The UK government has publicly acknowledged that plans to order two additional Type 45 'D'-class air-defence destroyers for the Royal Navy (RN) have been abandoned, reducing the class offtake to just six ships.
This brings the class size down to just half of that originally envisaged at the outset of the programme.
However, it has been confirmed that the Future Surface Combatant (FSC) programme, intended to provide a successor to the RN's Type 22 and Type 23 frigates, will now move forward.
Speaking in a parliamentary debate on 19 June, Armed Forces Minister Bob Ainsworth said that the decision not to exercise the option on the seventh and eighth Type 45 ships was a balance of investment. "The reality is we do not have unlimited resources," he said. "We have to prioritise between a range of competing requirements, focusing on the balance between current operations and future capability."
Designed to replace the RN's ageing Sea Dart missile-equipped Type 42 destroyers, the Type 45 is equipped with the UK variant of the tripartite Principal Anti-Air Missile System (PAAMS). First-of-class Daring, which recently completed a second phase of sea trials, is due to enter service in late 2010.
A further five vessels are now in varying stages of outfitting or construction. BAE Systems Surface Fleet Solutions, which is prime contractor for the Type 45 programme, is assembling the ships on the Clyde, with Portsmouth-based VT Shipbuilding responsible for building the bow modules, masts and uptakes. The two companies will merge their businesses in early July to form a single enterprise known as BVT Surface Fleet Ltd.
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© 2008 Jane's Information Group