§ Lord Astor of Heverasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the anticipated future in-service life of the Sea Wolf missile; and how many of Her Majesty's ships are fitted with this missile. [HL428]
§ Lord BachThere are two variants of the Sea Wolf missile, the conventional launch missile, which is fitted to the four Batch 3 Type 22 Royal Navy frigates, and the vertical launch missile, which is fitted to all 16 Type 23 frigates. Both variants have an in-service life of eight years and it is anticipated that the conventional launch missiles will be taken out of service around 2007 and the vertical launch missiles around 2010. Both will be progressively replaced by a new batch of conventional and vertical launch Sea Wolf missiles (known as "Block 2") which will have a design life of 10 years.