The new-look, souped-up HMS Diamond makes her way to sea for the first time since the summer of 2014.
Some 15 months of work by BAE Systems have gone into the third of the Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyers in Portsmouth Naval Base to get the ship ready for her third operational deployment.
Since returning from a Gulf and Mediterranean deployment last year, during which she helped with the removal of chemical weapons from Syria, the ship has gone through a Capability Upgrade Period (CUP), basically beefing her up with the latest communication satellite systems, internal computers and weapons systems as well as Harpoon anti-ship missile system installed in distinctive launchers on the forecastle, just behind her Sea Viper silo.
The destroyer is now undergoing an intensive period of sea trials in the Channel proving her systems and allowing the ship’s company to get to grips with the new or enhanced kit.
[mappress mapid=”17182″]
Image: Royal Navy