The Drive:


The Royal Navy’s Type 45, or Daring class, destroyers will receive additional surface-to-air missiles as part of a weapons refit, marking a major increase in firepower for the warships. Once the new Sea Ceptor weapons are fitted, the six Type 45s, which provide area defense for the U.K.’s Carrier Strike Group, among other duties, will increase their air defense missile payloads by 50 percent.

The U.K. Ministry of Defense today announced the $692-million refit for the Type 45s, with the 11-year contract to integrate the Sea Ceptor missile going to MBDA UK, the British arm of the pan-European missile house. The half-dozen warships will each get 24 launch cells for the new missiles, for a total of 72 air defense missiles per ship…



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