Royal Navy: Upgraded HMS Dauntless "honing warfighting skills" on HMS Prince of Wales exercise in North Sea

The ship’s company aboard HMS Dauntless have carried out a myriad of training drills while stationed in the North Sea. She has been operating alongside HMS Prince of Wales as part of the UK Carrier Strike Group (UKCSG).

Throughout Exercise Strike Warrior, the Portsmouth-based Type 45 destroyer will bring air defence capabilities to the task group - using her Sampson radars to scope out threats and Sea Viper missiles. The UKCSG X account said: “Dauntless Dares. HMS Dauntless provides the advanced air defence capability to protect the fleet with her radar and missiles. Her radar can track surface and air targets from over 250miles away.” The destroyer’s own social media account added: “The UK’s Carrier Strike Group is conducting critical training, honing warfighting skills in preparation for #CSG2025.”

What training drills have the crew undertaken?

Crew members have worked alongside personnel from the Fleet Operational and Standards Training team to get them prepared for any scenarios. This was done through a whole-ship training programme, which included air defence exercises. HMS Dauntless was involved in a bombing run where Paveway explosives were dropped on a rocky outcrop in the North Sea - firing naval gunfire.

Sailors aboard ship have also been hard at work conducting firefighting and emergency exercises, donning Extended Duration Breathing Apparatus while putting out mock blazes and dealing with other incidents. Casualty training and other first aid drills were also carried out, alongside communication training in the operations room. All of this is preparing the sailors ahead of a deployment to the Indo-Pacific region and Japan in 2025. The Royal Navy confirmed that HMS Prince of Wales will take charge of the UKSCG once again. They have yet to confirm which other ships will join her.

HMS Dauntless left HMNB Portsmouth on October 14 to join the exercise, after undergoing a major project with the Ministry of Defence’s Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) arm. Their Type 45 project team - alongside experts from BAE Systems and the ship’s company - installed upgrades and carried out essential maintenance.

Captain Mike Goodall, Type 45 Team Leader at DE&S, previously said: “Returning to sea marks the completion of a major support intervention, realising the availability improvement principles of RENOWN and setting a course for the wider Class to follow. The agility demonstrated by the support enterprise to deliver at pace ensures that HMS Dauntless remains on track to meet the demands of CSG25.”