HMS Defender visits Israel to deepen defence ties

HMS Defender has been welcomed to the Israeli port of Eilat by Israeli officials and the UK’s Ambassador to Israel.

British Ambassador David Quarrey recently highlighted the UK and Israel’s economic and scientific cooperation, Britain is working more closely with Israel in defence and security, he said. In this context he was said to be happy this week welcome the arrival in Israel of the HMS Defender. He also congratulated Elbit, whose chairman, Michael Federmann, was present, on its multimillion pound contract with the UK Ministry of Defence.

Great to welcome @HMSDefender, state of the art Type 45 Destroyer, to Eilat after a busy tour in the Gulf @RoyalNavy pic.twitter.com/MmoXz87qYV

— David Quarrey (@DavidQuarrey) June 17, 2016

Eilat is Israel’s southernmost city, a busy port and popular resort at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on the Gulf of Aqaba. Home to about 47,700 people, Eilat is part of the Southern Negev Desert, at the southern end of the Arava, adjacent to the Egyptian village of Taba to the south, the Jordanian port city of Aqaba to the east, and within sight of Saudi Arabia to the south-east, across the gulf.

HMS Defender is the fifth of the Type 45 or Daring-class air-defence destroyers built for the Royal Navy. She is the eighth ship to bear the name. Construction of Defender began in 2006, and she was launched in 2009. The ship completed her first sea trials in October–November 2011, and was commissioned during March 2013.

The Type 45 destroyers are primarily designed for anti-air warfare with the capability to defend against sophisticated targets such as fighter aircraft, drones as well as highly maneuverable sea skimming anti-ship missiles travelling at supersonic speeds.The Royal Navy describes the destroyers’ mission as being “to shield the Fleet from air attack”.

Presently the Daring-class destroyers are equipped with a 48-cell A50 Sylver Vertical Launching System allowing for a mix of up-to 48 Aster 15 and 30 missiles.