Type 45 destroyer weapons

The air and missile defence capabilities of the Royal Navy’s six Type 45 destroyers will be upgraded by MBDA. The work will see CAMM (Common Anti-Air Modular Missile) paired with an upgraded Sea Viper command and control (C2) system for the first time.

CAMM offers close-in and local-area air defence, and will complement Aster 30, thereby strengthening the anti-air defence capability of the Royal Navy. Fitting CAMM onto the Type 45s will give increase the destroyer's number of air-defence missiles by 50%.

Installation will be via 24 additional launcher cells, and the Sea Viper C2 will get a technology upgrade, giving it a major increase in processing power.

The existing 48 Sylver cells on the Type 45 will now be solely for the longer-range Aster 30 missile, which is also subject to a recently announced mid-life refresh. This will see the missile remain in service throughout the life of the Type 45s, which will leave service between 2035 and 2038.

CAMM has already been delivered to both the British Army and the Royal Navy, where it is the interceptor in both ground-based air defence  and naval-based air defence systems, enabling these services to equip missiles from a shared stockpile.

In service on upgraded Royal Navy Type 23 frigates, CAMM will also be fitted to Type 26 and Type 31 in the future. The CAMM family has also proven a success with international customers, with Canada and Brazil among new users ordering the missile this year.