Royal Navy Re-Armed: Sea Venom Anti-Ship Missile Achieves IOC and Naval Strike Missile is Test Fired

Published on: October 4, 2025 at 8:02 PM
On Sept. 7, 2025, a Wildcat HMA2 helicopter - currently embarked on the Norwegian Frigate HNoMS Roald Amundsen – flew over the CSG while carrying Sea Venom medium-weight anti-ship missile. On Sept. 19, 2025, Plymouth-based Type-23 frigate HMS Somerset headed to Norway’s Arctic rocket range in Andøya to unleash the Naval Strike Missile (NSM) during an exercise alongside Norwegian and Polish allies. (Image credit: Crown Copyright 2025/PO Phot Rory Arnold and HMS Somerset Crew)

The Royal Navy is becoming more lethal as September brings new developments in the deployment of two of its vital anti-ship missiles.

The Sea Venom light anti-ship missile, carried by the Wildcat HMA2, and the ship-borne heavy anti-ship Naval Strike Missile (NSM) are hitting major milestones as the Royal Navy seeks to become more lethal in the anti-shipping role. For the last few years, the Royal Navy has been reliant on its submarine capability to take on hostile warships.

The causes were the combined problems of equipment leaving service and slow development and integration timelines of their replacements. Now, however, the Royal Navy seems to be turning a corner as its surface fleet regains the ability to take on hostile surface warships independently.

Three Wildcat Helicopters from 815 Naval Air Squadron flew past UK Carrier HMS Prince of Wales, carrying a Sea Venom medium-weight anti-ship missile. This took place during Operation HIGHMAST, the Royal Navy’s Carrier Strike Group to the Pacific Ocean. (Image credit: Crown Copyright 2025/LPhot Helayna Birkett)

Sea Venom IOC

On Sept. 7, 2025, Wildcat HMA2 demonstrated that it is now capable of deploying Sea Venom missiles on operations as initial operating capability (IOC) has finally been achieved. The weapon has been carried on operations before, such as during the 2021 Carrier Strike Group (CSG), where a pre-IOC variant of the missile was deployed.

However, this was only as a weapon of last resort, owing to a lack of proper integration between the missile and the aircraft. With this resolved, Operation Highmast marks the first time Sea Venom has been deployed ready to be used in combat.

The demonstration of IOC was made during the Royal Navy’s current CSG mission to the Indian and Pacific Oceans. In total, four Wildcats have been deployed, with two operating from the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales, another from Type-45 destroyer HMS Dauntless and the fourth flying from HNoMS Roald Amundsen, a Fridtjof Nansen-class frigate of the Royal Norwegian Navy.

The deployment of a Royal Navy Wildcat to the Norwegian vessel highlights the close integration between the two forces. This will further develop as the Royal Norwegian Navy equips itself with British made Type-26 anti-submarine frigates, which will enter service in the next few years.

A Wildcat currently embarked on the Norwegian Frigate HNoMS Roald Amundsen being fitted with a Sea Venom missile to demonstrate initial operational capability. (Image credit: Crown Copyright 2025/PO Phot Rory Arnold)

Three of these Wildcats took off from HMS Prince of Wales carrying a single Sea Venom each to demonstrate the achievement of the missile’s latest milestone. Sea Venom was originally slated to enter service in 2023, but this has been met by considerable delays over the preceding years.

The delays were possibly in part due to France leaving the program a few years ago, leaving only the British portion of MBDA missile systems to carry on its development.

HMS Somerset firing the Naval Strike Missile (NSM), marking a major milestone on the journey to make the Royal Navy more lethal. (Image credit: Crown Copyright 2025/ HMS Somerset Crew)

NSM Test Fire

Additionally, on Sept. 19, HMS Somerset, a Type-23 Duke class frigate, test fired the Naval Strike Missile (NSM) for the first time, helping the Royal Navy to recover its surfaced launched anti-ship capability that was lost when the Harpoon missile left service. The test was carried out alongside the Norwegian and Polish militaries, who launched their own NSMs from ground launchers situated on Norway’s coast.

The target was the ex-HNoMS Trondheim, an Oslo-class frigate of the Norwegian Navy that had been decommissioned in 2006. The ship was struck by NSMs from the three militaries testing their potence, before it was finished off by a torpedo launched from a Norwegian submarine hidden beneath the waves.

This test has been a long time coming with HMS Somerset first fitted with NSM in 2023, just a year after its original purchase. For currently unknown reasons, the missile test seemingly took around 18 months to arrange, delaying the missiles proper entry into service.

Known as the Maritime Offensive Strike System (MOSS) in the Royal Navy, the NSM is planned to be fitted to most of the still in service Type-23 frigates and full fleet of Type-45 destroyers. The weapon will be eventually replaced by MBDA’s newly unveiled Stratus anti-ship/future cruise missile, sometime in the 2030s.

