The ground-breaking Sky Sabre air defence missile system was unveiled at the home of 16 Regiment Royal Artillery, Baker Barracks on Thorney Island.
Sky Sabre is due in service in 2020 and will prove to be a step change in the UK’s air defences, taking it from short to medium range capability. Simply put that means being able to hit an enemy target that much further out, way beyond visual range.
This was the first time that the three principal components of the system had come together; the MBDA launcher that fires the CAMM missile, the Saab radar targeting system, aptly named the giraffe because of its extending neck and the command and the Rafael control electronics suite from which the system is operated.
Speaking at the unveiling Air Commodore Ian Gale MBE Senior Responsible Officer for the introduction of the system (Project Director) said “You are seeing the future here today, you can’t replace like for like in the digital age.
“This will take the Army from short to medium range, It is a truly integrated air defence system that will be operated both by the Army and the Royal Air Force. It has significant benefits; it’s fast, reliable and trusted”.
