The fifth of the Type 45 anti-air warfare destroyers for the Royal Navy, Defender, has been successfully launched from BVT Surface Fleet's shipyard at Govan on the Clyde. BVT Surface Fleet is a joint venture between BAE Systems and VT Group.
The destroyer was launched and named by Lady Massey, wife of Vice Admiral Sir Alan Massey KCB CBE ADC, in front of over 12,000 people who flocked to the shipyard to join the celebrations for the Glasgow and Exeter affiliated ship.
Defender is the fifth Type 45 destroyer of a six-ship fleet designed to be used by the Royal Navy for air defence. With 47 megawatts of power, the Type 45s are the largest and most powerful air defence ships ever developed for the Royal Navy. Simply, they will be the most advanced fighting ships in use by any navy in the world when they enter service.
The first of class, HMS Daring, will enter service later this year after an extensive round of rigorous sea trials. All of her sister ships will also have to be proven at sea before they too are commissioned at their home base in Portsmouth.
The Type 45s will provide the backbone of the Royal Navy fleet for years to come and each ship has been built with such longevity firmly in mind. They have an unparalleled level of flexibility that will keep them at the cutting edge of defence technology for the next 40 years.
Each ship is able to engage a large number of targets simultaneously and defend aircraft carriers or groups of ships, such as an amphibious landing force, against the strongest future threats from the air. As such versatile warships, the Type 45s will provide unprecedented detection and defensive capability as well as vastly improved living standards for the people who serve aboard them.
Powered by 21st century state-of-the-art propulsion units, they will be capable of contributing to worldwide maritime and joint operations in multithread environments, providing a specialist airwarfare capability, and will also perform peacetime humanitarian relief roles where they are needed.
 |
 |
Click on the images above to see larger versions
Defender and her sisters, like so many great warships before them, were "born" on the River Clyde. Unlike their forebears, however, the Type 45s share their beginnings with another great shipbuilding area 400 miles away in the south of England. All six ships' bow sections and masts were constructed at BVT's shipyard in Portsmouth before being loaded aboard ocean-going barges and towed to Glasgow, where the ships were assembled.
Defender will have special ties to Glasgow and Exeter, having been named by the Royal Navy as the two cities' affiliated ship. All ships and submarines of the Royal Navy are affiliated to different towns, cities and regions, and strong ties develop between the ships' crews and their communities.
