in the form of a track-while-scan
three-dimensional radar and infrared
homing head and proximity fuze. A millimetre-wave seeker will be a later option.
The attitude to selling Seawolf is one of
flexibilityoffering alternative radars is
one example. BAe is also setting up collaborative agreements with other companies.
Last year Spar Aerospace undertook to
promote Seawolf in Canada, and to negotiate offsets if that country buys the
weapon. BAe is also co-operating with
Blohm & Voss to offer Seawolf in the
German company's Meko weapon system
containers for warshipsthe BAe work so
far has been with civilian ISO containers.
BAe assesses Seawolf export prospects
as "very good1'. Top of the list of likely
customers for Lightweight Seawolf are
those whose ships have Seacat launchers
from which Seawolf can be fired. A Royal
Navy purchase of vertical-launch Seawolf
is one possibility for a production launch.
Nations around the world are considering
self-defence for merchant vessels, which
puts containerised Seawolf in a good
position.
D
532

Another private-venture BAe development is that of the Lightweight Sea

Dart area-defence missile. Capable of
installation in ships down to 300
tonnes, Lightweight Sea Dart offers
surface-to-surface capability as well as
anti-aircraft and anti-missile roles, and
is derived from the GWS30 Sea Dart in
a similar way to Lightweight Seawolf.
The four-box launcher has maintenance-free throw-away launch tubes
which also act as missile storage units.
The launcher will be compatible with
the shipborne version of the BAe Sea
Eagle sea-skimming anti-ship missile.
Reliability and maintainability are
improved with this new launcher,
which costs much less than the original, according to BAe. A new firecontrol radar improves reaction time
considerablyimportant because Sea
Dart uses semi-active seeking, and its
tracker/illuminator radar can handle
only one target at a time. Sea Dart can
be made compatible with any surveillance radar which has enough range
and anti-jamming performance.
Sea Dart is powered by a ramjet
sustainer motor and a solid-rocket
boost motor which is jettisoned after
launch. Performance of the lightweight
version depends on the radars chosen,

but BAe says that it will be better than

competitive systems against airborne
targets, and "excellent" against ships.
Although Seawolf is better against
missiles, BAe claims that Sea Dart
comes a good second.
Export attempts have achieved "a
certain amount of success". China's
refitted Luta-class destroyers are to
have Lightweight Sea Dart. Two refits
are on order from UK companies, with
more on option. BAe reports interest in
the Guardian land-based version,
especially from
Middle
Eastern
nations. The company claims that
Guardian is more effective than its
competitor, Improved Hawk, but is "a
lot cheaper". Patriot is expensive and
hard to export, says BAe.
Guardian launchers have two boxed
Sea Dart missiles aimed at 30 elevation with 360 horizontal coverage.
The tracking and illumination radar is
derived from the naval Marconi ST805,
and the surveillance radar is a Plessey
GF75 Panther, which is based on the
naval AWS-5. The whole system is
mobile, and can be deployed on
unprepared sites in less than 30min,
according to BAe. It can be used for air
defence, and against enemy ships if
used in a coastal battery.

British Aerospace offers this lightweight box launcher for Sea Dart, which can be fitted to ships
down to 300 tons. The sealed box launchers act as storage and transport containers and are
thrown away after launch. They are compatible with the ship-launched Sea Eagle

FLIGHT International. 26 February 1983