UK’s Type 45 Destroyer Daring in second stage of sea trials
Daring, the first of class Type 45 Destroyer for the Royal Navy, has set sail to start the second stage of sea trials. The trials will involve extensive testing in open water off the west coast of Scotland and will last for five weeks.
The 7350 tonne vessel is on course to complete a series of tests, which will focus specifically on the weapons systems, radar and platform performance and will include;
• Long Range Radar and navigation systems trials
• Medium caliber gun blast trials
• Weapon alignment tests
• Extensive endurance tests
The second stage trials follow the extremely successful stage one sea trails, which focused on the platform functions of the ship including the propulsion system. These trials were completed less than seven months ago with Daring’s performance exceeding all expectations.
The Type 45 Anti-Air Warfare Destroyers are the most advanced ships of their type in the Royal Navy and will provide the backbone of the Royal Navy’s air defences for much of the first half of the 21st century. During the first stage of sea trials, Daring sailed approximately 4100 miles, using on average 35 cubic metres of fuel per day and refuelled just once. This is equivalent to a quarter of the fuel consumption of a Type 42 and of a Type 23 despite Daring being more than a third larger than both classes of ship.