BAe Sea Eagle

The BAe Sea Eagle is a medium weight, 'fire-and-forget', sea-skimming anti-ship missile designed and built by BAe Dynamics (now MBDA) in service with the Indian Navy.

It is designed to sink or disable ships up to the size of aircraft carriers in the face of jamming and other countermeasures including decoys.

Sea Eagle is powered by a licence-built, paraffin-fuelled Microturbo TRI-60 turbojet and cruises at speeds of Mach 0.85 (1,040 km/h, 645 mph) throughout its 110 kilometre (68 mile) plus range. It is capable of being carried at supersonic speeds by its parent aircraft, with launch at speeds of up to Mach 0.9 and a wide range of altitudes. Ejector launch, typically from a Type 119 Mk 5 ERU, with a pylon adapter where needed, is used. Once launched the Sea Eagle is completely autonomous, with the flight and target seeking completely controlled by the on-board computer system which functions according to programmable options covering a large set of cruise, search and attack options, including a simple, pre-programmed 'point and shoot' mode that allows it to be carried by basic aircraft without radar, using targeting information radioed to the pilot from external sources or even visually located by him, with the missile's short minimum range assisting this. Other modes integrate with more sophisticated weapon systems and sensors and allow Sea Eagle to be programmed during flight by the parent aircraft using targeting data from the aircraft's on board radar sensors or via off-board data-link networks. 'Dog leg' routes can be programmed into the missile's computer to allow a salvo of missiles to arrive from different directions, saturating the target's defences. A twin-gyro attitude reference system, digital flight control computer and autopilot are used to give the missile an over-the-horizon capability. A C-band radar altimeter allows the missile to fly at very low level, minimising the range at which a ship can detect it. The J-band active radar target seeker can detect targets up to 30 km away, allowing a mid-course update of target position through a 'pop up' manoeuvre if required.

The main wings are essentially of delta form, arranged in a cruciform configuration. Smaller tails surfaces of similar shape and configuration provide steering. The engine intake is under the fuselage - whilst carried by an aircraft this is covered by an aerodynamic fairing which is blown clear at launch. The missile is fitted with a powerful semi armour piercing warhead, with a high ratio of charge to total weight, encased in a tough metal alloy casing. Residual turbojet fuel adds to the warhead's destructive effects on impact with the target.

Sea Eagle is stored as a 'round of ammunition', with inspection every two years or so, and a life of at least 15 years. When stored the wings and tail surfaces are removed, but the weapon can be kept fully fuelled.

BAe Sea Eagle Variants

A variant of the missile, called Sea Eagle SL (also P5T), designed to be launched from boxes mounted on ships was tested. It used the same rocket boosters as applied to the helicopter launched version, but lost out to the American Harpoon missile in a 1984 competition to arm the Royal Navy's Type 22 Batch 3 and Type 23 frigates. This version was also intended to have been used in shore-based batteries. The only external difference from the air launched version was the use of launcher shoes for rail mounting in the launch box, as opposed to the air launched version's ejector lugs.

An unbuilt air launched, land attack version of Sea Eagle, using a similar nose radar and semi-armour piercing warhead, was known as P4T.

A later proposed land attack variant which would have had an imaging infrared or millimetre wave radar seeker-head and a data link to allow the launch platform to update the missile in flight was studied around 1990; this version was dubbed "Golden Eagle" and would have had a penetrator warhead to allow attacks on land-based hardened targets.

A proposed update of Sea Eagle in the mid-1990s with a dual-band seeker and improved systems was abandoned on cost grounds.

BAe Sea Eagle Specifications

• Wingspan : 1.2 meters (3 feet 11 inches)
• Length : 4.14 meters (13 feet 7 inches)
• Body Diameter : 0.4 meters (1 foot 4 inches)
• Weight : 580 kilograms (1,279 pounds)
• Warhead : 230 kilograms (510 pounds)s of PBX (semi armour-piercing)
• Speed : Mach 0.85 (645 mph)
• Range : 110 kilometers (68 miles / 60 nautical miles) plus
• Flight time : 400 seconds (6 min 40 seconds)

Sea Eagle
Type	Anti-ship missile
Place of origin	UK
Service history
In service	1985 -
Used by	UK, India, Saudi Arabia,
Production history
Manufacturer	BAe Air Weapons Division, Hatfield
Produced	1982 -
Variants	Sea Eagle SL (surface launched) tested, others proposed.
Specifications
Weight	580 kg
Length	4.14 m
Warhead	230 kg
Engine	Turbojet
Wingspan	1.2 m
Operational range	110 km +
Speed	Mach 0.85 +
Guidance system	Inertial, with active radar homing
Steering system	Control surface
Launch platform	Fixed and rotary wing aircraft