WATCH: Ferocious Royal Navy destroyer HMS Dragon opens fire and obliterates high-speed supersonic missile

Portsmouth-based warship HMS Dragon launched a specially-modified Sea Viper missile at an incoming high-speed target in a burst of fire and smoke. Video footage shows the object being obliterated into several pieces - aiming to replicate the threats that Royal Navy face while on deployment.

The Type 45 destroyer is currently operating on Exercise Formidable Shield, carrying out various tests off the coast of Scotland. Commanding Officer Commander Iain Giffin said: “The successful Sea Viper firing as part of Formidable Shield 25 is a huge moment for HMS Dragon.

“Not only does it prove that Dragon’s world leading air defence capability functions as it should following an extensive maintenance period, but it also proves our ability to integrate and operate alongside NATO allies and partners. Training alongside ships, aircraft and land forces from 11 nations in this complex, multi-domain exercise ensures that we maintain our fighting edge against evolving Hi and Low-tech threats.”

The test marks the first time the Royal Navy has faced down this kind of target. It is considered a much more challenging target for weapons officers, as the missile travels faster and carries corkscrew and weave manoeuvres. The Sea Viper launched was a special telemetry version, designed to record measurements and valuable data to inform future operations.

HMS Dragon joined Exercise Formidable Shield to test her ability to defend herself and nearby ships from attacks, including from swarms of drones. Just two and a half seconds after erupting from HMS Dragon’s silo, the missile accelerated to more than four times the speed of sound – otherwise known as Mach 4.

High above the water, it then manoeuvred at G-forces which no human being could withstand, to close in and destroy the target. Sea Viper is the combination of the Sampson radar system – the distinctive spinning spiked ball on top of a Type 45 destroyer’s main mast – and the Aster missile system which sits in a silo on the ship’s forecastle.

The system tracks aircraft and other objects across thousands of cubic miles of airspace over the Hebrides range in western Scotland, identifies threats, and destroys them when necessary. Lieutenant Commander Sarah Kaese, HMS Dragon’s Senior Warfare Officer - on exchange from the Royal Australian Navy - said it was a different sort of test for the destroyer.

She added: “Seeing how far Dragon has progressed, both within the Warfare Department as well as the wider ship, is impressive. Formidable Shield has been both a significant challenge and opportunity for Dragon to come together as a warfighting unit and integrate into a task group developing air defence capability.”

Exercise Formidable Shield sees naval forces battle against un-crewed air and surface systems, subsonic, supersonic and ballistic targets, bringing together allied ships and land-based air defences and air forces – all working together to prove themselves a credible combined combat power.

Almost every participant is due to launch missiles over the course of the month-long workout. The first phase of the exercise – which involves nearly 7,000 personnel – took place at the Andøya firing range in Norway, before moving on to the Hebrides range. Formidable Shield ends on May 31.

This is the first major exercise for HMS Dragon since she underwent a major refit, which saw her equipped with new engines.