This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
NAVY NEWS, NOVEMBER 2010 The Big E... ...and the Big D


demonstrate... In the foreground is HMS Daring (500ft long, 8,000+ tons)... ...and a few(ish) yards away is (arguably) the world’s most famous aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise (1,123ft long, 93,000+ tons).


Daring spent most of last month working up with the Big E’s battlegroup off the Eastern Seaboard of the USA as Britain’s fi rst Type 45 destroyer showed off her capability to the Americans – and tested her ability to work with the


IF you’re struggling to grapple with the size of a Type 45 destroyer,


then allow us to Royal Navy’s closest ally.


As she will do when she formally deploys for the fi rst time – and as she will do when the Queen Elizabeth-class enter service later this decade – Daring was charged with defending the skies around the Enterprise and her escorts. (The naval gods obviously possess


a strong sense of irony as all this was taking place while Britain was announcing it was bowing out of fi xed- wing carrier operations for the next decade...) Daring’s anti-air missile system can defend the task group with Sea Viper missiles for at least 60 miles in all directions.


Her radar can see even further, allowing the ops room team to control the airspace around the task group out to many hundreds of miles – which means directing US fi ghters and other coalition aircraft to provide air defence beyond the range of her Sea Viper system. Working alongside the Big E, Daring has witnessed the carrier launching scores of aircraft sorties and has carried out her fi rst replenishment at sea with a foreign tanker; the destroyer took on 350 tonnes of fuel in just one ‘stop’.


As well as conducting a very extensive sea training programme,


Daring has also been busy fl ying the fl ag.


The £1bn destroyer hosted visits by the US Navy and Coastguard to show what the ship can do (the guests were, says Team Daring, “unequivocally impressed”). On a more informal level, the ship’s company displayed their sporting prowess and sampled the local culture and history of Norfolk, Virginia. A team of 20 Darings have also been undertaking research on the civil war before departing on a tour of historic sites and battlefi elds. Daring’s American excursion is relatively short, but so far, says her


CO Capt Paddy McAlpine, it has been “an


the concept of Type 45 as an area air defence platform. “We have started to stretch the technology and have begun to show our potential in a multi-threat environment. “A new chapter is opening in the Royal Navy and it looks very promising. “I’m proud of the efforts of all involved in the T45 team – service, civilian and industry – who over the last few years have worked so hard to get Daring here and prove that we can meet the mark as a capable air defender with massive potential.”


Picture: LS Rowe, HMS Daring excellent opportunity to prove


13


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53