The Ministry of Defence has said a new upgrade to the UK’s naval air defence system will make it the “most capable” ever developed for the Royal Navy.

The Navy recently used its ‘Sea Viper’ missiles to shoot down multiple attack drones in the Red Sea.

The move comes as the Houthis, an Iran-backed Islamist rebel group, threaten global trade by attacking ships in one of the world’s most critical waterways.

The Sea Viper Air Defence system will be upgraded with updated missiles featuring a new warhead and software update that will enable it to defeat ballistic missile threats.

The Ministry of Defence said that the new upgrade, which will protect the UK’s Carrier Strike group, can track, target and destroy a variety of air threats over 70 miles away.

Three contracts worth a total of £405 million been awarded to missile systems company MBDA UK to "significantly enhance" Sea Viper's capability on board Type 45 warships and to cover improved in-service support and availability of the system for the next five years.

“As the situation in the Middle East worsens, it is vital that we adapt to keep the UK, our allies and partners safe,” said defence secretary Grant Shapps. “Sea Viper has been at the forefront of this, being the Navy’s weapon of choice in the first shooting down of an aerial threat in more than 30 years.”

Shapps this week visited HMS Diamond in the Red Sea, where it recently used Sea Viper missiles to shoot down attack drones as part of the US-led international taskforce Operation Prosperity Guardian.

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