The MoD today issued an initial response to the Public Accounts Committee’s (PAC) report into the Type 45 Destroyer programme.
The Minister for Defence Equipment and Support, Quentin Davies, said:
“I welcome this report by the Public Accounts Committee. They rightly recognise that the Type 45 will provide the Royal Navy with a world class military capability, and they note the improvements made on the programme over the last two years.
“The Type 45 will be the largest, most powerful air defence destroyer ever built for the Royal Navy. It will set new standards in air defence, capable of defending its company from multiple attacks from the most sophisticated anti-ship missiles and aircraft.”
“The MoD will now carefully consider the Committee’s detailed conclusions and recommendations and make a full response in due course”.
On the report’s criticism that the Sea Viper missile system will not have been fired from a Type 45 Destroyer prior to the ship entering service, the Minister said:
“By the time she enters service, the Type 45 will already have proven a level of anti-air warfare performance significantly higher than any other ship. Against this background the government is surprised and disappointed that the Committee does not recognise the extensive trials that have taken place. In these circumstances, the use of the word ‘disgrace’ obviously makes no sense at all and is absurd.”
The prime role of the Type 45 Destroyer will be Air Defence: protecting UK national and allied/coalition forces against enemy aircraft and missiles.
Of the six Type 45 Destroyers, four ships are in the water (Daring, Dauntless, Diamond and Dragon) while the other two vessels (Defender and Duncan) will be launched in late 2009 and 2010 respectively. The First of Class – HMS Daring – is currently completing final MOD managed Trials and Acceptance activity prior to entering service with the Royal Navy in 2010. The remaining ships will enter service progressively through to the middle of the next decade.
The PAC has now published its own report and a detailed MoD response will be submitted later in the year via a Treasury minute.
Background Information
1. The PAC report follows an audit undertaken by the National Audit Office (NAO) into the Type 45 Destroyer programme. The NAO published its own report in Mar 09. The PAC took evidence from the MoD to discuss the NAO report’s findings on 23 March 2009.
2. The prime role of the Type 45 Destroyer will be Air Defence: protecting UK national and allied/coalition forces against enemy aircraft and missiles. It will carry the world-leading Sea Viper Missile System (formerly known as the Principal Anti-Air Missile System – PAAMS) including the UK designed Sampson multi-function radar.
In addition to its word class Air Defence capability, one of the Type 45’s greatest assets is its versatility. The Type 45 will be able to act as a base platform for a deployable Headquarters, from which to Command operations. It is the only platform of its size in UK defence able to do this and will result is an improvement in our expeditionary capability. The Type 45 will be able to embark up to 60 troops (over and above its own complement) and their equipment, and support them with a modern medical facility that can deliver surgical capability. Type 45 also has a large flight deck that can accommodate Helicopters up to and including the size of a Chinook. The ship can also take up to 700 people if necessary to support a civilian evacuation from war zones or natural disasters.
the Type 45 warship prime contractor is BVT Surface Fleet Ltd. Assembly and launch takes place at the company’s Govan shipyard in Glasgow. The bow sections, masts and funnels for the ships were built in Portsmouth.
