The United Kingdom's Type 45 destroyer (Daring class) is an air defence destroyer programme of the Royal Navy which will replace its Type 42 destroyers. The first ship in the class, HMS Daring, was launched on 1 February 2006 and commissioned on 23 July 2009. The ships are now built by BAE Systems Surface Ships. The first three ships were assembled by BAE Systems Surface Fleet Solutions from partially prefabricated "blocks" built by BAE Systems itself and VT Group.
The UK originally sought to procure air defence ships as part of the eight-nation NFR-90 project and later the Horizon Common New Generation Frigate programme with France and Italy. The Type 45s take advantage of some Horizon development work and utilise the Sea Viper missile system (the SAMPSON radar variant of the Principal Anti-Air Missile System). In 2009, delivery of the ships' Aster missiles was delayed due to a failure during testing. A subsequent investigation revealed a manufacturing fault with a single batch of missiles and delivery of the Aster 30 is back on schedule.
In an "intensive attack" a single Type 45 could simultaneously track, engage and destroy more targets than five Type 42 destroyers operating together. The Daring class are the largest escorts ever built for the Royal Navy in terms of displacement. After Daring's launch on 1 February 2006 former First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Alan West stated that it would be the Royal Navy's most capable destroyer ever, as well as the world's best air-defence ship. The reduction in the number to be procured from 12 eventually down to six (in 2008) was hugely controversial.| General characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Type: | Guided missile destroyer |
| Displacement: | Standard; 7,500 tonnes Full load; 8,100 tonnes |
| Length: | 152.4 m (500 ft 0 in) |
| Beam: | 21.2 m (69 ft 7 in) |
| Draught: | 7.4 m (24 ft 3 in) |
| Propulsion: | 2 shafts integrated electric propulsion;
|
| Speed: | In excess of 29 kn (54 km/h; 33 mph) |
| Range: | 7,000 nautical miles (13,000 km) at 18 kn (33 km/h) |
| Complement: | 190 (accommodation for up to 235) |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
|
| Electronic warfare and decoys: | UAT16 |
| Armament: | Anti-air missiles;
Guns; Decoys; Provision for but not fitted with; |
| Aircraft carried: | 1-2× Lynx HMA8 or 1× Westland Merlin HM1 Armed with
|
| Aviation facilities: | Flight deck and enclosed hangar for up to two medium-lift helicopters |
Background
The UK had sought to procure the ships in collaboration with seven 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.
The Type 45 project has been criticised for rising costs and delays, with the ships costing £6.46 billion, an increase of £1.5 billion (29%) on the original budget. The first ship entered service in 2010, rather than 2007 as initially planned. In 2007 the Defence Select Committee expressed its disappointment that the MoD and BAE had failed to control rising costs.
General characteristics
The Type 45 destroyers are 152.4 m in length, with a beam of 21.2 m and a draught of 7.4 m. This makes them significantly larger than the Type 42 they replace, displacing about 7,350 tonnes compared to 5,200 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. BAE Systems is the Design Authority for the Type 45, a role traditionally held by the UK Ministry of Defence. The design of the Type 45 brings new levels of radar signature reduction to the Royal Navy, with deck equipment and life rafts concealed behind superstructure panels producing a very "clean" superstructure similar to the French La Fayette class of frigates. The mast is sparingly equipped externally.
The Type 45 design uses the Principal Anti-Air Missile System (PAAMS), a joint British, French and Italian design. PAAMS consists of a SAMPSON fire control and tracking radar, MBDA Aster 15 and 30 missile systems and a 48-cell SYLVER vertical missile launcher, giving 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 to add more modern weapons if necessary. It has been suggested that the SAMPSON radar is capable of tracking an object the size of a cricket ball travelling at three times the speed of sound.
Although the Type 45 represents a significant improvement to air defences, her anti-ship capability is currently limited to the single medium calibre gun and helicopter-borne Sea Skua missiles.
Armament and sensors
- Anti-air
- Sea Viper missile system
- SAMPSON multi-function air tracking radar
- S1850M 3D air surveillance radar
- 48× MBDA Aster missiles (mix of Aster 15 and Aster 30) in six 8-cell SYLVER A50 (Systeme de Lancement Vertical) vertical launchers.
