Since her commissioning in 2009, HMS Daring has spent more time out of service than in it.

HMS Daring (D32), the first of the Royal Navy’s six Daring-class Type 45 destroyers, is finally set to return to service later this year—after spending nine years undergoing a refit, nearly three times as long as it took to build the warship in the first place. 

After being out of service for more than 3,300 days, the Royal Navy announced this month that HMS Daring would finally return to the fleet this year. The warship, which only entered service in 2009, has spent more than half of her service life sidelined.

“HMS Daring entered Extended Readiness in October 2017 and will return to the Fleet later this year following completion of material upgrades, including the Power Improvement Project,” British Defense Minister Luke Pollard said in a response to questions from Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty last week.

The refit was intended to ensure that the Type 45 guided-missile destroyers could serve as effective air defense platforms to support Royal Navy operations worldwide.

Was the “Power Improvement Project” Worth the Wait?

HMS Daring underwent an upgrade as part of the “Power Improvement Project” (PIP) to address several issues with its WR-21 gas turbine engine, which has proved less than reliable in warmer climates. Work on the warship’s diesel generators was actually part of a broader refit, even as the warship had been in service for just a decade.

“The Power Improvement Project required deep modifications to the ship’s machinery spaces, and this was combined with a major refit at Cammell Laird,” UK Defense Journal reported.

The refit was further delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the supply chain bottlenecks that followed. As a result, the work was only completed at the Cammel Laird shipyard in late 2022.

Next, as previously reported, the Type 45 destroyer was sent to Portsmouth, where she began what the Royal Navy described as a “regeneration phase,” aimed at completing system testing and retraining the crew.

“Each of these stages has contributed to the overall timeline,” UK Defence Journal added.

For the Royal Navy, practice may make perfect. Three additional Type 45 destroyers—the HMS Defender, HMS Diamond, and HMS Duncan—are each scheduled to receive the upgrades. However, according to the Royal Navy, work on all Type 45 destroyers is scheduled to be completed by 2028, far ahead of the Daring’s timeline.

Last month, the Royal Navy dispatched HMS Dragon (D35) to Cyprus to help defend UK interests in the eastern Mediterranean. She departed from Portsmouth on March 10.

The Type 45 Destroyer’s Specifications

• Year Introduced: 2009
• Number Built: 6
• Displacement: 7,500 tonnes
• Length: 152.4 m (500 ft)
• Beam: 21.2 m (69 ft 7 in)
• Propulsion: Two Rolls-Royce WR-21 gas turbines
• Speed: 32 knots (36.8 mph, 59.2 km/h)
• Range: 7,000 nmi (8,055 mi, 12,964 km)
• Armament:
  • “Sea Viper” Principal Anti-Air Missile System (PAAMS):
  • One 48-cell Sylver A50 Vertical Launching System (VLS), equipped for
    • Aster 15 short-range missiles
    • Aster 30 medium-range missiles
  • Two Mk. 141 quad missile launcher for up to 8 x RGM-84 Harpoon SSM
  • One BAE Mark 8 Mod.1 gun
  • Two DS30B Mk 1 30mm machine guns
  • Two M134 six-barreled machine guns (minigun)
  • Two Mk 15 Phalanx Close-in Weapons Systems (CIWS)
• Crew: 191, accommodating up to 285

The Type 45’s key capabilities as an air defense warship come from its Sea Viper Principal Anti-Air Missile System (PAAMS), which can simultaneously track and destroy multiple aerial threats, including supersonic missiles. The Sea Viper can engage multiple targets and launch eight missiles in under 10 seconds.

About the Author: Peter Suciu

Peter Suciu has contributed to dozens of newspapers, magazines and websites over a 30-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a contributing writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. He is based in Michigan. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: Editor@nationalinterest.org.

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