A vertical launch Sea Wolf missile is fired from Type 23 frigate HMS Richmond.

Royal Navy warship HMS Richmond has decisively flexed her warfighting muscle with the successful firing of two Sea Wolf surface-to-air missiles during a training exercise.

Immensely powerful and capable, the firings prove the Portsmouth-based frigate’s ability to track and destroy a sea-skimming target the size of a cricket ball travelling at supersonic speeds.

As part of the trial off the South West coast’s exercise areas, the ship fired a ‘telemetry’ missile loaded with recording sensors to allow indepth analysis of the missile’s performance by the RN’s trials authority - Maritime Commissioning Trials and Assessments (MCTA).

This was then followed up with a conventional ‘warshot’ missile, with both weapons destroying their target with ease.

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