HMS Dauntless departs Portsmouth for the Falklands

HMS Dauntless, the Royal Navy's most advanced destroyer, has set sail from Portsmouth to patrol the waters around the Falkland Islands. HMS Dauntless, a Type 45 destroyer, is the Royal Navy's latest piece of kit costing some £1billion and is designed to provide an air defence shield for an entire task force. The 152 metre-long vessel  is considered one of the most advanced air defence warships in the global theatre, boasting the Sea Viper missile system, described by the Ministry of Defence as “the punch of the type 45”. Sea Viper's strike capability has a range of up to 70 miles, while the highly maneuverable missiles, which travel at speeds in excess of Mach four, can knock drones, aircraft or even other missiles from the air, guided to their target by the Samson radar - the large top on the ship’s distinctive tall mast. Defences also include a 4.5-inch gun on the forecastle (the forward part of the upper deck), which can fire 24, 80lbs high explosives with a range of around 12 miles for bombarding shore or sea targets, as well as two 30mm calibre guns amidships and a radar-controlled Gatling gun.