"Who Dares Wins" - Royal Navy's Newest Warship Arrives At Her Portsmouth Home
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HMS Daring, the first of the new Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyers, entered Portsmouth and berthed for the first time in her home port witnessed by hundreds of well-wishers.
The occasion marks a major milestone in the programme’s development. The six Type 45 destroyers, of which HMS Daring is the first of class, will form the backbone of the Royal Navy’s Air Defence capability for the 21st Century.
Designed primarily to provide air defence protecting forces against enemy aircraft and missiles, HMS Daring is extremely versatile and able to undertake a broad range of missions from combat to humanitarian assistance. She can operate a number of helicopters, including the Chinook providing greater operational flexibility than other ships of her size. HMS Daring will be able to carry a significant number of extra personnel, such as troops or evacuated personnel, on board.
Top quality accommodation has been fitted so the crew can live and work in comfort. The ship also has her own hospital facilities, complete with operating table.
Vice Admiral Sir Trevor Soar KCB OBE, Chief of Materiel (Fleet) used the occasion to officially name the Type 45’s air defence missile system as “Sea Viper” - formerly known as the Principal Anti-Air Missile System (PAAMS). He said:
“With its Sampson Radar the system is capable of detecting and tracking several hundred targets including the supersonic, sea skimming and high altitude targets out to 400 kilometres. It can then classify and decide how to best engage up to 10 of them simultaneously in order to ensure the highest possibility of a successful engagement.
“I have to say she is a superb looking ship. She is absolutely state of the art: from the Sampson Radar and the PAAMS missile system, which provide a capability far beyond any other weapon system in the Royal Navy, right the way through to the power systems that have been designed to be as green and economical as possible.”
HMS Daring will undertake an intensive sea trials programme for the rest of the year, with a formal commissioning ceremony due to take place in the summer with a target of formally accepting her into Naval Service by late 2010. (edited @royalnavy.mod.uk)
