HMS Daring eases through first sea trials

[Modern Elmo]

… From the missile flyout and up to the point at which the active RF seeker switches on, the missile is inertially guided, receiving periodic target position and environment updates from the Firing Control Unit via the up-link. …

There is no reason why the guidance system couldn't have been designed to switch into RF seeker mode immediately after being launched.

Soemthing like this?

… A Jet Vane Control (JVC) unit allows the RIM-7P to be vertically launched. The JVC unit rotates the missile immediately after it has cleared a ship’s superstructure, cancels the missile’s initial upward velocity, and controls transition to the initial intercept path. Once the seeker is pointing toward a target, the JVC is jettisoned. …

That description of the Aster – miisle flyout and all – They’re not boasting about the minimum engagement range.

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/missile/rim-7.htm

… Taking a guess, a course update could be 'flashed' to the missile in a fraction of a second which would minimize the possibility of any system finding and blocking the ship->missile channel. …

Yes, but wouldn’t it be nice if the radar transmitter(s) could also continually illuminate the targets for the missile seekers?

Also, I assume you meant 90-degrees elevation, not 180-degrees.

I don’t how Aegis actually does it, but if I had any say-so, I’d specify a 180 degree elevation scheme. Then if a track passed overhead, instead of “azimuth something, elevation 88, 89, 90.,-89, -88, -87 …, “ wouldn’t be clearer to have “…88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93 …”? Or maybe not. A matter of taste.

But the way, does this Sampson radar provide complete coverage of the sky overhead? We'll assume it does. :0]