The Sea Venom light anti-ship missile made by MBDA has passed its first qualification test conducted by France’s Directorate General of Armaments (DGA).
“The French Directorate General of Armaments has announced the success of the 1st qualifying round of the new light anti-ship helicopter missile,” DGA posted on its official Twitter account today.
Sea Venom is an Anglo-French lightweight anti-ship missile developed by MBDA to equip the French Navy (Guepard helo) and the Royal Navy (AW-159 Wildcat helo). The missile is known as Anti-Navire Léger (ANL) in France and Sea Venom (formerly Future Anti-Surface Guided Weapon (Heavy)) in the United Kingdom. It is expected to enter service with the Royal Navy in late 2021.
Developmental test firings were conducted in 2017 and 2018. The current test is a step towards the initial operational capability (IOC) of a new anti-ship capacity in the French Navy (Marine Nationale) and the Royal Navy.
