The United Kingdom's Type 45 destroyer (also known as the Daring class) is a state of the art air defence destroyer programme of the Royal Navy.

The first ship in the class, HMS Daring, was launched on February 1, 2006 and commissioned on 23 July 2009.

The ships are assembled by BAE Systems Surface Fleet Solutions from partially prefabricated "blocks" built by BAE and VT Group.


The Type 45 destroyers will be 152.4 m in length, with a beam of 21.2 m and a draught of 5.0 m. This makes them significantly larger than the Type 42 they replace, displacing 7350 tonnes compared to 5200 tonnes of the Type 42. The Type 45 destroyers are the first British warships built to meet the hull requirements of Lloyd's Register's Naval Rules.

The Type 23 frigates were the first British warships to incorporate signature reduction technology, with the large 70° angle of the bow, the elimination of right angles and reduced equipment on deck. The propulsion system was also chosen to minimise noise, with electric generators providing minimal acoustic signature for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) missions and the infrared signature is reduced by cooling devices on the funnels.
 

The design of the Type 45 brings new levels of signature reduction to the Royal Navy, with the reduced deck equipment producing a very "clean" superstructure similar to the La Fayette class of frigates. Life rafts and docking equipment are concealed behind superstructure panels and the mast is very sparingly equipped.

The current estimated unit production cost of each Type 45 is £561.6 million, based on the currently approved programme of six ships.

This estimate includes the cost of the principal surface to air missile system (PAAMS), which is the primary weapons system for the Type 45 destroyer. Within the figure of £561.6 million overall cost, the cost of the PAAMS system is approximately one third or about £187 million. The missiles being developed for PAAMS are the Aster 15 and the Aster 30. The Type 45 will be able to carry up to 48 Aster 15 and Aster 30 missiles. The missiles will be called Sea Viper in Royal Navy service.

In addition to its role as an air defence vessel the Type 45 destroyer will be a versatile platform that is planned to deliver a number of capabilities.

These include naval gunfire support and, through its embarked helicopter, anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare.

It will be capable of employment in a full range of tasks including maritime force protection, interdiction and peace support operations.