The Type 83 destroyer is a class of

guided missile destroyer A guided-missile destroyer (DDG) is a destroyer whose primary armament is guided missiles so they can provide anti-aircraft warfare screening for the fleet. The NATO standard designation for these vessels is DDG, while destroyers who have a pri ...

s which is planned to enter service with the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

in the late 2030s as a replacement for the current

Type 45 destroyer The Type 45 destroyer, also known as the D or ''Daring'' class, is a class of six guided-missile destroyers built for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy in the early 21st century. The class is primarily designed for anti-aircraft and anti-missile ...

Background

The Royal Navy currently operates six Type 45 destroyers, also known as the ''Daring'' class, which first entered service in 2009 and are planned to leave service between 2035 and 2037. They are used principally for

anti-air warfare Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

(AAW) and are equipped with the Sea Viper air defence system to carry out this role. Sea Viper comprises the SAMPSON multi-function radar, a 48-cell

Sylver Vertical Launching System The Sylver (SYstème de Lancement VERtical) is a vertical launching system (VLS) designed by DCNS and introduced in 2001. Specifications The basic unit of Sylver VLS is an eight-cell module fitted with two rows of 56 cm. missile cells surroundi ...

(VLS) and Aster anti-air missiles. The ships have also been used outside of their specialist roles to carry out counter-piracy missions, counter-drug trafficking, maritime security patrols and humanitarian assistance.

Development

The class was first unveiled in March 2021 with the publication of the British government's defence

command paper A command paper is a document issued by the Government of the United Kingdom, UK Government and presented to Parliament of the United Kingdom, Parliament. White papers, green papers, treaty, treaties, government responses, draft bills, reports fr ...

, ''

Defence in a Competitive Age ''Defence in a Competitive Age'' is a Ministry of Defence command paper which was released on 22 March 2021. It provided details on changes to the armed forces to meet the requirements of the Integrated Review which was published before it on 16 ...

''. The class was mentioned in the context of the government's 2030 shipbuilding strategy and planned long-term investments. According to ''

The National Interest ''The National Interest'' (''TNI'') is an American bimonthly international relations magazine edited by American journalist Jacob Heilbrunn and published by the Center for the National Interest, a public policy think tank based in Washington, ...

'', the "8X" designation may suggest the ship will be more in line with the size and role of the Type 82 destroyer, a large vessel which was sometimes described as a

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...

and originally designed to escort the Royal Navy's last large fleet carriers, the cancelled

CVA-01 CVA-01 was a proposed United Kingdom aircraft carrier, designed during the 1960s. The ship was intended to be the first of a class that would replace all of the Royal Navy's carriers, most of which had been designed before or during the Secon ...

s. No design specifics have yet been confirmed publicly, but the ship is expected to enter the concept phase in early 2022. In February 2022, the Ministry of Defence confirmed the ship would be designed to address the threat of hypersonic missiles.

References

Destroyer classes Ship classes of the Royal Navy Proposed ships of the Royal Navy United Kingdom defence procurement {{UK-destroyer-stub

Background

Development

See also

References