Seacat replacement

[uk 75]

We know that in real life the only system that could be fitted into the space used by a four round Seacat launcher on RN ships were the Vulcan/Phalanx mounts on Fearless and Intrepid. Sadly none of the Seacats on Leanders, Rothesays and Amazons were replaced by Phalanx.

Seacat 2 seemed to offer a missile that could use the Seacat launcher and superficially a Seawolf is a similar size so 4 could have used it. Did BAC simply refuse to cooperate with Shorts on using their launcher design?

The six round launcher developed for Seawolf does enclose the missile and a simpler two and four round launcher was offered by BAC so why does the RN not adopt that?

 

[zen]

Sea Cat mkII doesn't solve guidance issues and from what is visible doesn't deliver much more than Rapier as a missile.

The guidance issues are resolved by, Orange Nell, which was the preferred system (and defined against the threat), PT.428 and Sea Wolf.
All of which would weigh more than Sea Cat and force major changes.

So even if you fork out for Sea Cat mkII instead of Sea Mauler (which was the basis of real studies), you will still have to fork out for superior tracking and guidance in a system not a million miles away from Sea Wolf.

 

[uk 75]

I understand the need for tracking and guidance illuminators but wasnt it the ghastly six boxed launcher that took up too much weight and space? Would Orange Nell have had a similar badly designed launcher?

I also think that after 1982 given the threats of Soviet weapons Phalanx could have replaced Seacat.

 

[zen]

Wasn't the six box launcher to ensure enough shots before manual reload?

So had a fast loader system been available....it would cost more and couldn't be retasked like a couple of naval ratings.

Though had Sea Wolf been VLS as it nearly was......

Orange Nell was to have had a loading and magazine system. Being over 500lb in total weight per round.

 

[A Tentative Fleet Plan]

Sea Wolf should have VLS from the start, other than that I don't think much was wrong with it.

Would have preferred the longer range extra performance against crossing targets of System C though.

 

[zen]

If you are going VLS, the arguments for being light enough to handle by two people falls apart and consequently the size of a complete round (missile and possible booster) is free to grow into something that can meet System C requirements. The main constraints becomes the radars, datalinks
and of course the computer system.