The below-decks shape of Sea Dart is so radically different to Sea Slug that you'd have to change fundamental things about the design, like bulkhead spacing, in order to accomodate it, rather than just plugging different weapons into the holes in the deck.
I'm toying with the idea of a "third-party upgraded" export County class DDG. One component of the idea is a missile that could be all-new internally (for example, semi-active radar homing instead of beam-riding) but would inherit (at least as much as possible) the Sea Slug launcher and handling facility in hope of minimizing the physical hassle of upgrading to the new missile. Then came a number of questions (some of which I seem to have asked before, but the answers are buried in time, and I couldn't find them via Search):
The Sea Slug is recongized as being poor at low-altitude engagements. Was that primarily because of its beam-riding guidance, or is there something else to the missile and its support systems?
Would the hardware compatibility issue of the new missile be largely bypassed by inheriting the external dimensions (fuselage diametre, wingspan, length, even booster arrangement......) of the Sea Slug? How does a Sea Slug missile interface with the launcher as the missile is being loaded into it? How much of the launcher would have to be modified if, say, the control surfaces are enlarged (maybe in a way that preserves wingspan)?
Would the wrap-around booster arrangement present an obstruction to the new missile's semi-active radar homing receiver(s)? Or could the missile be somehow designed to activate its guidance only after the boosters are dropped clear?
Thanks in advance.
