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Anti-ship missile
Sea Killer / Marte is a anti-ship missile originating in Italy. It was built by MBDA Italia / (historic: Sistel SpA). Reported operators include Italy Iran United Arab Emirates Qatar Turkmenistan Venezuela.
ItalyAnti-ship missile
Italy
Italy Iran United Arab Emirates Qatar Turkmenistan Venezuela
Iran-Iraq War
MBDA Italia / (historic: Sistel SpA)
300 kg (660 lb) Marte ER: 340 kg (750 lb) Marte MK2/S, Marte MK2/N: 310 kg (680 lb)
4.7 m (15 ft 5 in) Marte ER: 3.6 m (11 ft 10 in) Marte MK2/S, Marte MK2/N: 3.85 m (12 ft 8 in)
0.206 m (8.1 in) (body) Marte ER, Marte MK2/S, Marte MK2/N: 0.316 m (12.4 in) (max body diameter)
0.999 m (3 ft 3.3 in)
70 kg (150 lb) Semi-armour piercing HE
Impact and proximity fuze
Solid fuel rocket booster and sustainer Marte-ER: turbojet Williams WJ-24-8G WR
Sea Killer Mark 1: 10 km (6.2 mi) Sea Killer Mark 2: over 25 km (16 mi) Marte MK2/S, Marte MK2/N: 30 km (19 mi) Marte ER: over 100 km (62 mi)
Sea skimming
Mach 0,8-0,9
Sea Killer, Marte 1: Beam riding Marte 2, Marte ER: Active radar homing
Naval ships , aircraft , helicopters , coastal installations
Sea Killer is an Italian anti-ship missile family.
Sea Killer is an Italian anti-ship missile family. The latest development of the system is known as Marte . Marte is a sea skimming , subsonic , anti-ship missile carrying a 70 kilograms (150 lb) semi-armour piercing warhead. It has been built in several versions, with differing guidance systems, and is suitable for launching from ships or aircraft.
Contraves Italiana, an Italian subsidiary of the Swiss armaments company Oerlikon Contraves , began development of a short-ranged - 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) - ship-based anti-ship missile system, named Nettuno in 1963. Guidance of Nettuno was by beam riding for course control, with altitude controlled automatically by an onboard radar altimeter , allowing the missile to carry out sea-skimming attacks. Command guidance was an alternative guidance method if jamming made the beam-riding method unusable. In 1965, Contraves Italiana began work on an improved missile, Vulcano , which used the same guidance system, but included a two-stage (booster + sustainer) rocket motor to give a longer (25 kilometres (16 mi)) range. Both missiles could be fired from a five-round trainable launcher.
Testing of Nettuno began in 1966, with a trial installation being made on the Freccia-class patrol boat Saetta of the Italian navy, with the five-round launcher replacing a Bofors 40 mm gun. Testing of Vulcano began in 1969.
The Marte ER, an improvement on the missile family, replaced the rocket motor with Williams WJ-24-8G turbojet propulsion and added a new ISO -caliber cylinder cell, which made it shorter in length but extended its range to over 100 km (62 mi; 54 nmi). Fitting trials of the Marte-ER onto the NH90 helicopter, which can carry two missiles, occurred in June 2014; a larger anti-ship missile like the Exocet was rejected for integration as physically too long and heavy.
In November 2015, a Eurofighter Typhoon was fit-tested for a fixed-wing version of the missile called the Marte-ERP, which does not feature folding fins and sheds the booster for a larger 120 kg (265 lb) warhead with penetrating and sector-blast properties; though smaller than other options like the Harpoon and RBS-15 , a fighter like Eurofighter Typhoon can carry six Marte-ERPs (or four with fuel tanks) compared to two or three larger missiles.
Short-range beam riding ship-launched anti-ship missile. 10 km range, 35 kilograms (77 lb) warhead. Also designated Nettuno .
Increased range beam-riding ship-launched anti-ship missile with improved two stage rocket. 25+ km range, 70 kilograms (150 lb) warhead. Also designated Vulcano .
Marte ER is a sea-skimming, high subsonic anti-ship and land attack missile. Turbojet engine Williams WR WJ-24-8G extends range to over 100 km, total weight of 340 kilograms, first tested in 9 November 2018. The missile is fire-and-forget capable and designed to operates in all weather conditions. The Eurofighter Typhoon can carry up to 6 Marte ER anti-ship missiles.
(25) Sea Killer/Marte Mk2/N at least 25 delivered for Dearsan 33m FAC
Reference text from Wikipedia contributors, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.
True scale
Sourced dimensions beside a 1.75 m human reference.
Sea Killer / Marte equipment records. Variants, orders and quantities are shown as reported in each inventory source; coverage is incomplete.
QatarCoastal Defence exact named equipment holdings: Marte ER. Active, operational-reserve and training units excluding equipment in store; November 2025 IISS assessment. Named service only; no parent-force or national total inferred. Source role: GROUND-LAUNCHED MISSILES / AShM. Original estimates, ranges, reporting names, reserve, lease and employment scopes retained; nested included counts are not added. Missile-system quantities mean launchers, not rounds. No readiness, crew, carried weapon, payload, factory-production or future order count inherited.
Italy Iran United Arab Emirates Qatar Turkmenistan Venezuela
Equipment reference ↗