HMS Diamond shoots down drone while escorting merchant ships in the Red Sea

Diamond transited the Suez Canal on 14 December, deployed in response to increasing attacks on merchant ships. Having only just arrived in theatre, the MoD announced today that she destroyed a drone using her Sea Viper/PAAMS system. 

This is the first use of an Aster missile (named Sea Viper by the RN) in combat by the Royal Navy, although the French frigate FS Languedoc also fired an Aster 15 missile at a similar target earlier this week. It is also the first time the RN has destroyed an aerial target in combat since the first Gulf War of 1991.

HMS Diamond has shot down a suspected drone targeting merchant shipping in the Red Sea using a Sea Viper missile.

Diamond transited the Suez Canal on 14 December, deployed in response to increasing attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea. Having only just arrived in theatre, the MoD announced today that last night she destroyed a drone using her Sea Viper/PAAMS system. The drone was presumably fired from Yemen by Houthi rebels who have carried out attacks on at least 10 merchant vessels since 19th November. This is the first use of an Aster missile (named Sea Viper by the RN) in combat by the Royal Navy, although the French frigate FS Languedoc also fired an Aster 15 missile at a similar target earlier this week. It is also the first time the RN has destroyed an aerial target in combat since the Gulf war of 1991.

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said: “The recent spate of illegal attacks represents a direct threat to international commerce and maritime security in the Red Sea. The UK remains committed to repelling these attacks to protect the free flow of global trade.” Yesterday two of the world’s major shipping lines, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd announced they would halt all voyages through the Red Sea as it had become too dangerous. It should be noted a sixth of the world’s commercial shipping passes through the Bab-al-Mandeb and Red Sea and interruptions to this traffic has implications far beyond the conflict in Israel and Gaza.

The Type 45 destroyers are equipped with a 48-cell launcher for Aster missiles and usually carry a mix of Aster 15 and the longer-range Aster 30. Aster 15 is being phased out of RN service as the ships are due to receive the Sea Ceptor system later this decade. Obviously defending the ships under protection is the priority, but an Aster missile which costs between £1-2M and is a very expensive way to destroy cheap Iranian drone that probably cost around £20K. The Houthis have also used ballistic and cruise missiles during the recent attacks but the MoD called the target destroyed in this instance a ‘drone’.