"These statements clearly showed that neither Air Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, KCB, AFC, Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Equipment Capability) representing MoD, but advised presumably by RAF officers, nor Lord Bach had an operational understanding of naval air warfare in the Fleet and in the expeditionary task force operation arena. Nor did they speak honestly about the Sea Harrier operational capability. It was incorrect to say that “… in general terms it offers no protection against sea-skimming missiles… The real issue here is that Sea Harrier does not help against sea-skimming missiles from wherever they are launched.”
Facts rather than convictions had already demonstrated that the Sea Harrier with AMRAAM represented the only Fleet/UK weapon system that was specifically designed to counter the sea-skimming missile threat; and it was very capable of doing so with a probability of kill expected of close to 100%."
Slightly off topic - but he does slag Jock off when I wasn't aware AMRAAM could perform an anti-missile role, barring shooting down the a/c it was intended to be launched from. I remain confused. Written in 2002 when the threat would be supersonic ASM's.