- Guns
- 1× BAE Systems 4.5 inch Mk 8 mod 1 gun. The Darings are designed to accommodate a 155 mm gun upgrade currently being studied by the RN.
- 2× Oerlikon 30 mm KCB guns on single DS-30B mounts
- 2× Miniguns and up to 6× General Purpose Machine Guns
- 2× Phalanx 20 mm close-in weapons systems (from 2011)
- Anti-ship
- Fitted 'for but not with' 2× quadruple RGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missile launchers.
- The embarked Lynx HMA 8 helicopter is capable of carrying Sea Skua anti-ship missiles.
- The 4.5 inch Mark 8 naval gun has an anti-ship role.
- Anti-submarine
- MFS 7000 sonar
- The embarked Lynx HMA 8 helicopter or Merlin HM1 helicopter is capable of carrying Sting Ray torpedo. The Merlin HM1 helicopter is fitted with its own dipping sonar and carries sonobuoys.
- 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 4.5 inch Mark 8 naval gun has a naval gunfire support (NGS) role. The proposed upgrade to a 155 mm gun would increase range and explosive effect as well as giving commonality with Army 155 mm guns in logistics and a possibility of a co-development of advanced ammunition for inter-service use in the future.
- 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.
- Airborne Systems's IDS300 floating naval decoy system (corner reflectors)
- Surface Ship Torpedo Defence System (SSTD) active torpedo decoy system
- Communications
- Fully Integrated Communications System (FICS45) - a combined external and internal communications system supplied by Thales and SELEX Communications Ltd.
- METOC Meteorology and Oceanography
- The Metoc system by BAE Systems comprises the 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
- 1-2 Lynx HMA 8 helicopter - Sea Skua anti-ship missiles and Sting Ray torpedoes or 1 Merlin helicopter - Sting Ray torpedoes, dipping sonar and sonobuoys.
- The flight deck of the Type 45 is big enough to accommodate aircraft up to the size of the Chinook.
- Other
- Type 45 has sufficient space to embark 60 Royal Marines and their equipment.
Propulsion
The Type 45 is fitted with an innovative integrated electric propulsion system. Historically, electric-drive ships (like USS Langley) have supplied power to their electric motors using DC, and ship's electrical load, where necessary at all, was either separately supplied or was supplied as DC with a large range of voltage. Integrated electric propulsion seeks to supply all propulsion and ship's electrical load via AC at a high quality of voltage and frequency. This is achieved by computerised control, high quality transformation and electrical filtering.
Two Rolls-Royce WR-21 gas turbine alternators and two Wärtsilä 12V200 diesel generators provide electrical power at 4,160 volts to a high voltage system. The high voltage supply is then used to provide power to two Converteam advanced induction motors with outputs of 20 MW (27,000 hp) each. Ship's services, including hotel load and weapons system power supplies are transformed down from the high voltage supply to 440 V or 115 V.
The benefits of integrated electric propulsion are cited as:
- The ability to place the electric motors closer to the propeller, thus shortening the shaftline, obviating the need for a gearbox or controllable pitch propellers, and reducing exposure to action damage.
- The opportunity to place prime movers (diesel generators and gas turbine alternators) at convenient locations away from the shaftline, thus reducing the space lost to funnels, while at the same time improving access for maintenance and engine changes.
- The freedom to run all propulsion and ship services from a single prime mover for much of the ship's life, thus dramatically reducing engine running hours and emissions.
Key to the efficient use of a single prime mover is the choice of a gas turbine that provides efficiency over a large load range; the WR21 gas turbine incorporates compressor intercooling and exhaust heat recuperation, making it significantly more efficient than previous marine gas turbines, especially at low and medium load.
The combination of greater efficiency and plenty of fuel storage give an endurance of 7,000 nautical miles (13,000 km) at 18 knots (33 km/h). High power density, coupled with the hydrodynamic efficiency of a longer hull form, allows for sustained high speed; It has been reported that Daring reached her design speed of 29 knots (54 km/h) in 70 seconds and achieved a speed of 31.5 knots (58 km/h) in 120 seconds during sea-trials in August 2007.
