UK’s Type 45 Destroyer Thwart F-15 ‘Attack’

The UK’s Type 45 destroyer HMS Diamond tested her strength against two US Air Force F-15 Strike Eagles when the ship came under a mock attack from the jets during a mine warfare exercise in the Gulf, when Diamond was called upon to escort a force of four minehunters and their mother ship. The F-15 assault was just one test for the £1bn Portsmouth-based warship as she escorted minehunters during training in the Middle East. The Type 45 was called upon to shepherd five ships - Britain's HMS Shoreham and Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel Cardigan Bay, the latter acting as a mother ship, and the USA's trio of mine warfare vessels Devastator, Dextrous and Sentry. The HMS Diamond used her sophisticated radar suite to find, track and finally target the incoming F-15s, simulating launching her Sea Viper missiles to intercept the inbound jets before they could harm the mine countermeasures force. Using her long-range and Sampson radars (the latter is the distinctive 'spinning egg' atop the main mast) and her state-of-the-art command system, Diamond can track scores of contacts up to 250 miles (400km) away - which gives the ship's company under ten minutes to deal with an F-15 at top speed. As proven on test firings off the Scottish west coast, Sea Viper races towards its target at speeds in excess of Mach Four - nearly 5,000km/h - using a series of tiny jets to manoeuvre, carrying out sharp turns at G forces no human could endure.