Royal Navy dispatches new £1bn destroyer to the Gulf as Britain sends a clear signal to Iran that trade route WILL stay open

MoD confirm the Type 45 destroyer will join British presence in the region

Defence Secretary warned Tehran regime that UK will not tolerate the ‘very significant consequences’ of a threat to block the Strait of Hormuz

The Royal Navy's newest and most advanced ship is being sent to the Gulf for her first mission amid heightened tensions with Iran over threats by Tehran to block a busy shipping lane.



The Type 45 destroyer HMS Daring, which has a 'stealth' futuristic design to help avoid detection, is to join the British presence in the region, the Ministry of Defence confirmed.

The dispatch of the ship comes days after Defence Secretary Philip Hammond warned the regime that any attempt to block the Strait of Hormuz would be 'illegal and unsuccessful' and would be countered militarily if necessary.

Hard to spot: The vessel, pictured during a training mission, employs a 'stealth' design to help avoid detection by radar and is the first to be built using this specification

Trial run: The ship's testing included an extensive eight-week operational sea training course which the ship and crew passed in November

Scheduled to leave Portsmouth next Wednesday, the £1 billion destroyer, also carries the world's most sophisticated naval radar, capable of tracking multiple incoming threats from missiles to fighter jets.

The vessel has been fitted with new technology that will give it the ability to shoot down any missile in Iran's armoury, according to The Telegraph.

An MoD spokesman said: 'The Royal Navy has had a continuous presence East of Suez for many years, including the Armilla patrol and its successors since 1980.

'While the newly-operational Type 45 destroyer HMS Daring is more capable than earlier ships, her deployment East of Suez has been long planned, is entirely routine and replaces a Frigate on station.'

The second Type 45, HMS Dauntless, will also be available to sail at short notice.



HMS Daring completed four years of sea trials and training late last year and is the first of six new destroyers which will replace the Type 42 vessels which started service in the 1970s.

The vessel, with a crew of 180, is the first to be built with a futuristic design that makes it difficult to detect using radar.



It also has a large flight deck which can accommodate helicopters the size of a Chinook as well as take on board 700 people in the case of a civilian evacuation.

HMS DARING: THE FACTS AND FIGURES OF THE £1BILLION VESSEL

Context: First of six new destroyers, replacing Type 42 vessels from 1970s History: Completed four years of sea trials, but this is the first mission

Cost: £1 billion because everything was needed in massive measures - fitted with enough electrical cable to circle the M25 motorway three times and has 404 telephones onboard

Length: Daring's 152m length is equivalent to more than 16 buses and she is as high as an electricity pylon

Weight: 8 tonnes - approximately 40 tonnes of paint was need to cover an area of 100,000 square meters of steel

Design: Futuristic design makes it difficult to detect using radar Speed: Max speed of 28+ knots

Capability: Can sail 3,000 nautical miles, operating for three days and returning home without the need to refuel. Its fuel tanks have a volume equivalent to approximately half that of an Olympic swimming pool Protection: World's most sophisticated naval radar and can carry 48 anti-air missiles called Sea Vipers Power: Generates enough electricity from its gas and diesel engines to power a city the size of Leicester

Troops: 60 special forces troops and an take on 700 people in a civilian emergency Space: Large flight deck which can accommodate helicopters the size of a Chinook Time: More than 2.25 million man hours have been spent fitting out the ship Interior: Enough carpet has been fitted to cover nearly two five-a-side football pitches and the vessel has one bath, 44 showers, 54 toilets and 100 wash basins



The 8,000 ton destroyer will carry 48 high-tech Sea Viper anti-air missiles that can also be used to shoot down fighters as well as sea skimming missiles.

It will also carry a Lynx helicopter capable of carrying Sea Skua anti-ship missiles and is capable of carrying 60 special forces troops.



Lord West, the former First Sea Lord, described Daring as a 'world beater' in The Telegraph.



'This warship has an unbelievably capable ability to track targets, spot the most dangerous and identify them for its missiles to take out. It's highly, highly capable. I would like to see the Type 45s show their potential in the region' he added.

Iran has threatened to block the 34-mile wide strait, pictured, in retaliation for a planned EU trade embargo on Iranian oil

Tension in the oil shipping lanes of the Gulf looks set to increase amid signs that Iran, Israel and the US will hold military exercises designed to test weaponry and tactics.

And the US and European Union are still planning to press ahead with oil sanctions on Iran.

On Friday, Tehran’s defence minister announced that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps will hold large-scale exercises in the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf in February.

Called 'the Great Prophet', the exercises are expected to be more extensive than Iranian naval manoeuvres in the Sea of Oman that ended this week.

IRAN-USA/SHIELD - Factbox and illustrations of Iran's ballistic missiles with map illustrating potential range. RNGS. (SIN02)

The Iranian announcement came as it emerged that the US and Israel are gearing up for a major missile defence exercise in the next few weeks.

The drills, called Austere Challenge 12, are designed to improve defence systems and co-operation between the forces and would be the largest ever held by the two countries.



Israel has deployed the Arrow system, jointly developed and funded with the U.S., which is designed to intercept Iranian missiles in the stratosphere, far from the country.



A statement from the Israeli military said: ‘U.S. European Command routinely works with partner nations to ensure their capacity to provide for their own security and, in the case of Israel, their qualitative military edge.’



This week Philip Hammond, the UK's Defence Secretary, warned the regime in Tehran that Britain will not tolerate the ‘very significant consequences’ if it fulfils a threat to block the Strait of Hormuz.



Speech: Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has warned the regime that any attempt to block the Strait of Hormuz would be 'illegal and unsuccessful' and would be countered militarily if necessary

He signalled that such action would be blocked by force of arms.



Mr Hammond used a speech in Washington to warn Iran that any move to close the key Gulf trade route would be opposed by the Royal Navy.



‘Any attempt by Iran to do this would be illegal and unsuccessful,’ he said in a speech at the Atlantic Council.



Then in a television interview, Mr Hammond said he wanted to send a ‘very clear message to Iran’ that the UK would not allow the Strait of Hormuz to be closed.

The Royal Navy operates mine clearance vessels in the Gulf as part of a joint taskforce based in Bahrain.



He said: ‘We are an integrated part of the naval taskforce in the Gulf and one of the missions of that taskforce is to ensure that those shipping lanes remain open.



'Any attempt to close the Strait of Hormuz would be illegal and we need to send a very clear message to Iran that we are determined that the Strait should remain open.’



More than 15million barrels of oil pass through the narrow stretch of water between Iran and the United Arab Emirates every day.



Iran has threatened to block the 34-mile wide strait in retaliation for a planned EU trade embargo on Iranian oil.

