Daring-class HMS Dauntless Defeats Drones in Live-Fire Drill

April 9, 2025

The latest show of force by the Dauntless is a clear sign that the Daring-class isn’t going to go away overnight.

Back on February 8, 2025, we at The National Interest discussed how the Daring-class (aka the Type 45 or less formally the “D” class) guided missile destroyers (DDG) are the Royal Navy’s “pride of the naval fleet.”

Among the ships of the class, we mentioned back then was HMS Dauntless (Pennant No. D33). Now, Dauntless is making headlines in its own right as an individual warship by demonstrating its drone-fighting abilities.

HMS Dauntless Takes on Drones

The story comes to us via the Navy Lookout channel on MSN, in a video posted on or about April 2, 2025, titled “HMS Dauntless Thwarts Drone Swarm in Live-Fire Drill.” As stated by the text caption accompanying the video:

“HMS Dauntless, a Type 45 destroyer, successfully neutralized multiple drone threats during a live-fire exercise, demonstrating the Royal Navy’s advanced air defense capabilities. The drills involved coordinated responses to simulated aerial and surface drone attacks, showcasing the ship’s readiness for modern maritime warfare.”

The video runs 1 minute 47 seconds in length, and depicts, in order:

Firing the DS30B Oerlikon 30mm cannon
Firing the 4.45-inch (113mm)/55 caliber BAE Mark 8 Mod.1 main gun
Firing the 20 mm (0.8 in) Phalanx CIWS (Close-in Weapons System)
Sailors conducting surface target practice on buoys with an L7A2 7.62mm x 51mm General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG) and a Browning M2 (“Ma Deuce”) .50 caliber machine gun
A Westland Lynx helicopter preparing for takeoff

Not appearing in the video are the ship’s two M134 six-barreled machine guns (miniguns).

HMS Dauntless Brief History and Specifications

Built by BAE Systems Maritime-Naval Ships, HMS Dauntless was laid down on August 28, 2004, launched on January 23, 2007, and commissioned on June 3, 2010. Its motto is “Nil Desperandum (Never despair).”

Dauntless and its sister ships (a total of six of which have been commissioned thus far) have the following specifications (courtesy of Seaforces-online):

Displacement: 8,500 tons (fully laden)
Hull Length: 152.4 meters (500 ft)
Beam Width: 21.2 meters (69 ft, 7 in)
Draft: 7.4 meters (24 ft, 3 in)
Speed: 30+ knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range: 7,000+ nm (13,000+ km; 8,055 miles) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 20.7 mph)
Crew Complement: 191 commissioned officers and enlisted sailors (with accommodation for up to 235)

The Way Forward?

Plans are already in place to retire the Dauntless and its fellow Daring-class vessels. Back in December 2020, then-Minister for Defence Procurement Jeremy Quin indicated that the Type 45s would be decommissioned between 2035 and 2038; fast-forward to January 2024, and Quin’s successor thrice removed, James Cartlidge, reaffirmed that the last of the 45s would indeed be retired by 2038.

However, Dauntless’s latest show of force is a clear sign that the Daring class isn’t going to go away overnight, as these warships continue to demonstrate their viability in the increasingly important arena of counter-drone warfare.

About the Author: Christian D. Orr

Christian D. Orr was previously a Senior Defense Editor for National Security Journal (NSJ) and 19FortyFive. He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He has also been published in The Daily Torch, The Journal of Intelligence and Cyber Security, and Simple Flying. Last but not least, he is a Companion of the Order of the Naval Order of the United States (NOUS). If you’d like to pick his brain further, you can ofttimes find him at the Old Virginia Tobacco Company (OVTC) lounge in Manassas, Virginia, partaking of fine stogies and good quality human camaraderie.

Image: Wikimedia Commons.