Seacat was a British short-range surface-to-air missile system intended to replace the ubiquitous Bofors 40 mm gun aboard warships of all sizes.

It was thought to be useful against first and second generation 1950s jet aircraft of Hawker Sea Hawk performance, which were proving to be too difficult for the WWII-era Bofors 40 mm L/60 guns to successfully intercept.

Another system, Orange Nell, was being developed for this role, but was cancelled when the Navy concluded it would not be effective against its intended targets, newer high-performance strike aircraft.

The first public reference to the name Seacat was April 1958, when Shorts was awarded a contract to develop a close-in short-range surface-to-air missile.

Royal Navy acceptance of Seacat as a point defence system,[a] to replace the 40/L60 or the newer and more effective Bofors 40mm /L70 with proximity fuzed shells.

It would also be useful against large, slow anti-shipping missiles, like the Styx, which was being deployed by the Warsaw Pact and various clients of the Soviet Union.

[3] In some senses it was no more than an initially unguided subsonic rocket that took the controller about 7 seconds or 500 yd (460 m) flight time to acquire and lock onto radar tracking and optical direction, making it unsuitable for close-in AA defence.

The target was acquired visually with the missile being guided, via a radio link, by the operator inputting commands on a joystick.

A land-based mobile version of Seacat based on a three-round, trailer-mounted launcher towed by a Land Rover with a second trailer carrying fire control equipment.

Tigercat was also operated by; India, Iran, Jordan, South Africa[5] and Qatar and saw limited service in the 1982 Falklands War with Argentina.

[citation needed] Despite being obsolete, the Seacat was still widely fielded by the Royal Navy at the outbreak of the Falklands War and was the main anti-aircraft defence of many ships.

It proved more reliable than the more modern Sea Wolf missile that had been recently introduced, although HMS Ardent's launcher failed at a critical moment when the ship was under air attack.

[11] Seacat may have been involved in the destruction of three Argentine A-4C Skyhawks although these aircraft were subjected to the full force of San Carlos air defences; other claims to the same kills include Army Rapier and Blowpipe missiles and ship-based 40 mm gunfire.

[12] On 12 June, HMS Glamorgan launched a Seacat at an incoming Exocet missile which may have been deviated by the close detonation, but not enough to cause a miss.

GWS-21 missiles were fitted to the four Swedish Östergötland-class destroyers under the designation Rb 07, replacing three Bofors L/70 guns (a more modern and heavier variant than the Royal Navy's L/60) with a single launcher on each ship.

Seacat was mounted on all six River-class destroyer escorts of the Royal Australian Navy and was removed from service when the final ship of this class was decommissioned in the late 1990s.