According to information published by the UK MoD on October 4, 2022, the Type 45 destroyer has undergone extensive trials around the UK throughout the summer, laying the foundations for her five sister ships as the entire class of Portsmouth-based air defence ships undergo the same upgrade.
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Royal Navy's Type 45 destroyer HMS Dauntless (Picture source: UK MoD)
Known as PIP, the Power Improvement Project, addresses the resilience of the engines and power generation driving the many hi-tech sensors, systems and weapons on board the destroyer.
To make the necessary upgrades, the two original diesel engines were removed and replaced with three more reliable, more powerful, cleaner generators.
Ensuring previous issues have been addressed, a storeroom has also been converted into a high-voltage switchboard to deal with the extra power now generated – between four and five Megawatts.
Dauntless’ team of marine engineers say working side-by-side with their civilian counterparts has been crucial to the success of the programme so far. At sea the two have been tweaking both the software and hardware to get the most out of the enhanced power plant.
Now back in Portsmouth, Dauntless is undergoing crucial planned maintenance and systems upgrades for the rest of the year to ensure she remains at the cutting-edge of naval/air defence operations before returning to the Fleet.
Trials, training and assessment will follow in the spring, with the ship fully operational again and ready to deploy worldwide – from next summer.
PIP is being delivered under a major design and manufacture contract between the Ministry of Defence and BAE Systems and delivered in collaboration with BMT Defence services and Cammell Laird.
HMS Daring, the first ship in the class, is currently undergoing PIP in Birkenhead, as Dauntless was, while HMS Dragon is receiving her new engines as part of a broader refit with BAE in Portsmouth.
About the destroyer HMS Dauntless
HMS Dauntless is the second ship of Type 45 or Daring-class air-defence destroyers built for the British Royal Navy. She was launched at Govan in January 2007, was handed over to the Royal Navy on 3 December 2009 and was formally commissioned on 3 June 2010.
The Type 45 destroyers are 152.4 m (500 ft 0 in) in length, with a beam of 21.2 m (69 ft 7 in), a draught of 7.4 m (24 ft 3 in) and a displacement of approximately 7,350 tonnes (7,230 long tons). This makes them significantly larger than the Type 42 they replaced (displacement 5,200 tonnes, 5,100 long tons, 5,700 short tons).
High power density and the hydrodynamic efficiency of a longer hull form allow high speeds to be sustained. It has been reported that the Type 45 destroyer Daring reached her design speed of 29 knots (54 km/h) in 70 seconds and achieved a speed of 31.5 knots (58 km/h) in 120 seconds during sea trials in August 2007.
The Type 45 destroyers are primarily designed for anti-air warfare with the capability to defend against targets such as fighter aircraft and drones as well as highly manoeuvrable sea skimming anti-ship missiles travelling at supersonic speeds.
