Type 45 Destroyer (UK)
In April 1999, the UK pulled out of the three-nation collaborative procurement project for a new frigate, known as the Horizon programme. The project collapsed and the UK decided to follow a national procurement strategy. In mid-August 1999, Marconi Electronic Systems, leading a joint team with British Aerospace, began a ten week study to examine the design parameters for the UK's replacement to the Horizon CNGF programme - now known as the Type 45 anti-air warfare destroyer. The MoD meanwhile, continued work on finalising the Type 45 procurement strategy and produce a new user requirements document. The programme is expected to cost around £7 billion for twelve ships, each of which will weigh about 6,000 tons and be armed with a variant of the Principle Anti-Aircraft Missile System that was intended for Horizon. While the MoD have been reluctant to confirm the selection of Marconi / BAe as prime contractor, a fully-integrated prime contracting office is being set up in Bristol with personnel from Marconi Naval Systems and BAE's Defence Systems business. Talks have already begun with possible major subcontractors such as Vosper Thornycroft, Racal and Redifon MEL. The MoD sensitivity to making an official announcement can probably be put down to their reluctance to award a non-competitive contract to Marconi Naval Systems due to their performance on the Astute-class nuclear attack submarine, Auxiliary Oiler and Landing Platform Dock programmes, which are running late. It may also be that the MoD would prefer to wait until the sale of Marconi from GEC to BAe was finalised. This would simplify contracting arrangements. The MoD is probably willing to select the Marconi / BAE team without recourse to a competition due to the fact that Marconi was the UK partner in the IJVC Horizon programme which means that it has the best chance of pulling through work already done on the Horizon project. The UK had committed over £75 million up to that point and the MoD would be keen for that money not to go to waste. There are some doubts in industry as to the amount of 'pull-through' that can occur between the programmes. The limited development budgets will mean that the Type 45 will probably be equipped with derivatives of current RN systems, rather than 'clean-sheet' systems being pursued by the Horizon programme. However, the design is expected to have a sufficient growth potential so that there can be technology insertion throughout the life-cycle of the platform. There is also some pressure to re-evaluate the decision to accept the SYLVER launcher, which is limited to using the Aerospatiale Aster missile, and procure the US Mk 41 vertical launcher system that has the flexibility to fire a range of missiles.
How to cite this article:
Antill, P. (12 January 2001), Type 45 Destroyer (UK), http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_type45destroyer.html