Type 45 destroyer

See also: Daring class destroyer (1949)

The United Kingdom's Type 45 destroyer (also known as the D or Daring class) is a modern air defence destroyer programme of the Royal Navy. The first ship in the class, HMS Daring, was launched on February 1, 2006 by H.R.H. The Countess of Wessex and is expected to come into service in 2009. The ships are assembled by BAE Systems Surface Fleet Solutions from partially prefabricated "blocks" built by BAE and VT Group.

After Daring's launch on 1 February 2006, former First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Alan West said that Daring would "be the Royal Navy's most capable destroyer ever, and will enter service later this decade as the best air defence ship in the world." The Daring class represents the largest escort type ever built for the Royal Navy.

Background

The UK had sought to procure the ships in collaboration with 7 other NATO nations under the NFR-90 project which later collapsed. The UK then joined France and Italy in the Horizon CNGF programme; however, differing national requirements, workshare arguments and delays led to the UK withdrawing on 26 April 1999 and starting its own national project.

On 23 November 1999 Marconi Electronic Systems was confirmed as prime contractor for the Type 45 project. Seven days later MES and British Aerospace merged to form BAE Systems, making the latter the prime contractor.

Six ships have been ordered, and a total of eight are expected to enter service from 2009 onwards. The original planned purchase of twelve was reduced in the Ministry of Defence's Delivering Security in a Changing World: Future Capabilities review, published in July 2004. The Type 45 design utilises the Principal Anti-Air Missile System, PAAMS, a joint British/French/Italian design, which comprises the SAMPSON fire control and tracking radar, MBDA Aster 15 and 30 missile systems and the 48-cell SYLVER vertical missile launcher, giving the Type 45 both short-range and long-range anti-air capability. The PAAMS system is able to control and coordinate several missiles in the air at once, allowing several tracks to be intercepted, and the SYLVER missile launcher can be upgraded in the future to add more modern weapons if necessary (as they become available). It has been suggested that the SAMPSON radar is capable of tracking an object the size of a cricket ball travelling at 3 times the speed of sound.

The Type 45 destroyers will replace the Type 42 Destroyers currently in service with the Royal Navy. The first two, Daring and Dauntless will enter service in 2009 and 2010 respectively. The Type 45 may also be fitted with cruise missiles if the need arises in the future; the French Navy is in the process of adapting the Storm Shadow cruise missile (already operated by the RAF) for firing from Sylver A70 launchers — but not the A50 as fitted to the Type 45

Design

The Type 45 destroyers will be 152.4 m in length, with a beam of 21.2 m and a draught of 5.0 m. This makes them significantly larger than the Type 42 destroyers they replace, displacing 7350 tonnes compared to 5200 tonnes of the Type 42. The Type 45 destroyers are the first British warships built to meet the hull requirements of Lloyd's Register's Naval Rules.

The Type 23 frigates were the first British warships to incorporate signature reduction technology, with the large 70° angle of the bow, the elimination of right angles and reduced equipment on deck. The propulsion system was also chosen to minimise noise, with electric generators providing minimal acoustic signature for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) missions. Infrared signature is reduced by cooling devices on the funnels.

The design of the Type 45 brings new levels of signature reduction to the Royal Navy. The equipment on the deck is reduced further, producing a very "clean" superstructure similar to the La Fayette class of frigates. There is reduced equipment located on the mast and all docking equipment and life rafts are concealed behind superstructure panels.

Construction

File:IMG 7183-01.jpg

Launch of Daring. The ship's funnels, masts and radars are to be fitted in dry dock.

File:HMS Daring.jpg

Daring being floated on the Clyde after launching.

The ships are built by an alliance of BAE Systems and VT Group. BAE's two Glasgow shipyards and VT at Portsmouth are responsible for different "blocks". The largest and most complex blocks containing the operations and machinery spaces are being constructed at BAE's shipyards on the Clyde.

• BAE Systems Surface Fleet Solutions (Govan)
  • Block A (stern to edge of helicopter hangar)
• BAE Systems Surface Fleet Solutions (Scotstoun)
  • Blocks B/C (a 2600 tonne section which contains the WR-21 gas turbines, starts with the helicopter hangar to the bridge section)
  • Block D (bridge section)
• VT Group (Portsmouth)
  • Blocks E/F (bridge to the bow)
  • Funnels and masts

For the first of class Block A was assembled at Govan and moved to Scotstoun where it was mated to the Block B/C, which was already fitted with the WR-21 turbines and machinery. Block D, also assembled at Scotstoun was fitted to these three blocks. The bow sections (E/F) were mated at VT's facility at Portsmouth and taken by barge to Scotsoun. This was the final block to be attached.

At this point the basic ship was launched into the Clyde and towed to the Scotstoun Dry Dock where the masts and funnels were fitted (the masts are partially outfitted with equipment, for example the mast for the S1850M radar is sent from Portsmouth to Thales Nederland to be fitted with radar equipment). Once this is complete the remaining equipment was fitted; radar arrays (SAMPSON and S1850), bulbous bow, propellers, missile equipment and 4.5 inch naval gun.

This construction arrangement was agreed in February 2002. However when the original contract for three ships was signed in July 2000, BAE was to build the first and third ships, and VT (then Vosper Thornycroft) was to build the second. HMS Daring was successfully launched on 1 February 2006, ready for fitting out. The event attracted considerable local attention and media coverage due to the relative rarity of a launch into the Clyde in the 2000s.

