Brit's new destroyer could defend city of London from missile attack

Telegraph:

A warship that can defend the entire city of London from missile and aircraft attack successfully completed its first Royal Navy sea trial yesterday.

The £1 billion HMS Daring will become the most advanced warship in the world when it enters service with the Navy in 2009.

The Type-45 destroyer, which is already exceeding targets, will now start taking on board Aster missiles, which are capable of knocking down a cricket ball-sized object travelling at three times the speed of sound.

It is also the most eco-friendly ship ever produced for the Royal Navy, with a unique electric propulsion system that can ferry it from New York and back without refuelling.

The most powerful front-line warship since the Second World War has missiles capable of striking the most advanced "intelligent" anti-ship missiles that can travel at Mach 4.

Daring is crowned by a huge 30-metre high Samson radar that can track more than 1,000 targets at once.

The system is so powerful it can monitor all take-offs and landings from every major European airport within 200 miles of Portsmouth.

The ship can engage 12 air targets and will carry Harpoon anti-ship missiles and Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Officers claim that if it was stationed in the River Thames, its weapon system would be able to single-handedly destroy any incoming airborne attack on Greater London.

During four weeks of sea trials, Daring has achieved 31.5 knots - exceeding a target of 28 knots.

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From a standing start she reached 29 knots in just 70 seconds and can come to a dead halt within 800 yards.

She can turn full circle within three ship lengths and has stealth technology that reduces the radar signature to that of a fishing boat.

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The Royal Navy has needed something to brag about lately and this ship appears to fit the bill. It is a little surprising they would release the top speed of the ship, but it is pretty fast. However, it is the defenses built into the ship that make it so impressive. They plan to have eight of the new destroyers and will use them to guard their two new advanced aircraft carriers which are much smaller than US carriers.

Click on the image to see a better size. This is another view of the ship. The Daily Mail also gives the ship good reviews.