HMS Defender, one of the Royal Navy’s six Type 45 destroyers, is in the midst of a significant refit that will substantially increase its missile capacity.
Images shared by naval observer Steve Wenham shows the installation of a new 24-cell vertical launch system (VLS) for the Sea Ceptor surface-to-air missile.
The new silo is being mounted forward of Defender’s existing Sylver A50 launchers, which currently house the longer-ranged Aster family of missiles. Work at Portsmouth shows advanced preparations clearly under way for fitting.
The modification represents a major firepower increase. Sea Ceptor, also known as the Common Anti-air Modular Missile (CAMM), provides short-to-medium range protection against aircraft and missiles. By adding 24 dedicated cells for CAMM, Defender’s close-in air defence capacity rises by around 50 percent. Crucially, the change also frees up all 48 Sylver cells to be devoted entirely to Aster 30 long-range interceptors.
In practice, the addition means a single Type 45 destroyer could now field both more missiles overall and a sharper mix between long-range area defence and short-range point defence. The refit is part of a broader programme of Capability Insertion Periods across the destroyer class, intended to extend service life and address long-standing gaps in weapons loadout.
Sea Ceptor has already been proven at sea with the Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigates and is a central element of the new Type 26 and Type 31 programmes. It uses active radar homing and a soft-launch system, allowing more missiles to be carried in compact vertical cells. The system can engage multiple targets simultaneously and is considered highly resistant to electronic countermeasures.
For Defender, the upgrade brings the ship closer to the level of layered air defence seen in comparable European fleets, where a combination of long-range and short-range interceptors is standard. It also increases the destroyer’s ability to operate independently in contested environments or as a high-end escort for carriers and amphibious groups.
When complete, Defender’s refit will mark one of the most visible missile upgrades to a Royal Navy warship in decades.
It’s a welcome upgrade especially with NSM being added however I still feel the space would have been better used by a Mk41 VLS. Having 16 Strike length VLS on T45 would have been a real game changer and would have opened up the possibility for SM6, SM3, TLAM, LRASM as well a multi packed CAMM MR or ER.
That being said having 74 top rate SAM missiles and up to eight next generation anti ship missiles is an immense capability that few European vessels can rival.
It’s not really about what European vessels capabilities are, it’s what our our probable opponents capabilities are, and that is a completely different story.
Good news to wake to!
Being a tad thick but can the CAMMS be quad packed in the Sylver VLS?
Supposedly, though they’ve never been integrated.
Even so, this move is probably the better option, as all 48 Sylver VLS cells will be used exclusively for the Aster.
*Aster-30
Thanks. Couldnt find anything concrete as to if we do that. T-45 going on and up!