HMS Defender (D36)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Defender.

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History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Defender
Ordered:	December 2000
Builder:	BAE Systems Surface Ships
Laid down:	31 July 2006
Launched:	21 October 2009
Sponsored by:	Lady Julie Massey
Commissioned:	21 March, 2013
Identification:	Deck code: DF Pennant number: D36 International callsign: GMIB IMO number: 4907878
Motto:	Fendendo vince ("By defence I conquer")
Status:	In active service, as of 2014
Badge:
General characteristics
Class & type:	Type 45 destroyer
Displacement:	8,000 t (7,900 long tons; 8,800 short tons)
Length:	152.4 m (500 ft 0 in)
Beam:	21.2 m (69 ft 7 in)
Draught:	7.4 m (24 ft 3 in)
Installed power:	2× Rolls-Royce WR-21 gas turbines, 21.5 MW (28,800 shp) each 2× Wärtsilä 12V200 diesel generators, 2 MW (2,700 shp) each
Propulsion:	2 shafts Integrated electric propulsion (IEP) with 2× Converteam electric motors, 20 MW (27,000 shp) each
Speed:	In excess of 29 kn (54 km/h; 33 mph)
Range:	7,000 nautical miles (13,000 km) at 18 kn (33 km/h)
Complement:	190
Sensors and processing systems:	SAMPSON multi-function air tracking radar (Type 1045) S1850M 3-D air surveillance radar (Type 1046) 2× Raytheon I-band Radar (Type 1047) 1× Raytheon E/F-band Radar (Type 1048) Ultra Electronics Series 2500 Electro-Optical Gun Control System (EOGCS) Ultra Electronics SML Technologies radar tracking system Ultra Electronics/EDO MFS-7000 sonar
Electronic warfare & decoys:	UAT16 Surface ship torpedo defence (SSTD) Airbone Sys IDS300 decoy
Armament:	Anti-air missiles: Sea Viper air defence system 1 × 48-cell Sylver A50 VLS, for a combination of 48: Aster 15 missiles (range 1.7–30 km) Aster 30 missiles (range 3–120 km) Anti-ship missiles: 2 × quad Harpoon launchers Guns: 1 × BAE 4.5-inch (113 mm) Mk 8 naval gun 2 × Oerlikon 30 mm guns 2 × Phalanx CIWS 2 × miniguns 6 × general purpose machine guns
Aircraft carried:	1–2× Lynx HMA8, armed with; 4× Sea Skua anti ship missiles, or 2× anti submarine torpedoes or 1× Westland Merlin HM1, armed with: 4× anti submarine torpedoes
Aviation facilities:	Large flight deck Enclosed hangar

HMS Defender is the fifth of the Type 45 or Daring-class air-defence destroyers built for the Royal Navy. She is the eighth ship to bear the name. Construction of Defender began in 2006, and she was launched in 2009. The ship completed her first sea trials in October–November 2011, and was commissioned during March 2013.

Operational history

File:HMS Defender (D36).jpg

HMS Defender prior to launch.

HMS Defender escorting USS George H.W. Bush during Operation Shader on 1 October, 2014.

Defender's construction began at the BAE Systems Naval Ships (now part of BAE Systems Surface Ships) yard at Govan on the River Clyde in July 2006. The launch date was 21 October 2009. On 21 October 2011, she left Scotstoun shipyard in Glasgow on her maiden voyage exactly two years to the day after she was launched, to conduct her first stage of sea trials. These trials were completed in mid-November. On 9 March 2012, she once again left the Clyde to commence a second round of trials, scheduled to last 28 days in the waters off western Scotland. She was scheduled to be formally handed over to the Royal Navy and commissioned in 2013. The ship left Scotstoun on 21 July 2012 on her delivery voyage. Defender entered Portsmouth at 10:00 on 25 July 2012 where BAE Systems and the Royal Navy conducted a formal handover ceremony. At 14:00 that day she raised her White Ensign for the first time as a Royal Naval vessel under the command of Commander Phil Nash. Defender was commissioned on 21 March 2013. She stopped off at her home on the Clyde for final testing and was open to members of the public on Saturday 30 November 2013 before going into active service.

Recent service

Defender sailed 700 miles from Portsmouth to the north east of Scotland on 19 December 2013 to meet the Russian task group of 6 ships including the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov and accompany them down the east coast of Scotland. The vessels were held back by bad weather and had anchored in the Moray Firth.

Defender has been part of Operation Shader, being an air defence guard ship for the US Carrier Task Force 50.

It sailed on 19 October 2015 for a second deployment to the Middle East region. On the 18 November it was annouced Defender would deploy alongside France's Charles De Gaulle Carrier battle group, deployed off the coast of Syria as an air defence escort. This is in response to France's activation of article 42.7 of the EU Treaty.

Characteristics

Main article: Type 45 destroyer § Characteristics

Advanced air-defence

Further information: PAAMS, SAMPSON, S1850M, and Aster (missile family)

The Type 45 destroyers are primarily designed for anti-air warfare with the capability to defend against sophisticated targets such as fighter aircraft, drones as well as highly maneuverable sea skimming anti-ship missiles travelling at supersonic speeds. The Royal Navy describes the destroyers' mission as being "to shield the Fleet from air attack". The Type 45 destroyer is equipped with the sophisticated Sea Viper (PAAMS) air-defence system utilizing the SAMPSON active electronically scanned array multi-function radar and the S1850M long-range radar. The PAAMS system is able to track over 2,000 targets and simultaneously control and coordinate multiple missiles in the air at once, allowing a large number of tracks to be intercepted and destroyed at any given time. This makes the PAAMS system particularly difficult to swamp during a saturation attack, even against supersonic targets. The USNWC has suggested that the SAMPSON radar is capable of tracking 1,000 objects the size of a cricket ball travelling at three times the speed of sound (Mach 3), emphasising the system's capabilities against high performance stealth targets. A core component of the PAAMS air-defence system is the Aster missile, composing of the Aster 15 and Aster 30. MBDA describe Aster as a "hit-to-kill" anti-missile missile capable of intercepting all types of high performance air threats at a maximum range of 120 km. The Aster missile is autonomously guided and equipped with an active RF seeker enabling it to cope with "saturated attacks" thanks to a "multiple engagement capability" and a "high rate of fire". Presently the Daring-class destroyers are equipped with a 48-cell A50 Sylver Vertical Launching System allowing for a mix of up-to 48 Aster 15 and 30 missiles.

Weapons, countermeasures, capabilities and sensors

Main article: Type 45 destroyer § Weapons, countermeasures, capabilities and sensors

Affiliations

• City of Glasgow
• City of Exeter
• Exeter Flotilla
• TS Exeter (City of Exeter 134) Sea Cadet Corps
• 13 (City of Exeter) Squadron Air Training Corps
• Paddle Steamer Waverley
• Worshipful Company of Fletchers
• Exeter City Football Club

Footnotes

Notes

References

External links

• Royal Navy HMS Defender (royalnavy.mod.uk)