For Ships 2-6 blocks A-D are assembled at Govan, in the Ships Block and Outfit Hall of the Govan shipyard and taken fully outfitted to the govan berth. The masts and funnels are also fitted before launch.

Systems

Electronics & armament

File:Fr aster2.jpg

Long-range Aster 30 missile (left) and short/medium-range Aster 15 missile (right).

• Anti-airborne
  • PAAMS (Principal Anti Air Missile System)
    • SAMPSON multi-function air tracking radar
    • S1850M 3D air surveillance radar
    • 48 x MBDA Aster missiles (mix of Aster 15 and Aster 30) in six 8-cell SYLVER A50 (Systeme de Lancement Vertical) vertical launchers.

• Guns
  • 1 x BAE Systems 114 mm (4.5 inch) Mk 8 mod 1 gun
  • 2 x Oerlikon 30 mm KCB guns on single DS-30B mounts
  • 2 x Phalanx 20 mm close-in weapons systems

• Anti-ship

The Type 45 has the provision for a pair of quadruple RGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missile launchers, but there are currently no plans to fit this system (as of 2006).

• Anti-submarine
  • MFS 7000 sonar
  • Fitted 'for but not with' STWS (Ship-launched Torpedo Weapon System) Mark 2 324 mm triple launchers for Sting Ray torpedoes.

• Land attack

The Type 45 as it stands has no land-attack missile capability and the SYLVER A50 launcher currently has no capability to fire such a missile. However, should the need arise, it would be possible to fit them with the American Mk. 41 VLS, firing the BGM-109 Tomahawk; the Defence Procurement Agency conducted a study into this in 2004, but there are no plans yet to fit this. The French Navy are pursuing a variant of the Storm Shadow / SCALP air-launched cruise missile for their SYLVER A70 launchers, but not the A50 launchers as currently fitted to the Darings.

• Countermeasures
  • The Seagnat decoy system allows for the seduction and distraction of radar guided weapons, through active and passive means. An infra-red 'spoofing' device is planned for future retrofits.
  • Surface Ship Torpedo Defence System (SSTD) active torpedo decoy system

• METOC Meteorology and Oceanography
  • The Metoc system by BAE SYSTEMS comprises an Upper Air Sounding system using launchable radiosondes by Skycom Telecom Ltd (Wales) and Graw Radiosondes (Germany) joint venture, as well as a comprehensive weather satellite receiving system and a bathymetrics system. These sensors will provide each vessel with a full environmental awareness for tasks such as radar propagation, ballistics and general self-supporting meteorological and oceanographic data production.

• Aircraft
  • 1 Lynx HMA 8 helicopter - Sea Skua anti-ship missiles and Sting Ray torpedoes.

The Merlin helicopter will not be carried at first; the PRISM deck handling device and other necessary systems have been deleted from the design as a cost-saving measure. This capability may be retro-fitted at a later date, or included in later units of the class. The flight deck of the Type 45 will be big enough to accommodate aircraft up to the size of the Chinook.

• Other

The ships will have room to carry 60 Royal Marines and their equipment.

Propulsion

2 shafts Integrated Electric Propulsion;

• 2 Rolls-Royce / Northrop Grumman / DCN WR-21 gas turbines with ICR (InterCooler Recuperator); 21.5 MW (28,800 shp)
• 2 Converteam electric drive motors; 20 MW (26,800 shp)

During sea-trials in August 2007, HMS Daring reached her design speed of 29 knots in 70 seconds and achieved a speed of 31.5 knots in 120 seconds.

Affiliations

Several of the Type 45's have already secured affiliations:

• The City of Birmingham, 4th Knowle Sea Scout Group, Cambridge University Royal Naval Unit, HMS Raider and the Royal Dragoon Guards are all affiliated to HMS Daring.

• The City of Newcastle upon Tyne has been affiliated to HMS Dauntless.

• The City of Cardiff has been affiliated to HMS Dragon.

Ships in the class

Initially planning to order twelve ships, the Ministry of Defence subsequently reduced the required number to eight - to-date only six have been ordered. It was reported in December 2006 that the last two could be cut. In July 2007, Ministry of Defence officials stated that they "still planned to build eight Type 45 destroyers" and that "the extra two ships were still included in planning assumptions".

On 9 March 2007, The Independent reported that Saudi Arabia was considering buying "two or three" Type 45s. On 7 September 2007 it was reported that Saudi Arabian officials have been invited to observe HMS Daring's sea trials.

The first six ships are to be called, Daring, Dauntless, Diamond, Dragon, Defender and Duncan.

Name	Pennant number	First steel cut*	Launched	Commissioned	Status
Daring	D32	28 March 2003	1 February 2006	2009	Sea trials
Dauntless	D33	26 August 2004	23 January 2007	2010	Fitting out
Diamond	D34	25 February 2005	27 November 2007	2010	Under construction
Dragon	D35	19 December 2005			Under construction
Defender	D36	31 July 2006			Under construction
Duncan	D37	26 January 2007			Under construction

* - The Type 45 is constructed in modules, so the keel is not "laid down" as in the past. The ceremonial start of the ships' construction is "cutting the first sheet of steel".

See also

• Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carrier
• Royal Navy in the 21st Century

External links

• BAE Systems Type 45 page
• Official Royal Navy Type 45 page
• Royal Navy Matters Type 45 page
• The Telegraph coverage of the first launch
• Windows for Warships safe for Royal Navy, says MoD