Royal Navy takes delivery of second Type 45 Destroyer.

bhramos

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Royal Navy takes delivery of second Type 45 Destroyer

HMS Dauntless, the second of the Type 45 anti-air warfare destroyers has been handed over to the Ministry of Defence at a ceremony at Portsmouth Naval Base today.
BAE Systems, which is building the fleet of six Type 45 destroyers, handed over HMS Dauntless to the Royal Navy’s Deputy Commander-In-Chief Fleet, Vice Admiral Richard Ibbotson. During the ceremony, the BAE Systems company flag was lowered and the Royal Navy’s white ensign was raised over the ship’s flight deck for the first time.
Angus Holt, UK Programmes Director at BAE Systems’ Surface Ships business, said: “Today is the culmination of hard work, commitment and a fantastic partnership between BAE Systems, the Royal Navy and our suppliers to produce one of the finest ships in the world.

“Everyone involved in creating this ship should be extremely proud of their achievements. HMS Dauntless is a magnificent feat of engineering and I am delighted to hand her over to the Royal Navy on behalf of BAE Systems today.”
Vice Admiral Richard Ibbotson said “The Royal Navy is looking forward to Her Majesty’s Ship Dauntless taking her place in the Fleet with much anticipation and congratulates everyone involved in delivering her this far. HMS Dauntless and her sister ships are world beaters and the people of the Royal Navy are second to none. This is a winning combination, and the ship provides us with the tools to do the job, whatever the country requires of us, for years to come. It is therefore with great excitement that we welcome the cutting edge capability that the new T45 displays.
“With the ability to integrate both land and air forces, HMS Dauntless truly is a joint asset and will carry out a wide range of operations, whilst remaining a highly effective air defence ship.”
The Minister for Defence Equipment and Support, Quentin Davies, said “The six Type 45s will be the largest and most powerful destroyers ever operated by the Royal Navy. With the second of class now in the hands of the Ministry of Defence, we are forging ahead to deliver an unparalleled air defence capability to the Royal Navy.
“HMS Dauntless has gone through several stages of sea trials in which she has truly impressed the ship’s company. She will now embark on a final set of trials that will really put her to the test before she is commissioned into the Navy in the summer of 2010.”
The first steel was cut on HMS Dauntless in 2004 and she was launched from BAE Systems’ Govan shipyard in Glasgow in January 2007. After extensive sea trials she set sail from the Clyde on Saturday morning under the BAE Systems flag, with a combined crew of BAE Systems and Royal Navy personnel, and made her first entry into her home port of Portsmouth yesterday. She follows HMS Daring, the Royal Navy’s first Type 45 destroyer, which arrived in Portsmouth in January this year.
The prime role of the Type 45 destroyer will be air defence – protecting UK national and allied and coalition forces against enemy aircraft and missiles. The technology onboard the Type 45 will set new standards in air defence, capable of defending the Type 45 and ships in its company from multiple attacks from even the most sophisticated anti-ship missiles and aircraft.

Royal Navy takes delivery of second Type 45 Destroyer | Frontier India Strategic and Defence - News, Analysis, Opinion - Aviation, Military, Commodity, Energy, Transportation, Conflict, Environment, Intelligence, Internal Security
 

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U.K. Launches Final Type 45 Destroyer

BAE Systems has launched HMS Duncan, the sixth and final Type 45 destroyer destined for the Royal Navy. The anti-air warship will be fitted out at the company's Goven, Scotland, shipyard and is scheduled to enter service in 2014.


Type 45 destroyers like the HMS Duncan can operate helicopters up to the size of a Chinook and can carry about 60 Royal Marines or other troops. (Jeff J. Mitchell / Getty Images)

Weighing in at 7,500 tons, the T-45's principal anti-air systems are the MBDA-developed Sea Viper missile and BAE's Sampson active phased array multi-function radar.
The warships can operate helicopters up to the size of a Chinook and can carry about 60 Royal Marines or other troops.
Originally, the British planned to acquire 12 Type 45s, but that was cut to eight and finally six as the cost of the program increased and the stretched defense budget resulted in the decline in RN destroyer and frigate numbers.

What should have been a 5-billion-pound ($8 billion) program to build six ships with the first vessel entering service in Nov 2007 ballooned into a 6.4-billion-pound project; the first ship, HMS Daring, entered service only in mid-2009.

The Sea Viper, better known as the Aster 30 missile in French and Italian naval service, is not yet operational due to now-resolved technical problems. That may change in the next few months.

Earlier this month, the MoD said the second of class, HMS Dauntless, had successfully conducted the first test firing of the Sea Viper missile from a Type 45. The weapon hit a moving target drone at a range off northern Scotland.

An MoD spokesman said that progress on the test firings front would allow Daring "to fire her first Sea Viper missile early in 2011.

"HMS Daring is currently undergoing further operational training and capability development in preparation for her first operational deployment planned for next year," he said.

The RN is expected to lose further capabilities in the upcoming strategic defense and security review and the setting of departmental budgets for the next four years. Both are planned to be unveiled by the Conservative-led coalition government next week.

Amphibious warships, the frigate and destroyer force and possibly one of the two 65,000-ton aircraft carriers now being built are vulnerable to cuts alongside reductions to the Royal Air Force and the Army.







U.K. Launches Final Type 45 Destroyer - Defense News
 

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