Watch UK’s Type 45 destroyer firing Phalanx CIWS against aircraft

The Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyer HMS Dauntless has conducted firing exercise against aircraft as part of rigorous testing.

As informed, the testing of Phalanx Close-in Weapons Systems (CIWS) occurred last week. The weapons successfully tracked aircraft simulating attacks on the ship before being test fired against surface and air targets.

The testing happened after the vessel underwent the upgrade under the Power Improvement Project (PIP).

Known as PIP, the Power Improvement Project, addresses the resilience of the engines and power generation driving the many hi-tech sensors, systems and weapons on board the destroyer.

To make the necessary upgrades, the two original diesel engines were removed and replaced with three more reliable, more powerful, cleaner generators.

Ensuring previous issues have been addressed, a storeroom has also been converted into a high-voltage switchboard to deal with the extra power now generated – between four and five Megawatts.