In what has been described as a historic first, the most advanced warship of the Royal British Navy that proved its combat mettle in the Red Sea—the Type 45 HMS Dragon—shot down a supersonic missile in a test conducted off the coast of Scotland as part of a NATO drill.
The Royal Navy said in a statement on May 16 that a specially modified Sea Viper missile was fired by the Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon in a blast of smoke and fire at an incoming high-speed target that was simulating the kind of sophisticated threats currently being seen all over the world. The Navy did not elaborate on what the target was.
“It marks the first time the Royal Navy has faced down this kind of target – one that is significantly more challenging as it flies faster and carries out corkscrew and weave manoeuvres,” the statement noted.
Within two and a half seconds of blasting out of HMS Dragon’s silo, the missile reached Mach 4, or more than four times the speed of sound. It then maneuvered at G-forces high above the ocean to close in and destroy the target.
The Navy noted in its statement that the missile used in the test was a unique telemetry model intended to capture measurements and useful information for future operations.
“The successful Sea Viper firing as part of Formidable Shield 25 is a huge moment for HMS Dragon,” said Commander Iain Giffin, HMS Dragon’s Commanding Officer. “Not only does it prove that Dragon’s world-leading air defence capability functions as it should following an extensive maintenance period, but it also proves our ability to integrate and operate alongside NATO allies and partners.
The missile firing was part of Exercise Formidable Shield 25, the biggest live-firing exercise in Europe this year. HMS Dragon, a cutting-edge warship of the Royal Navy, reportedly worked with other NATO Ships conducting missile firings throughout these drills. Ten NATO states are participating in the drill and testing defenses against subsonic, supersonic, and ballistic targets, plus uncrewed systems.
The goal is to demonstrate that they are a formidable combined combat force by bringing together allied ships, land-based air defenses, and air forces.
HMS Dragon, for one, demonstrated the Portsmouth-based ship’s capacity to protect itself and other nearby ships from attacks, including drone swarms.
“Formidable Shield has been both a significant challenge and opportunity for Dragon to come together as a warfighting unit and integrate into a task group developing air defence capability,” said Lieutenant Commander Sarah Kaese, Dragon’s Senior Warfare Officer, who is on exchange from the Royal Australian Navy.
The development comes as the Royal Navy bolsters its naval combat power whilst taking new roles to project power. The Royal Navy’s Carrier Strike Group (CSG), led by HMS Prince of Wales, is currently deployed to the Indo-Pacific under Operation Highmast, which began on April 22, 2025, and is set to conclude in December 2025. The carrier is accompanied by another Type 45 destroyer, HMS Dauntless.
Faced with rising security threats from adversaries like Russia and China, as well as countries like Iran and their proxies in West Asia, the Royal Navy is making concerted efforts to bolster its maritime air defense. In addition to modifying its warships with advanced air defense missiles, like the Sea Viper, the Royal Navy has also developed the DragonFire laser weapon that could obliterate aerial targets at less than £10 per shot.
Currently, the Royal Navy’s defense against missile threats, particularly anti-ship and ballistic missiles, relies on a layered approach involving advanced sensors, interceptors, and countermeasures. However, rising threats from supersonic, hypersonic, and swarm missile attacks pose a sustained risk, which is why the shooting down of a supersonic missile is a historic milestone achieved by the Royal Navy.
The Type 45 With Sea Viper Is A Lethal Combination
The Type 45 Daring-class destroyers are the Royal Navy’s primary air defense platforms, designed to protect fleet assets. The warship is equipped with the Sea Viper air defense system, which is designed to protect naval task forces, such as the Carrier Strike Group, from aircraft, drones, and anti-ship missiles, with evolving capabilities to counter ballistic and hypersonic threats.
As best described by the Royal Navy, “Sea Viper is the combination of the Sampson radar system – the distinctive spinning spiked ball on top of a Type 45 destroyer’s main mast – and the Aster missile system which sits in a silo on the ship’s forecastle. Each Type 45 vessel has 48 Sylver A50 Vertical Launch System (VLS) silos which typically carry a combination of Aster 15 and Aster 30 missiles.”
The Sampson radar system is a cutting-edge Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar on a rotating mast. It can detect up to 2,000 targets and engage about 12 targets simultaneously. It provides area defense by detecting threats up to 400 kilometres away and can detect low-observable targets.
The Sea Viper system uses Aster Block 15, which is designed for subsonic missiles and aircraft and has a range of about 30 kilometres, and Aster Block 30, which is effective against supersonic missiles and some ballistic threats and has a maximum range of about 120 kilometres. Additionally, the air defense system is integrated with Type 45’s Combat Management System (CMS), enabling rapid data fusion and target allocation.
HMS Diamond, for one, has shot down multiple Houthi cruise missiles and drones in the Red Sea on its previous deployment to the region.
It was previously described by UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps as a “jewel in the naval crown” on January 9 for repelling what was the largest attack by the Iranian-backed Houthis in the Red Sea to that day. HMS Diamond shot down seven of the Iranian-designed drones, Shapps said, and he indicated the British vessel was “potentially” targeted by the Houthis.
The Royal Navy announced in January last year that the Sea Viper Air Defence system will be upgraded with more lethal and updated missiles featuring a new warhead and software update that will enable them to counter ballistic missile threats. MBDA was given three contracts worth around £400 million for the upgrades.
“Two contracts, called Sea Viper Evolution, will enable the Type 45 Destroyers to defend the Carrier Strike Group against anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBMs). Meanwhile, another contract will provide extended and enhanced in-service support (ISS) contract for Sea Viper for a further five years,” the contractor had stated at the time.
The goal of the Sea Viper improvements is to provide ballistic missile defense capability to combat increasingly sophisticated threats while offering the chance for future systems to benefit from additional upgrades and enhanced capability.
The first phase of the contract will transform the fleet’s Multi-Function Radar (Sampson), Command and Control system, and Combat Management system, and upgrade the Royal Navy’s current Aster 30 missiles to Aster 30 Block 1, which will allow defense against anti-ship ballistic missile threats. The Aster 30 Block 1 missile was previously only used in French and Italian land systems.
In addition to the above, the Royal Navy also signed another contract to introduce Common Air Modular Missile (CAMM) into the Type 45.
The Sea Viper is expected to become more lethal against adversaries that are fast adopting new anti-ship ballistic missiles that engage ships and aircraft carriers.
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