page_title: Sea Dart
section_title: Falklands War
hierarchical_section_title: Sea Dart / Combat service / Falklands War
context_page_description: Sea Dart or GWS30 was a British naval surface-to-air missile system designed by Hawker Siddeley Dynamics in the 1960s, entering service in 1973. It was fitted to the Type 42 destroyers, Type 82 destroyer and Invincible-class aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy. Originally developed by Hawker Siddeley, the missile was built by British Aerospace after 1977, and was withdrawn from service in 2012.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 useful only against slower targets. The need for a higher performance system was seen even as it entered service. Bristol Aerospace, which had recently introduced the ramjet-powered Bloodhound missile for the RAF, won the ensuing competition with another ramjet design. Compared to Seaslug, Sea Dart was faster, had much further range, and its semi-active radar homing guidance was much more accurate.
  The missile system had eight confirmed successful engagements in combat, including six aircraft, a helicopter and an anti-ship missile. An additional helicopter was shot down in a 'friendly fire' incident during the Falklands War.
context_section_description: Sea Dart was used during the Falklands War (1982) and is credited with seven confirmed kills (plus one British Aérospatiale Gazelle helicopter downed by friendly fire). Kills were made against a high-flying aircraft beyond the missile's stated technical envelope and low-flying attack aircraft.
  The net effect of Sea Dart was to deny the higher altitudes to enemy aircraft. This was important because Argentine aircraft such as the Mirage III had better straight line performance than the Sea Harriers, which were unlikely to successfully intercept them.
  The first Sea Dart kill was an Aérospatiale Puma, on 9 May 1982 near Stanley by HMS Coventry, with the loss of the three men aboard.
  On 25 May 1982 an A-4C Skyhawk of Grupo 5 was shot down north of Pebble Island again by Coventry. The pilot, Capitán Hugo Angel del Valle Palaver was killed. Later, Coventry shot down another Skyhawk of Grupo 4 while it was returning from a mission to San Carlos Water. Capitán Jorge Osvaldo García successfully ejected but was not recovered.  The next Argentine action that day sank Coventry.  An unguided Sea Dart was launched in an effort to disrupt the attack but missed, and the destroyer was struck by two iron bombs and sank.
  The same day a Super Étendard strike fighter sought to attack the British carrier group with Exocet missiles, but instead struck the cargo ship MV Atlantic Conveyor. Invincible fired six Sea Darts in less than two minutes, but all missed.
  On 30 May 1982, during the last Exocet air attacks against the British fleet HMS Exeter shot down two Skyhawks (out of four attackers), despite them flying only 10–15 metres (33–49 ft) above the sea (theoretically below Sea Dart's minimum engagement altitude of 30 metres (98 ft)).  On 6 June Exeter downed a Learjet 35A being used for reconnaissance at 12,000 metres (39,000 ft) altitude.
  On 6 June 1982, Cardiff fired a Sea Dart missile at an aircraft believed to be an Argentine C-130 Hercules. The missile destroyed the aircraft, which was in fact a British Army helicopter. All four occupants were killed in this "friendly-fire" incident.
  Finally, on 13 June 1982, a Canberra Mk.62 was flying at 12,000 metres (39,000 ft). While it was en route to bomb British troops near Port Harriet House, it was destroyed by a Sea Dart fired from Cardiff.
  In total at least eighteen missiles were launched by Type 42 destroyers, six by Invincible, and two by Bristol. Out of five missiles fired against helicopters or high flying aircraft, four were successful, but only two of nineteen fired at low level aircraft hit: just eleven per cent; however a number of missiles were fired without guidance to deter low level attacks. Exeter's success can be partially attributed to being equipped with the Type 1022 radar, which was designed for the system and provided greater capability than the old Type 965 fitted to the earlier Type 42s. The Type 965 was unable to cope with low level targets as it suffered multiple path crossings and targets became lost in radar clutter from the surface of the South Atlantic. This resulted in Sea Dart being unable to lock onto targets at distance obscured by land, or fast-moving low-level targets obscured in ground clutter or sea-returns.
  The Argentine Navy was well aware of the Sea Dart's capabilities and limitations, having two Type 42s of its own. Consequently, Argentine planes, opting to fly below the Type 965 radar ("sea skimming"), frequently dropped bombs which failed to explode. The arming vane on the bomb had insufficient time to complete the number of revolutions required to arm the fuze, causing the fuze to remain in safe mode and not function on impact.
caption: Sea Dart on Invincible
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