Sea Dart
Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2016 11:03 am
Gentlemen,
a friend of mine, who had first hand experience of SM1, told me that the launcher need a lot of electrical power. Before a ship can start the launcher, it must start first diesel generators. Starting these generators then the launcher takes about 2 minutes.
It is not possible to keep the launcher powered for a long time because it would wear out some components very quickly. For some reasons, it is not possible to keep the diesel generators working without starting the launcher as well.
Hence a ship that detects a target has to wait 2 minutes before opening fire. If the target is flying very low and is detected 15 or 20 nautic miles away, the ship won't be able to engage at all.
Having an interest on the 1982 Falkland War, I wonder if a system like Sea Dart (but also Sea Wolf, Sea Cat and Sea Slug) works the same way and has the same limitations.
Thank you for any help,
Francis Marliere
a friend of mine, who had first hand experience of SM1, told me that the launcher need a lot of electrical power. Before a ship can start the launcher, it must start first diesel generators. Starting these generators then the launcher takes about 2 minutes.
It is not possible to keep the launcher powered for a long time because it would wear out some components very quickly. For some reasons, it is not possible to keep the diesel generators working without starting the launcher as well.
Hence a ship that detects a target has to wait 2 minutes before opening fire. If the target is flying very low and is detected 15 or 20 nautic miles away, the ship won't be able to engage at all.
Having an interest on the 1982 Falkland War, I wonder if a system like Sea Dart (but also Sea Wolf, Sea Cat and Sea Slug) works the same way and has the same limitations.
Thank you for any help,
Francis Marliere