Article Posted on : - Jan 12, 2012

HMS Daring, A UK MoD photo

PORTSMOUTH (BNS): British Navy has dispatched its most powerful warship, the first Type-45 class destroyer HMS Daring, for deployment in the east of Suez.

The warship set sail from its homeport at Portsmouth on Wednesday for its maiden deployment in the international waters.

The destroyer had joined the UK Naval fleet as a frontline warship in August, 2010.

It will spend the next seven months in east of Suez, "safeguarding sea lanes and working with the UK's allies in the region," the Defence Ministry said.

HMS Daring will take over from frigate HMS Argyll on a varied mission that includes tasks ranging from counter-piracy and safeguarding sea lanes to working with the nation's allies and flying the flag for Britain, the Ministry said.

During its sea trials, the 7,500-tonne warship had test-fired its new air defence missile system, the Sea Viper, for the first time. It had also conducted joint exercise with US Navy's aircraft carrier USS Enterprise in the Atlantic.

HMS Daring is one of the six Type-45 class anti-air warfare destroyers and has been built by BAE Systems.

The Type 45 destroyer is the largest and most powerful air defence destroyer ever built for the British Royal Navy. Capable of carrying out a wide range of operations, the destroyer can engage a number of targets simultaneously, and defend aircraft carriers or groups of ships, such as amphibious landing force, against the strongest future threats from the air.