British Royal Navy test fires Sea Ceptor missile

Sept. 5 (UPI) -- The British Royal Navy has conducted its first firings of the new Sea Ceptor air defense system which will help defend the country's new aircraft carriers, the English Ministry of Defense announced on Monday.

The missile, capable of destroying an enemy missile that is traveling at supersonic speed, was fired off the coast of Scotland by HMS Argyll, a Type 23 frigate.

"Sea Ceptor will protect our interests against threats both known and unknown," Harriett Baldwin, England's Minister for Defense Procurement, said in a press release. "It will launch from the Royal Navy's new Type 26 frigates as they keep our nuclear deterrent submarines and the UK's two new aircraft carriers safe on operations around the globe."

The Sea Ceptor is made by MBDA. It is the company's next-generation Common Anti-air Modular Missile and will replace the Sea Wolf weapon system on the Type 23 frigates. It is also slated for new Type 26 frigates.

The Ministry of Defense said HMS Argyll will conduct additional firing trials of the missile before the frigate deploys to Japan next year.