SPUTNIK sits atop Portsdown Hill ready to pave the way for the next-generation of British destroyers.

The Sampson radar system – its spiky dome bears an uncanny resemblance to the first artificial satellite – was craned into place on a mock-up of a Type 45 main mast high above Portsmouth.

The £10m Maritime Integration & Support Centre built by BAE Systems is designed to test the brains of the new destroyer before the vessel enters front-line service.

At the heart of the Type 45 is the PAAMS missile system and its Aster missiles, launched from a silo on the ship’s forecastle.

The weapon is impotent without its brain; it is the task of Sampson to identify and track hundreds of aerial targets and send constantly-updated data to the missile once airborne to intercept anything which might threaten the Fleet. In theory, Sampson can track – and launch Aster to destroy – a cricket ball travelling at three times the speed of sound.

Three prototype Sampsons have been built; one is fitted to the Longbow trials barge, due to leave Portsmouth shortly for the Mediterranean to test the missiles and radar at sea; a second Sampson can be found on the Eskmeals gunnery range in Cumbria.

By testing the radar at Portsdown Hill, Whitehall hopes to save time and money, ironing out any problems and perfecting the system before it is installed in HMS Daring, the first ship in the class due to enter service in 2009.