A ROYAL Navy Wildcat HMA2 has undertaken the first operational live firing of a Martlet air-to-surface missile. Launched by an aircraft from 815 Naval Air Squadron's 219 Flight, deployed on the Type 45 destroyer HMS Defender underway in the Bay of Bengal during the Carrier Strike Group 21 deployment, the missile successfully hit its inflatable target. The firing followed the first Martlet test launch from a Wildcat during initial trials work off the Welsh coast in 2020. Developed by Thales, the Martlet is a lightweight missile (it weighs less than 30lb) designed to defend the Royal Navy's new aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, from fast-moving targets such as small boats, fast attack craft and jet-skis, and some airborne threats such as UAVs and helicopters.
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