Type 45 Destroyer Conducts First Royal Navy Intercept of Supersonic Threat

A U.K. Royal Navy destroyer HMS Dragon intercepted and destroyed a supersonic missile during a live-fire test off the coast of Scotland—the first time the service has engaged such an advanced threat.

The test took place on May 15, during Exercise Formidable Shield 25, the largest live-firing military exercise in Europe this year. The missile, launched from HMS Dragon, accelerated to over Mach 4—four times the speed of sound—just 2.5 seconds after leaving the ship’s vertical launch silo.

The modified Sea Viper missile, equipped with telemetry for data gathering, was fired at a high-speed sea-skimming target that performed evasive corkscrew and weave manoeuvres, simulating modern aerial threats seen in conflict zones worldwide.

HMS Dragon, a Type 45 destroyer, is currently operating as part of a NATO task group in Exercise Formidable Shield, which includes 10 allied nations, 7,000 personnel, and combined operations across air, land and sea domains. The ongoing exercise tests integrated air and missile defense (IAMD) capabilities against threats ranging from drones to ballistic missiles.

The Sea Viper system combines the Sampson radar—mounted atop Dragon’s main mast—with the Aster missile system, which can track and eliminate aerial threats across vast areas of airspace.

According to the Royal Navy, the missile’s high-G manoeuvres during the intercept would be impossible for any human to endure, demonstrating the system’s capacity to deal with increasingly agile threats.

Following its initial phase at Norway’s Andøya firing range, Formidable Shield 25 moved to the Hebrides Range in western Scotland. The exercise will continue through May 31, with missile firings expected from nearly every participating unit.