According to information published by BNN Bloomberg on April 17, 2021, United Kingdom will send two Royal Navy warships to the Black Sea next month amid growing tensions between Russian and Ukraine.
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Type 45 destroyer HMS Diamond D34 (Picture source: Royal Navy)
One Type 45 destroyer armed with anti-aircraft missiles and an anti-submarine Type 23 frigate will peel off from the Royal Navy’s carrier task group in the Mediterranean and head through the Bosphorus into the Black Sea.
F-35B stealth jets and submarine-hunting helicopters from carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth are to stand ready to support the two vessels in the Black Sea if there is any threat from Russian forces, although the U.K. aircraft carrier must stay in the Mediterranean due to an international treaty that forbids carriers from entering the Black Sea.
The Type 45 destroyer, also known as the D or Daring class, is a class of six guided missile destroyers built for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. The class is primarily designed for anti-aircraft and anti-missile warfare and is built around the PAAMS (Principal Anti-Aircraft Missile System) Sea Viper air-defence system utilizing the SAMPSON AESA and the S1850M long-range radars.
The missiles used for PAAMS are the Aster 15 and the Aster 30. The Type 45 carries up to 48 Aster 15 and Aster 30 missiles. The Aster missile carries an inertial computer with datalink, an active J-band Doppler radar seeker and 15kg warhead.
The second armament of the Type 45 destroyer consists of one 114mm mk8 mod 1 medium-caliber gun system for shore bombardment and two 30mm guns. There is provision for the installation of two close-in weapons systems such as the Raytheon Phalanx.
The Type 45 destroyer has a flight deck and hangar to support the operations of a single helicopter. The flight deck can accommodate either a Lynx HMA8 or Merlin EH101 HAS 1 helicopter armed with anti-ship missiles and anti-submarine torpedoes.
The Type 45 has a crew of 191 sailors and officers make up the standard Type 45 crew, but the ship can accommodate up to 285 sailors.
