IAI teams up with Thales to supply UK’s Royal Navy with advanced missiles

The Sea Serpent has agile, penetrative, combined anti-ship and land attack capabilities, at ranges above 200 kilometers (124 miles), Israeli aerospace firm says

Shoshanna Solomon was The Times of Israel's Startups and Business reporter

IAI's Sea Serpent missile in action, firing from a ship (Courtesy)
IAI's Sea Serpent missile in action, firing from a ship (Courtesy)

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), the nation’s largest aerospace and defense firm, and the UK arm of Thales Group, a French defense multinational, have joined forces to equip frigates of the Royal Navy with the Sea Serpent, an advanced anti-ship and anti-surface missile.

The Sea Serpent delivers agile, highly penetrative combined anti-ship and land attack capabilities, at ranges significantly in excess of 200 kilometers (124 miles), IAI said in a statement. It deploys an innovative radio frequency seeker head and a  data analysis and weapon control system to provide precise target detection, discrimination and classification. It overcomes both kinetic counter-fire and electronic countermeasures, so that the missile can locate and attack its target in a variety of environments.

The missile is designed to overcome congested and confusing situations, in which large numbers of decoys are present, reality is disrupted and there is heavy electronic interference, the statement said.

IAI develops and manufactures advanced systems for air, space, sea, land, cyber and homeland security. Since 1953, the company has provided technology solutions to government and commercial customers worldwide, including satellites, missiles, weapon systems and munitions, unmanned and robotic systems, and radar.

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