Sea Dart

Sea Dart is fired from the distinctive launcher in front of the Type 42's bridge. A booster rocket helps the missile roar away from the ship, accelerating Sea Dart to twice the speed of sound – at which point its ramjet engine sustains its flight until it engages its target.

In the Falklands conflict, Sea Dart is credited with downing seven Argentine aircraft. A decade later a Sea Dart fired by HMS Gloucester knocked an Iraqi Silkworm missile out of the sky as it headed for the American battleship USS Missouri – the first time a missile has shot down another missile.

Since it was first introduced in the early 1970s Sea Dart has been constantly improved, doubling the missile's range now to some 80 miles.