Article Posted on : - Sep 13, 2011

HMS Dauntless sails under the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge at Dartford. A UK MoD photo

LONDON (BNS): British Royal Navy’s formidable Type 45 destroyer HMS Dauntless will make its first public appearance at the Defence Security and Equipment International (DSEi) exhibition that opens in London on Tuesday.

The warship became the first of the Royal Navy’s new Type 45 destroyers to visit the capital when it sailed up the Thames on Saturday to the ExCeL Centre in London's Docklands where DSEi 2011 will be held.

The destroyer will be moored outside the exhibition centre till September 17 for public viewing, the Defence Ministry said.

The defence exhibition is expected to draw participation of over 1,300 defence contractors from over 50 countries.

HMS Dauntless is the second of six new Type 45 destroyers of the Royal Navy. The warship was commissioned in June 2010. It recently returned from trials and exercises in America where it participated in an annual naval drill alongside warships from France, Russia and the US.

The Type 45 destroyer is the largest and most powerful air defence destroyer ever built for the Royal Navy. The vessels have been designed to carry out a wide range of operations, including anti-piracy and anti-smuggling activities, disaster-relief work and surveillance operations as well as high intensity war fighting.