Sea Venom

Designed by MBDA missile systems, Sea Venom was originally an Anglo-French weapon, before the French dropped out of the program in the 2020s. It was originally designed to replace the Sea Skua missile, carried by the Lynx helicopter in Royal Navy service.

The weapon features several improvements, such as a lighter weight, longer range of 20 km and the ability to be used in a fire and forget mode, giving the launching helicopter time to escape return fire.

Sea Venom practice missile routinely carried by RN Wildcat helicopters whilst on exercises. (Image credit: NavyLookout)

The missile’s payload is relatively small, around 30kg, making it primarily designed for destroying targets up to the size of a corvette. However, its accuracy allows an operator to destroy key components on board larger warships, such as fire control radars or the bridge, which can result in a mission kill depending on the scenario.

Sea Venom fills an important niche, allowing the Royal Navy to defend itself from multiple swarming missile boats such as those used by the Iranian Navy. To this end, up to four can be carried at once on the Wildcat HMA2. The combination of the two is extremely potent as it gives Royal Navy surface ships the ability to neutralise a fleet of missile boats whilst staying out if their range, using the stand-off distance of the missile and the helicopter together.

Royal Navy Wildcat helicopter carrying a Sea Venom practice missile at the Royal International Air Tattoo in 2024. (Image credit: James Gray)

This type of battle occurred during the 1991 Gulf War at the Battle of the Bubiyan Channel, where Royal Navy Lynx helicopters destroyed 14 Iraqi vessels using the Sea Skua missile. The Wildcat and the Sea Venom share this lineage, filling the same role in future engagements.

Sea Venom offers operator-in-the-loop capability so that the missile can be directed mid-flight, whether this be for final aim point adjustment, aborting an attack, or for standard re-targeting during combat. This offers the Royal Navy a capability beyond standard fire and forget missiles, giving aircrew more control over the targeting of their weapon system through the provision of live camera feeds directly to the cockpit. Yet, the missile can still be operated in a fire and forget mode where it utilises an on board infra-red seeker for targeting.

Wildcat test firing a Sea Venom missile in October 2024. (Image credit: Royal Navy)

The Sea Venom completed a live fire test in 2024, where a single missile was launched against a static target made of shipping containers. More can be learned about the test launch in our previous report here at The Aviationist.

This test marked an important milestone for the missile, after years of delays up to that point. Now, with IOC achieved, Sea Venom will be deployed more and more over the 28-strong fleet of Royal Navy Wildcats.

British Army Wildcat helicopter landing on HMS Queen Elizabeth. These helicopters lack the Seaspray 7400E AESA radar which is used for target acquisition for the Sea Venom missile. (Image credit: James Gray)

Designed by Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, the NSM has a 120kg warhead that is about half the one used by the Harpoon missile that NSM seeks to replace. However, its stealthy design, including the use of entirely passive guidance systems, allows the NSM to get through to its target without being detected or intercepted.

The missile does not use radar for guidance, meaning that the likelihood of a hostile detecting the oncoming missile is reduced. As a result, this maximises the destructive potential of the missile as an opponent is less likely to see it coming, and so they are also less likely to activate defensive measures.

HMS Richmond conducting a RAS with the Japanese Helicopter Carrier JS Kaga. Note the eight NSM launchers on the bow. (Image credit: Crown Copyright 2025/LPhot Henry Parks)

Combined with its sea skimming capability, the NSM is a very potent missile, explaining its widespread adoption amongst the world’s navies and air forces.

Initially selected in 2022 after the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine laid bare the Royal Navy’s lack of anti-surface weaponry, the NSM was selected by then Defence Secretary Ben Wallace to fill the Interim Surface-to-Surface Guided Weapon program.

HMS Kent alongside in Portsmouth in 2022. Note the Harpoon missile launchers on the bow. (Image credit: James Gray)

The classic Harpoon missile was by that point nearing the end of its usable life, with the last test launch conducted by Type-23 frigate HMS Westminster in 2022. The missile was officially retired in 2023, although HMS Lancaster continued to carry them for some time after due to its deployment to the Gulf region.

NSM was meant to be adopted ‘at pace’ and rapidly fitted to Royal Navy warships to replace Harpoon but full adoption has been slow. However, the latest test marks a significant moment for the Royal Navy as it shows that it is once again able to engage enemy warships.

Another angle of the three Wildcat Helicopters flying past the UK’s flagship HMS Prince of Wales, carrying each a Sea Venom medium-weight anti-ship missile. (Image credit: Crown Copyright 2025/LPhot Helayna Birkett)

NSMs have a number of variants, with 200km and 300km versions extending the range at which the Royal Navy can fight. Once deployed across the fleet, NSMs will nicely complement the shorter ranged Sea Venom, giving the Navy the teeth it needs to fight and win.

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James Gray is a contributor to The Aviationist, coming from the UK he is a graduate of War Studies at King's College London, where he is currently studying for a Masters in Intelligence and International Security. He specialises in British aviation history and technology with a focus on the immediate post-Cold War period.
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