MBDA Sea Skua

Sea Skua is a British lightweight, short-range air-to-surface missile designed to be launched from helicopters against ships. The British Aircraft Corporation began development in 1972, and full-scale production was ordered in July 1981 under the Sea Skua name, after the earlier project number CL.834. The Royal Navy carried it chiefly on the Westland Lynx, whose Seaspray radar lit the target while the missile homed on the reflected energy and flew low to stay below the horizon until the final climb. It was fired eight times in the Falklands War, including against the patrol boat Alferez Sobral, and Lynx crews used it against Iraqi patrol craft and landing ships in the Gulf War of 1991. Germany, India, Kuwait, Turkey, Malaysia, Brazil, Pakistan and South Korea also operate it. The Royal Navy withdrew it from active service in 2017, with Sea Venom as its planned replacement.