Type 45 – Power to Command

The Royal Navy’s Type 45 Destroyers have been in Service since Jul 10 and have acquired a reputation for being a world class Air Defence asset with power and propulsion (P&P) fragility, that has attracted much positive and negative attention. This paper sets out how a range of circumstances combined in those early years to make the Class unique; a world leading ship not at her full potential. Many of the contributing factors have been discussed in isolation but have not been combined in one paper. The Type 45 has a modest class size of six vessels, yet each ship has the greatest capability ever installed in a Destroyer. It achieved such a punch due to the largest technology step taken in one class, 80% of the equipment on board is new to Royal Navy (RN) Service. And the ambition to use such a potent ship meant that HMS DARING deployed, worldwide, in the quickest time from build of any RN ship since WW2. Simultaneously and with huge dedication from the team, a new support solution was introduced that had the largest Industry involvement the MoD had ever contracted for a Complex Warship. These, and other circumstances created a heady mix in the early part of this decade and this paper will discuss the lessons learnt from an engineering support perspective. It will combine the experience of our predecessors with our own to give a unique perspective of the first nine years of the Class’s life. It will go on to show how improvements have been identified and embodied across the class ensuring that the Type 45 remains a world beating Air Defence Destroyer at her full potential for the next two decades.