The Sea Venom missile has successfully completed its first qualification firing trial. The missile is jointly developed by France and the United Kingdom under the 2010 Lancaster House treaties
The trial took place at the French DGA procurement agency's test site at Ile du Levant on Feb. 20, but was only announced Friday.
The missile, measuring 240 pounds and 8.2 feet long, carries a 66-pound warhead, which it can deliver at high subsonic speed to an estimated range of 12 miles. The precise range is unknown, but MBDA has said in the past that it can be launched from beyond the reach of most modern air defence systems.
Sea Venom, known in France as ANL (for anti-navire léger or lightweight anti-ship), is an anti-ship missile designed specifically to be fired by the French Navy’s future Guépard Light Joint Helicopter (or HIL – Hélicoptère Interarmées Léger) and the U.K. Royal Navy’s AW159 Wildcat to replace the Sea Skua.
The missile is designed to attack hostile vessels, ranging in size from small fast-moving craft up to corvette sized ships “amongst civilian assets, even in congested littoral environments” MBDA says. It can also engage static land-based coastal targets.
211216-N-QI061-1222 NAVAL STATION MAYPORT, Fla. (December 16, 2021) An MQ-4C Triton Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), assigned to Unmanned Patrol Squadron 19 (VUP-19), sits on the flight line at Naval Station Mayport, Florida, Dec. 16, 2021. VUP-19, the Navy’s first Triton squadron, will continue to maintain and operate the aircraft off the East Coast to further develop the concept of operations and refine tactics, techniques, and procedures. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Nathan T. Beard/ Released)